Thank you, DUers, for your generosity this fund drive!

We just passed our goal for the fund drive -- 1000 donations -- with six hours to spare before the deadline! I want you all to know that I am deeply grateful for your generosity. Democratic Underground is completely independent -- we receive no support or funding from any other organizations. We depend on your donations to cover the costs of running this website, including salaries for the three administrators. I honestly do not know how I would be able to keep running this place without your financial support.

This is now the third fundraiser in a row in which we reached our very ambitious goal of 1000 donations in seven days, which is in itself very impressive. But I am I am particularly pleased this time. Our last fund drive, in February, was in the thick of the presidential primary season, and I think many of our members felt that DU had lost it's way. It was a particularly unpleasant time to be a part of this community, in part because of the negativity on the message board, but also because of my own inability to effectively deal with the many challenges that faced us. I am sorry for the many errors that I made. We made our goal in February, but only just barely, and we had to fight for every donation.

This fund drive was different, and thankfully so. We did not have to work nearly as hard to reach our goal this time, which I think is a direct result of the improved atmosphere on the message board since the primaries ended. No doubt, most of the credit for that change goes to all of you. But the admins have been doing everything we could to improve the mood on the message board, and to be more sensitive and responsive to our members concerns. There will always be room for improvement, but overall I believe that Democratic Underground has turned the corner, and we're much stronger than we've been in months.

So, thank you again for your support. I think we've got a great year ahead of us.

David Allen
(Skinner)
Democratic Underground Administrator

How much in total
Was taken in by the drive?
Donations differ

If the past is a guide, we'll probably bring in about $2000 in donations by mail, bringing our total to $25,000. That puts us in good shape to get through the next three months.

23 bucks each
I'd like to see statistics
Excel charts anyone?

You raised $25,000 (23K to 25K depending on mail collections).

You do this 4 times a year.

So, if your fund drives yield about the same amount every time...
that's about $100,000 for the year.

And yet your own calculations for monthly expenses total to $13,890.
So, if you survive on just donations, you are about $66,680 short.

Do you have another source of funding (T-shirt sales, bumper stickers
etc) that makes up the difference? Matching donations from some
wealthy contributors? Other sources of revenue?

I hate to think of you guys slowing leaking money... not to mention
that there are annual expenses probably not accounted for in the
$13,890 monthly figure. Plus you have to allow for growth (new
servers, increased bandwidth, etc), which eventually may be made
up by more members donating more money... but first you have to
accommodate the increased membership.

Also, I seem to remember a stat that said you were closing in on
50,000 DUers... if so, then a $1 per person per quarter donation
(or $4/year) would more than adequately fund things. Surely
most folks here can spare $1 every 3 months... even some of us
who aren't exactly rolling in it right now (for example, I've
been out of work for over a year now, but still found $50 for you
guys for this drive).

Just curious.

Thanks for providing this kick ass (literally) place to hang my
hat.

The quarterly fund drives are not our only source of income. They are not even our only source of donations. We have a number of people who are signed up for monthly subscriptions, whose credit cards get debited every month. They are not included in the fund drive. We also get occasional donations when we are not having a fund drive.

Additionally, we bring in money from merchandise sales and advertising.

During the last six months, our income has been just about the same as our expenses.

It would be nice if we could run this place by simply asking everyone to donate $1, but it seems that the vast majority of our visitors prefer not to contribute.

Monthly subscriptions of more than X dollars gets you a Platinum Star, which allows you to use all features even during bandwith-rationing regime. Also, your sig always shows up.

Makes sense?

At this point, however, we don't really think it's such a good idea to stratify DU any more than we already have.

We're going to look into another hardware upgrade, which can hopefully be done before the convention. That should address our occasional slowness issues.

and ELAD and EARLG!

and MOST importantly, EVERYONE who makes DU, well....DU

:loveya:

Now that his job is done.

and roams the neighborhood freely by day..."

I will double my donation to whomever can identify that quote

Marge: Homer just where were you planning to keep this horse?
Homer: I've got it all figured out...by day it will roam free around the neighbourhood and at night it will ress snugly between the cars in our garage
Lisa: Dad No!
Marge: Thats illegal
Homer: Thats for the courts to decide



On edit: Congratulations DU
Just trying to help out anyway I can. :evilgrin:

I shall make another contribution on payday!

true, true

Thank you for DU!

DU has become an online family

I just found DU about a month ago, and it has quickly become my favorite site to come to whenever I'm online. The people here are so friendly and nice.

And yes, I did donate during this donation drive- just haven't had my star put on yet :)

shrub walking the last mile, and end up getting zapped in the electric chair for his crimes against humanity, when we reach our goal? I donate $20 if you do that.

As always, thanks to you Skinner, for making this all happen. Can't imagine life without DU.

Cheers -- :toast:

I posted about financial troubles and so many of you just went ahead and donated in my name. I also got very kind DU mail from lots of friends. Thanks for supporting DU and me! You guys are great!