[Alex Pepple]

Dear Eratosphereans,

This is one those posts that I don’t make unless it’s unavoidable. As always, I’ve been running the financial end of things here solo and they’ve been at a stage that those who issue alerts would deem condition orange for a several quarters now. Of course, the challenging economic climate everywhere that has now become almost cliché has only exacerbated matters. It’s probably been too easy to miss the donate link given how little trickles in quarters apart, still I’m most grateful to those few.

Apart from the recurring fees for monthly server rental, the server and forum software license fees, the technical maintenance and upgrades which luckily I can mostly tackle with only the outlay of time, there is now a need for critical upgrade, especially of the storage due to the large amount of data for backups and stream of new data.

So, I’ll simply point out that donation link is at the top of most forum page, here . The available methods are credit card (through Google Checkout), Paypal (indirectly through 2Checkout), or check by snail mail. And every little bit helps.

I’ll leave this up for while as a sticky post -- long enough for those who might interested in helping to see it.

Thanks!
…Alex

[David Mason]

Alex, Is the snail mail address available too?

[Janice D. Soderling]

David, Click on underlined "here" in the post above. Scroll down to the bottom.

[Michael Cantor]

I've just sent off an overdue contribution - Alex has always been clearly uncomfortable asking for money, and while this is normally an admirable quality in a person, it does not make for a good fund-raiser - and it's very obvious to me that if Alex comes out this bluntly and says that the Sphere needs money - The Sphere Needs Money!

I suspect that the situation with many of us has been what Alex hinted at. The donation link is overlooked, there is almost no pushing, and people forget to contribute. The Sphere is a massive asset for our community of poets, we need the occasional kick in the rear end to remind us that it doesn't come free and to help maintain it, the reminder has been administered, and I hope that as many as possible respond.

Thanks, Alex!

[Rose Kelleher]

Even embarrassingly small donations add up. At least, that's what I'm counting on (blush). If you're thinking of not donating at all, please consider making a really small donation so that mine won't look so bad.

[David Mason]

Got it. Donation on the way.
Dave

[Joseph Bottum]

Google finally charged my credit card, so I assume the small donation I sent at last made it through. Good luck with this, Alex. A hard time for fundraising.

Jody

[Jones Pat]

I don't disagree that it is a very difficult time for fund-raising. Retired, I am busy writing grants every day for not for profits that I care about and they are mighty hard to come by these days, but I still believe that one of the basic rules of fundraising is to thank the folks who responded.

That nit aside, what would it take to make Erato, or any good poetry board, journal for that matter, eligible for an arts grant? We have lots of talented folks here in all fields ( besides poetry) who could donate time and know how to the effort...not to mention you guys could snow anyone with your language skills...and, truth be known, that's what all good grant writers do. : )

Just wondering...why not a grant for a respected online board?

Pat

[Julie Steiner]

The status quo of Eratosphere administration has several big advantages over incorporation as a not-for-profit entity, which is the only way to be eligible for most grants:

http://nonprofit.about.com/od/nonpro...rtingsteps.htm

If it's a question of Alex spending his limited time on tech headaches or tax headaches, I think we'd all agree which gives us more direct benefits.

[conny]

Oh man. I never look at the general discussion board unless
its by mistake. If there had been a sign on the front door you
could have had my money years ago.


Dave Condell