Forum Url:
www.freespirittrikers.euQUOTE "I'm quite new to this forum, and have found it VERY helpful tweaking my own, but I must say I have seen alot of people with forums eager to make money."
There is nothing wrong with making money from members on your forum if you use their donations properly and they can see something for it.
I run a SMF for free forum but decided the free domain name was too long winded (.smfforfree3.com), so bought myself .eu for .97p/year.................this is
my first cost. I then decided to let the 18 members that I have on my forum, decide for themselves whether they like the site better with or without the adverts, by the way of a poll, explaining that to remove these ads would involve buying "ad removal credits" (25000 for $7).
The result of the poll was that they would gladly donate and help towards the costs of the ad removal credits, in fact one member actually offered to pay for 2 years worth of credits. Hence I installed a donate button linked to Paypal. Obviously there were a couple of non active members who didn't even vote let alone donate anything, but they will still be getting
some (read on) of the advantages for free.
My other expense for this forum was the "extra Storage" addon, which was needed, as what you actually get is a bit on the lean side. The cost of this addon is $30, again it would have had to come out of
my pocket. So again I explained to my members the situation and added that, because of their generous donations previously, we still have enough money to pay this one off fee, which is what I did.
So to sum up here, I think adding a donate button for your members to use should they wish to do so, doesn't do any harm. They can choose to ignore it or use it, the choice is entirely theirs. I also think that if your forum is seen by your members as being a good one, and they are enjoying themselves on it, they will as in my case, freely donate a small amount, sometimes a one off payment and sometimes a monthly payment.
So what happens to the rest of the donated money? Well, that goes to buying things for the club like a 3 ring camping burner and gas bottle, as an example. This can then be used by all members when we exhibit our trikes at shows and rallies. Now this is where the members start to gain. You see, at these shows and rallies coffee's and tea's cost the earth, but by bringing our own set up (paid for by the members who are now going to use it), they only pay half the amount that the burger vans charge and so save money. Not only that, the club is still making money on the coffee and tea, which again gets added to the club funds, and is available to purchase something else.
The something else in this case..........."Club Badges"..............and guess what? there is enough in the account to pay for these, and so all the members who donated will get one free of charge, (well not free of charge exactly, if you get my drift, because in a sense they have already paid for them). Those who didn't donate however will have to pay for one if they want one.
So I don't think having a donate button placed where everybody can see it is such a bad idea. You'll be suprised how many members (if they like the content of your site) will only be too willing to donate a small amount to help towards the Domain costs etc etc.
Of course, all forums are different and have different types of members. Some will be local club members like mine who live mostly in the same county, and some will have a world wide members list, where buying a coffee maker for their members to use, might not be the best way forward, but whichever type of forum you have, small donations towards the running costs do help (in my opinion) to create a better looking forum, and a nice looking forum tends to keep members coming back.
Well that's my 2p's worth! Now to make a coffee on my camping stove.