Anonymous Gift Subscriptions to the SDMB

About This Message Board
1

This issue has been raised in the sticky about the change to subscriptions, but I wanted to raise it in a separate thread because…

Well, because I want to make sure what I say doesn’t get lost in the page upon page of commentary on the change itself.

To wit: Ed, I really, REALLY implore the SDMB to set up an anonymous gift subscription mechanism, so that Dopers (like me) who are willing to sponsor other Dopers in need of help to stay members can do so anonymously.

Not Really All That Bright, bless his/her heart, has started signup threads in a couple of places for folks to volunteer. I’ve already posted to say I’m in on that too. Hopefully a manageable number of people in need will email me and we’ll follow the procedure you lay out in your sticky.

But I see problems with this:

I’m sure some people will find it too humiliating to ask for help, even privately by email. A signup site where they can seek help without having to go cyberhat in hand to someone they’ll be posting to might make it easier for them.

What sort of relationship will the helper and helpee have after a known gift subscription? Will some helpees feel compelled to hold back criticism of their helper in future threads? Will some helpers (please, may I never fall prey to this!) feel compelled to tweak the helpee about it, subtly or even openly? It’s a wonderful thing to help another, but there’s no getting away from the fact that such help can sometimes prove corrosive for both parties.

How will newbies who want to sign up after their 30-day trial, but don’t have the moolah, connect with a Doper who’s willing to help? The ad hoc assistance we’ll be providing at the start of this is a rickety thing to depend on over the long haul.

Also, being able to pool donations of all sizes from Dopers will, it seems to me, make it easier to pay the way of applicants when the price jumps to the full amount. I’m sure there are Dopers who’d be happy to shell out five or ten bucks, but hit their limit when it gets to fifteen.

2

My heart is male, and much appreciates the blessing.

I agree that there ought to be some kind of more anonymous mechanism for doing this than the “pick me” thread. Still, someone would have to decide who deserves the subscription scholarships, so I’m not sure it makes that much difference.

For the record, anyone who I do pay for need feel to compunction about holding back criticism. How else am I going to learn?

3

I posted this over in MPSIMS but I’m putting it here too because obviously you’re right that this is the correct forum, and I want to second your suggestion. (And I corrected my spelling)

Instead of individual members paying for other individual members, would it be possible to create a general “Indigent Dopers’ Fund”? Anyone who wanted to could contribute, and anyone for whom the charge is a problem could apply for a “scholarship.”

Of course a big problem would be figuring out who really needed the money–I suppose it would have to be a kind of honor system, which would mean that someone who just didn’t feel like paying might freeload. But I think the majority of people would be honorable about it, and personal sponsorship has the same risk, to a lesser degree.

Another problem is that there would have to be a mod or someone who was willing to manage the fund and evaluate requests for scholarships, and that would not be a pleasant job.

But I think the idea is worth considering because

*you could contribute however much you want–even a dollar could help
*people wouldn’t have to publicly appear on the board admitting they need money
*there would no risk of the less self-confident posters not bothering to ask for help because they feel, as **Steelerphan ** says, that “I might as well say goodbye now. Not being one of the more popular posters, I doubt anyone would help me.”
*the fund would be available to new people joining after the price goes up. This is the main advantage, I think, because while it’s true that you have to be very poor for $5 to be a lot, $15 is starting to be real money for some people.

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I am NOT asking for a handout, but I would appreciate someone paying for me, and I promise to send you a crisp $5 bill or a money order for $5.
I certainly understand if it’s someone who’s familiar with my username and “knows” me from posting.
Thanks!

5

BiblioCat, you raise another good point – the folks who can’t use PayPal or a credit card, even though they’ve got the five bucks (or higher depending on when they sign up). It’s easy to forget that not everyone has access to the transfer means for paying.

Methinks a central clearing house for donations/requests could also figure out a way to accommodate this aspect.

6

A couple of people have e-mailed me asking if I’ll pick someone(s) for them to sponsor; since I’ve already openly offered to help, I don’t mind doing this for any others who wish to help somebody anonymously. It occurs to me that the added benefit is that anyone who gets paid for won’t know who exactly is paying for them (although they will know that I picked them, I guess).

So, if you need an intermediary, feel free to contact me. You can either pick someone you’d like to support yourself, or let me do it, whichever you prefer.

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Doesn’t even have to be a case of no money. There are still plenty of people out there who don’t use credit/debit cards. Maybe they are posting from work or send in a monthly payment to their ISP (some still allow for that.)

So, setting up a way for someone to subscribe via proxy might not be a bad idea, either.

For instance, ETF’s horse sends me five bucks (ha!) and I sign him up for a year subscription. The horse paid for it, but it’s on my card.

