I try to help out with a reminder, sometimes it works.
And I appreciate the fact that you not only see the need, but understand the necessity to fill the need.
Could you send out alert to all members near the end of the month as a reminder that donations are low?
I do that very thing, every day of every month of every year.
Unless someone visits the site via a bookmark to a deep link page, they are landing on the forum home page. And once they log in, the donation module appears -
The module is as visible as I know how to make it. It is amazing how many people are capable of blinding themselves to things they do not care about, or do not wish to see. Actually, I am great at being ad-blind. I can pick up a print magazine, read it from cover to cover and never see any of the ads. I read the magazine in an effort to educate myself with the content, not to have my buying influenced by glitzy ads.
Unfortunately, people also blind themselves to that donation module. In addition to the hate mail I get from this site, I also get a lot of messages to tell me how much people appreciate this site. A lot of them read the same way, people say they like the feeling of community around here and people say they like the amount of information to be found here. All of which is good to hear, but it also makes me want to respond by suggesting something along the lines of showing appreciation at the donation module. <SHRUG> We all like to be recognized for our efforts, but what
all of us need is recognition to come in the form of donations. Without donations, there is nothing for anyone to show gratitude about, aye?
But this is the Internet. Which means everything is free, right?
The license to use XenForo software on this forum didn't cost me $140. Nor did it cost me $40 for the annual renewal of that license, back on 3 August. Nor did the domain registration renewal for this site cost me $10.87, on 11 August. Nor did the completely wasted Gallery license cost me $62. Nor did the new server we are now running on cost me $323, on 16 August.
Annual expenses come to $3926.87, which breaks down to $327.24, each and every month. I agreed to popping for the additional $44/month the solid state drives were going to cost, but that still means expenses come to $283.24. Which already had me eating $13.24 each month, because I have the donation quota set at $270.00. And I'm the guy paying the PayPal processing fees, so that nibbles away at the donations, as well. For instance, a $5.00 donation nets me $4.55, a $10.00 donation nets me $9.41, a $20 donation nets me $19.12, a $25.00 donation nets me $23.41, etc.
Or is that like telling kids to put their clothes away, pick up toys, etc... I know we are all adults here playing with bigger toys, but sometimes a kick in the a** is needed.
All I can say is that if I don't pay the domain registrar, then this site will disappear. And, if I don't pay the hosting company, then this site will disappear. All of which means I do not enjoy the luxury of ignoring our ongoing expenses, the way so many of our regular users do.
And the bottom line is that those are the very same users who are ignoring this thread, because it has the dreaded 'donations' word in the subject line. Fact.
See how much 'fun' it is, owning and operating Web sites?