Apr 27, 2009, 10:51 PM
Out of curiosity, do you get donations from only us server hordes or also from the people who use your plugin?
If the monthly goal stays around $700 ($2100 a quarter) and you divide that by how many current reserve slot holders you have, what is that amount? (not asking you to disclose, but rather for possibly finding that magic number). You also have to figure out and probably communicate what you believe is fair between the you/us cost. In a perfect world, we'd all help split the bill.
You could also make guest donations (buying other people slots) have an expiration if they don't continue to donate. (I think quarterly system is a nice balance of bang for your buck compared to a monthly system). You could also have those guest donations expire after a month while regular donations last a quarter.
A quarterly tracking system might be easiest on people, as we all know that some months are better than others. Over the summer I can see myself donating more, but once students loans come due in the fall, I'll be lucky to scrounge an extra $10. So, if you have a quarterly minimum to hold a slot, it might work. That way if some people move to different servers or set up their own, the slots become open again after a while. But then the question becomes, can we sand bag donations in the summer to pad tight times in the fall/winter? If you are going to institute expirations, then policies on these matters will be a must.
Another suggestion would be to send an e-mail blast to donors saying "This quarter you have donated $XXX, thank you for your contribution, etc., etc.," Sometimes that simple reminder eggs people on to click "donate" again (that link should of course be in the aforementioned e-mail).
Most of the regs that pay already meet here and it's obvious that you welcome their input, so I don't believe there is a need for "special privileges" or anything like that.
Another thing that encourages people to donate is knowing how their money helped...especially when you go over the budget expectation. "With the extra money this month I was able to blahblahblah." Updates never hurt.
I have more thoughts, but they are all running around my head disobeying any orders of organizing...hope these suggestions are helpful.
If the monthly goal stays around $700 ($2100 a quarter) and you divide that by how many current reserve slot holders you have, what is that amount? (not asking you to disclose, but rather for possibly finding that magic number). You also have to figure out and probably communicate what you believe is fair between the you/us cost. In a perfect world, we'd all help split the bill.
You could also make guest donations (buying other people slots) have an expiration if they don't continue to donate. (I think quarterly system is a nice balance of bang for your buck compared to a monthly system). You could also have those guest donations expire after a month while regular donations last a quarter.
A quarterly tracking system might be easiest on people, as we all know that some months are better than others. Over the summer I can see myself donating more, but once students loans come due in the fall, I'll be lucky to scrounge an extra $10. So, if you have a quarterly minimum to hold a slot, it might work. That way if some people move to different servers or set up their own, the slots become open again after a while. But then the question becomes, can we sand bag donations in the summer to pad tight times in the fall/winter? If you are going to institute expirations, then policies on these matters will be a must.
Another suggestion would be to send an e-mail blast to donors saying "This quarter you have donated $XXX, thank you for your contribution, etc., etc.," Sometimes that simple reminder eggs people on to click "donate" again (that link should of course be in the aforementioned e-mail).
Most of the regs that pay already meet here and it's obvious that you welcome their input, so I don't believe there is a need for "special privileges" or anything like that.
Another thing that encourages people to donate is knowing how their money helped...especially when you go over the budget expectation. "With the extra money this month I was able to blahblahblah." Updates never hurt.
I have more thoughts, but they are all running around my head disobeying any orders of organizing...hope these suggestions are helpful.