Workable?

(Would also help some of our 2nd and 3 world posters. We do have some, you know.)

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Yeah, make 'em anonymous and tell me where to send the dough since I am finally at a point in my life where I can say that. And I’m happy to help decide, since I have such a lousy memory that I hold few grudges and wouldn’t remember who I picked. (You think I’m joking? I wish I was.)

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Hell, I outright don’t want to know who I’m (theoretically; haven’t discussed it with fizzy yet, but I’m fairly sure she’ll agree) helping. I like the fact that we’re on equal footing here. Knowing who was being paid for and who was paying, so to speak, might have the result of some ugliness, as I detailed here.

10

Look, I’m sure this is very noble and worthy and all, but I’d like to interject a sense of proportion, OK?

You’re asking that we set up some sort of system to help out people who can’t afford FIVE BUCKS??? Five bucks a year??? (OK, $6.65 or whatever it was in Canada, but still.)

Frankly, if we’ve got people who can’t spend $5 a year, they’ve got bigger problems than subscription fees for the Straight Dope Message Boards. If you want to run around setting up charitable institutions, I think you should be setting up a food delivery service, clothing, and shelters for this imagined mass of members who can’t cough up the $5 fee.

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It’s not the five bucks a year, CK. Some Dopers, like me, don’t have credit cards or debit cards or Paypal accounts. I’m not saying I’m the worst off (I’m definitely not) but there will be all kinds of different situations.

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If the admins and mods don’t want to have to spend the time going over the applications (or however we would do it) for this pooled subscription fund, perhaps Dopers could volunteer in this thread to do it? That way, we can better see how feasible this would be.
If you need me to look over a couple, I’d be more than happy to…I have some free time lately.

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$5 can be pretty darn insurmountable if you live in a country with a non-convertible currency. $5 was roughly the monthly cost of a university dorm room in Russia when I was there last.

I’d hate to lose anyone out of stupid logistical reasons of economic disparity like that; people in places with issues like that provide some needed perspective. I know there aren’t tons of them, but I think we should encourage their participation, not discourage it.

14

Hmmm… yes this could work out; I have no problems to send 5 (15 later?) dollars via snail-mail to a helpful doper, perhaps even a small Xmas present for the deference. :slight_smile:
However, I should point that I usually go out of my way to avoid bothering other people, so this solution is a bit uncomfortable to me. :o

15

This may not be that critical of an issue.

As tomndeb said in the IMHO thread (“who’s staying on the SDMB?”)about this:

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Almost all of the discussion here so far has focussed on the five bucks. But that’s just the first year’s fee, and only for the early adopters. Dopers who don’t, for whatever reason, get signed up by the deadline will face a fifteen buck charge. Renewals will be 50 percent of whatever the current fee is, so we’re looking at at least $7.50 per head to re-up.

Now, I can manage to sponsor ten Dopers at five dollars per. The $50 is worth it to me, to keep our community lively and diverse. But what if, say, three Dopers miss the deadline and ask for help? That’s $45 right there, and will I be able to help them if I’ve already sponsored up to seven at $5 apiece?

Then there’s renewal time. Suppose the ten Dopers I originally sponsored at five bucks for whatever reason still can’t pay. Now I’m looking at $75, which is getting significant for me. If, say, three of them came in at $15 originally, then I’m looking at paying (pause to find calculator)… Um, I make it $95. If I can only spare $50, where does that leave me? How do I choose among my sponsored Dopers the ones to tell: “Hey, sorry, but I can’t afford you this year”?

Any mechanism for the Dopers-helping-Dopers movement has to look at the long term.

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Oh, peachy, I just have to go to the nearest Wal-Mart then… let me check, around the corner, up the avenue… yep, just about 10.000 kilometers away… :stuck_out_tongue:

18

Count me in for one Doper for the first year.

After the first year, hopefully I’ll be able to just go ahead and renew their subscription (since charter members will get 50% off, right?), but I can’t promise to do that at this time.

But the first year? No problem. And I don’t care who it is.

19

Banks issue them too, as does AAA and some other organizations. And you can get them online, if you can/wish (like if you bank with that particular institution).

20

I’m not sure if I should post this in more than one forum, or if this has already been thrown out there.

There are prepaid cards. For instance, look at this site,
https://secure.privacash.com/index.cfm?catID=displaySalesLocations

There are more locations than just the ones listed here. Like grocery stores and gas stations. The limit is $25 on a card, but you can always use the extra $15 on whatever else you want. Or even save it for other internet purchases. Or even for next year’s subscription.

It’s like buying a giftcard. Maybe this will help those of us who have the money, but no credit card.