Join the Straightdope PBS Fund Drive! Help our Board!

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Hi there.

There has been a thread going on for a few days in ATMB regarding voluntary contributions to fund capital improvements to the Board, and/or operations and maintenance of the Board.

I want to donate $$$ to the SDMB - how?

While TubaDiva is checking with the Chicago Reader management as to whether they could be open to accepting financial contributions from the all of us for the express purpose of buying a new server for the message board, I thought we could be proactive to present a business case for accepting donations.

Since it takes some effort and woman-time to set up any system for receiving, tracking, and applying contributions, I’m sure they would like to see that they would get a serious number and/or amount of contributions before investing the effort.

Therefore, let’s hold a sample “PBS Pledge Drive” (where PBS = “Powerful Board Soon”). The rules are you make an honest, non-binding effort to state what amount you would pledge as a one-time contribution to the SDMB, provided:

  1. You had assurance that the money would be used for capital expenditure for a new server, with any extra being applied towards the operations and maintenance of the board exclusively.

  2. Some sort of convenient payment terms were available.

  3. Please, for convenience sake, let’s only tally pledges of $5 minimum. Not that every dollar isn’t appreciated, but for this effort it will make things easier to track, if this effort gets the overwhelming support I just know in my heart it will. :slight_smile:

Each person who wants to pledge, state your pledge, and the running total at the time of your post.

Well, after posting that, and kicking it off with my pledge, I was joined by Silo, Falcon, beatle, Biggirl, Lux Fiat, and Minxsmom. After Minxsmom’s pledge, we were at a running total of $432. Also, Saint Zero asked about donating hardware, but no response on that yet. And android209 responded with a 50 cent donation pledge.

So, if you want to make a pledge as per the rules above, please make it, and update the running total at the end of your post. For example, if I was to say, add $18 more to my original pledge of $102 (which I now officially am doing), then I would say so, and post:

Pledge: $18
Running Total: $450

Also note in the thread above - beatle has put the following challenge to y’all:

So come on, folks! Let’s suck his…wallet dry, if we can! :slight_smile:

Una

Status
Pledge: $18
Running Total: $450

2

Well, gee gollywhiskers, Anthracite!! I gave twenty bucks to another site, and I’m a lot happier here, so make my contribution $50. Just be sure and post how and to whom we send it, okay??
Judy

3

Put me down for $100.

4

unless you want me to get more posts than handy, you have to update the running totals yourself when posting.

So we have:

$450 +
$50 (Anti Pro) +
$100 (eulalia)

Running Total: $600

Thanks guys! Keep those pledges coming, or we’ll start to have a talent section come on… :wink:

5

This is, by far, the best place I’ve found on the web, count me in for $50.

Running total $650

6

I’m good for $20-- I’d like it to be more, and would be happy to maybe kick more in later, but for now that’d be a running total of:

$670

7

What I’ve gotten from this board is priceless.

I’ll pledge $100

Grand total: $750

8

50 bucks from me and 50 bucks from NghtCrwlr makes a hundred bucks total.

Running total: $750, plus 100 bucks. That’s an awful lotta venison :wink:

Seriously, that’s $850.

Robin

9

Well, I guess I’ll go for $20. Believe me, coming from me, this is alot.

Running total is $870.

-Jester, hoping that he got his math right.

10

I guess I can cough up $100. But can I have the word “member” under my name changed to “official swelled head”?

Donation: $100
Running total: $970

11

I’m in. I’ll even make it in US dollars.

$20, just say the word and it’s yours.

I believe that brings us to $990.

Surely someone can push us over the top…

12

I get to push it over $1000, cool! I’m in for $20, that makes it $1,010.

13

Great job, guys! We broke $1000!

This means that beatle would be pledged in for another $50, so I’ll raise the running total by that much:

Running total: $1060 :slight_smile:

14

JimB posted a $20 pledge in the ATMB thread, so I’ll add it over here for him.

Running total: $1080

Come on guys! 10.8% to $10,000! We can do it!

15

A coffee mug from PBS: $50
A golf course membership: $1000
A seat on the NYSE: $1.5 million
A member of the Straightdope Message Board: priceless

$20 from me

Running total: $1100

16

I’m in for a hunsky.

$1100

  • 100

$1200
Ugly

17

I would pledge more, but I have no money.

$1200
+10
$1210

18

And have a PayPal account to send it.
We need a tote board. What is the goal needed?

$1250

19

I could SAY I’d give more, and I’d love to, but being realistic:

$20 from me for a running total of $1270.

20

I believe the total is now $1,280.