Why folks financially support an idea or orgaganiztion

B

bobjarrard

New member
C-BRATS, first I am glad to see many of you step up and use the Tip Jar over the last few weeks. Having been a staff pastor for a number of years and involved most of my adult life in volunteer groups, I have come to know some of the reasons why folks will support one cause or organization or another. Just some thoughts but I have seen their implementation result in 100% plus of the cash needs be met in short order many times:
#1 There needs to be a clear vision/mission statement - not fancy but clear
#2 Availability of a very simple statement of past and current actual finances
#3 A simple budget including setting up some reserves for future needs
In our case, I think a "sticky" short history of the forum, a listing input template for the Classifieds and perhaps a capital improvement budget for the web site as we move into the handheld world where many of us attempt to access and function on tiny screens might help our forum prosper in the future. Please do not see any of this as a criticism, if the forum was 10% of what it is today i would still log on as I do several times a day. Many thanks to those who have lifted the load over the years.
Gratefully,
Bob Jarrard
 
Being a newcomer to this site, I'm sadly lacking in historical knowledge about the formation, management and funding of C-Brats.

I'm a member of a BMW motorcycle site: http://bmwsporttouring.com

It is a privately owned site that is managed by volunteer moderators with guidance from the owner who is an active rider. They ask for $1,500 per year to pay for the costs of maintaining the site.

No financial reports are ever provided. Once a year there is a request for support and those who give, and wish to be acknowledge, are posted. A lot of members prefer to do so anonymously.

I assumed this site worked the same way.

My questions would be does anyone own the word mark "C-Brats"? Is there a formal organization with by-laws that control the operation of the organization. If there is a formal organization, are they in control of this site?

We just joined and I was happy to make a contribution to sustain this fantastic resource for C-Dory owners and will continue to do so.

Where would I be as a new owner w/o C-Brats? Even more importantly, with out C-Brats, I wouldn't own a C-Dory.

I thank all of those who work behind the scenes to make this possible.

I've owned Seaward sailboats on and off since 1998. Now, 18 years later, I'm considered one of the senior member there.

The Seaward factory had no interest in nor gave any support to the online site (a privately owned commercial enterprise). http://forum.trailersailor.com/forum.php?id=13

IMO, the best FREE advertising is by sites such as this. Smart builders encourage, and sometimes support, this valuable resource.
 
I think if you look back through Mike (TyBoo) and my posts, you'll see a common message regarding C-Brats financing.

When it comes to keeping the site running, we're doing fine. Those ads you see at the top/bottom of all pages take care of all our hosting costs, and even put a few additional bucks in our pockets. You don't see either of us buying mega-yachts, so suffice it to say we're not getting rich on the place. I can't speak for Mike, but for me - the income falls somewhere between a couple nice dinners out per month and a car payment. And I don't drive a fancy car.

The Tip Jar is named as it is, quite appropriately. Anything contributed there goes directly to Mike and me, split equally to spend as we each see fit. They are gifts, pure and simple. As such, they are never expected, but always appreciated. We'd still keep the C-Brat lights on without tips, but would just be a tad grumpier.

Hopefully the above clears things up for y'all. Quite frankly, I don't speak up very often when the Tip Jar gets a big boost like it has over the last few days, as I feel guilty taking money from friends - and sharing my gratification tends to get more folks to contribute. Kind of a vicious cycle, so I just shaddup and wait for the rush to finish. However, now that I've been dragged out of the woodwork to comment on this - do know, I'm incredibly grateful for the donations over the last week. Ms. Dana will be wined, dined and gifted more than is typical this month, and I've all of you to thank for her thinking I'm just being an extra-special husband. :mrgreen:
 
Bill,

Thanks for the tip-jar explanation.

And since I'm new, would you mind answering the other questions I asked in my previous posts?

My questions would be does anyone own the word mark "C-Brats"? Is there a formal organization with by-laws that control the operation of the organization. If there is a formal organization, are they in control of this site?


Thanks in advance.

Bud
 
Nancy and Bud":3m31vofq said:
My questions would be does anyone own the word mark "C-Brats"? Is there a formal organization with by-laws that control the operation of the organization. If there is a formal organization, are they in control of this site?
Click to expand...

The domain name C-Brats.com is owned by me. It was dreamed up way back when it was easy to start a group site for free on MSN and it has grown from there to what it is today. I do not have the requisite skills to make the magic internet work so Bill has graciously given of his nerd abilities to keep it all going. That is why we are equal partners in this.

There is no formal organization and certainly no laws, by- or otherwise, to anything we do. The only regulations we pay any attention to are the ones my tax lady goes by at the end of the year. We always do just a little better than break even but it certainly does not make enough to support my boating habits!

Several times we have declined offers to purchase the domain by the big outfits that run forums for the advertising revenue. We have no intention of selling the forum in the foreseeable future and prefer to keep it as it is with all its shortcomings and lack of rules.

Bill described perfectly the feeling I share about the tip jar and the reasons for keeping fairly quiet about it while very much appreciating the contributions. For a number of years after the free MSN hosting ended we kept things afloat on our own without advertising or accepting donations. As the site grew, the need for additional server space and the associated cost got a little heavy on family budgets so we reluctantly added the ads and the tip jar link.

We were overwhelmed by the initial response when we started the tip jar and a few times when there was a little real profit we gave it back to the group with support for activities during the Seattle boat show gatherings. The revenue has leveled off and we do not aggressively solicit ads or donations so we are happy at the break even point and very grateful for everything beyond it.

We are often asked (as we were in the tip jar thread running now) for an address to send checks. I do not worry about people knowing my address but I feel somewhat like a charlatan giving it out so friends can send us money! If anyone really wants to know they can search Google for "whois c-brats.com" and find it.
 
Thanks!

Makes perfect sense to me.

As I said before, without this site and the members here, we wouldn't own a C-Dory.

Thanks for all you have done, year after year, to keep the lights on!!!!!

Well done sir.
 
I should also point out, in addition to saying again how thankful we are for the donations, that some of the shortcomings which may be a little frustrating for people are things we feel add to our charm. The outdated search software and the infrequent housekeeping on the For Sale forum are a couple examples.

Bill and I look at the site maintenance as a hobby and do it pretty much when we get around to it rather than on a schedule. Thus the delay sometimes when folks want an album or cruise announcement set up or need help with changing usernames and the like. We have accepted help from members in the past acting as moderators but would rather leave things simple and unsupervised. It has worked very well for a lot of years and as long as it continues we want to let it. The former moderators have moved on or found they actually had so little to do they didn't need to do it so Bill and I prefer to keep it limited to our little nerd/dork duo.

When someone mentions on the forum that our attention to detail is lacking we try to catch things up without much discussion for the very reason this thread is going on today. The simple response to an honest observation about the pitiful search feature brought on all the talk about the tip jar and more in donations than a hobby really merits. We are very thankful for that but do not ever want anyone to feel they need to pay anything for being with us on this site. The rewards for us are already significant.

Also, in the spirit of openness, since Bill pointed out he does not drive a fancy car I should mention that I drive a pretty cool Corvette. I have wanted one since I was a kid and having recently retired after 45 years as a paper mill mechanic I figured it was time. I mean, come on, they brought back the Stingray name!

Thanks again to every one of you for being a part of our group!
 
Very interesting stuff! I'm a newbie to the group too and always wondered about the group's inception and hierarchy. Lol. Thanks for giving us a brief look into it.
 
Thank you Tyboo and Da Nag for all that you do!

One of the many things I like about the C-brats forum is the big bold letters on the home page stating "No Rules- Just be Nice"

What you have done, and are doing, is working just fine and I think adds to the charm, so 'please-don't-fix-it'.

John

PS - I left some gas money in the tip jar :mrgreen:
 
Thanks for all the info, I am sure not one of us is concerned that the Tip Jar or ad revenue will buy a corvette or even much of a dinner, we all just want to be sure we pull our own weight and that IF there comes along any burden on the forum managers, that they know we support their decisions as to how to deal with such things. I am on a number of committees, more than a few boards including several HOA's and POA's and know how much easier it is to do the right thing and get stuff done when you do not have too many folks looking over your shoulder or even when with good intent, offering to help. So once again - MANY THANKS!!!
Biob Jarrard
 
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