2009/2010 Forum Donation Drive

[Rudy]

As you all know, 2009 has not been a good year for the economy. This has worked its way down to the forum as well: due to decreased Amazon unit sales through our affiliate links, and a lack of sales through our other affiliates, we are now at the lowest tier of payment.

With the annual hosting bill due at the end of the year, and lack of affiliate sales to cover it, we're unfortunately having to run another donation drive here on the forum. We do get a discount for renewing a year at once, but the discount this year is not as great as it has been in the past. We also have ongoing domain renewals, and other associated costs, that our affiliate links just cannot cover anymore.

We appreciate anything you can give! Even a few dollars helps us to our goal. As with last year's drive, and to make things much easier for us to track, donations are accepted via PayPal only. The link to the payment page:

http://www.cantonwebservices.com/payments

Hopefully the economy will recover somewhat, and our affiliate sales will improve in 2010. Until then, thanks again for your generous support over the years, and your continued membership in the forum is very much appreciated!

 

[Rudy]

A slight error above: while it says we accept Paypal only, our payment system uses Paypal as a payment processor. You do not need a Paypal account, in other words. I know you can use Visa/Mastercard credit and debit cards, etc., and I believe they may also accept an electronic check payment as well. When you go through the payment process, you are given a choice to login to Paypal, which you can use if you want to send payment via your own Paypal account.

Hope this clears up any misunderstanding. Thanks!

 

[Rudy]

Unfortunately, donations and affiliate sales are down substantially this year across all of the affected sites.

We're hanging onto all donations until the end of the year, when we need to ante up for the yearly server and domain bills (and other related fees). If we fall too short of where we need to be, we will need to rethink what we do with these sites, and we'll refund the donations given thus far.

It's been a tough year for everyone...

 

[mikeargo]

Keeping this site up and running with all its great features is important to me, so I've just made a small donation. It's a Christmas present to myself!

--Mike A. :bigsanta:

 

[Mike Blakesley]

Give till it hurts, folks!

 

[Rudy]

Keeping this site up and running with all its great features is important to me, so I've just made a small donation. It's a Christmas present to myself!

--Mike A. :bigsanta:

Much appreciated Mike!

 

[Rudy]

Give till it hurts, folks!

Well, not that much, Mike...

 

[Rudy]

Surprisingly, we have seen very few donations this year as compared to last year. (We're off about 80% from 2008.) No matter what amount, big or small, we appreciate all donations! We only have about two weeks before we have to make our biggest investment of the year (the annual hosting bill), so hopefully we can raise enough funds by then to keep the Corner on the web.

We are doing everything we can to make 2010 a better year, planning ahead so we can improve traffic and affiliate sales so we can once again make our site self-supporting. (This lousy economy certainly doesn't help!)

Your continued support over the years is appreciated by all of us on the staff. Thanks!

 

[Harry]

C'mon everyone.

Dig into the sofa and the easy chair. You know that some of your change fell out in there.

Then go out to the little compartment of the car or SUV where you throw loose coins. Gather those all together.

Then there's that little container in or near your desk where you toss pennies and loose change.

How about that $7-$10 you were going to spend on lunch today? Weren't you meaning to go on a diet after Jan 1.? Why not start now and send a little something to A&M Corner instead to keep it going?

Take it all to the bank, get it counted and send something to help keep A&M Corner going. Every little bit helps. (I feel like there should be a phone number scrolling across the bottom of the screen or something...)

Harry
...hoping his upcoming retirement won't be spent looking for someplace else to hang out, online...

 

[Mr Bill]

Harry...hoping his upcoming retirement won't be spent looking for someplace else to hang out, online...

Or spent looking under the seat cushions for food money

--Mr Bill
who dug under the cushions and car seat for gas money to GET to work today (I'll figure out getting hmoe later)...

 

[Steve Sidoruk]

Neil:

Did you see the latest e-mail from Shout!?

Their affiliate program earns up to 12% for business sent their way - is this better than Amazon???



Steve

 

[Rudy]

We sell very few Shout! products anymore: just about everyone has the TJB discs that wants them. On most orders, there tend to be a lot of add-on sales: DVDs, other CDs, books, etc.

 

[gameenjoyer]

I know that I personally usually keep my perusal of the forum to just the Alpert/TJB one. Don't know what led me here the other day, and I've been checking back for a few days to see if anybody responded to my comment in the topic I posted in that day which is how I found this topic.

Anyway, my point is that there are probably a lot of forum members who only visit one or two of the boards and never come into this general one who wouldn't even know that this donation topic is present, maybe even some who would make donations if they knew that a need existed. I don't think anybody would complain if a topic this important found its way to the top of all of the forums, not just the "catch-all for everything else" one. I know I wouldn't.

I personally am still trying to determine if my aversion to buying stuff online would need to extend to making an online donation to the forum. My main concern in that regard has always been my credit card number floating over internetspace, and this would bring up that same threat. It's too bad you can't provide a snail mail address for me to mail a check to as that would make my decision a lot easier.

That said, what exactly is being referred to when the topic discusses affiliate sales? I'm not familiar with that concept.

 

[Harry]

That said, what exactly is being referred to when the topic discusses affiliate sales? I'm not familiar with that concept.

A&M Corner has Amazon.com as an affiliate. That is, purchases made online at Amazon.com through the links we post here (or from the search boxes provided, cause Amazon to "rebate" a few pennies from each sale back to A&M Corner, which helps defray the expenses.

The problem recently has been that so few people are ordering stuff that there've not been enough "pennies" coming back to do much helping.

With all of the Alpert/Shout albums out for a few years now, its likely that everyone who wanted one (or two) has already gotten them - and there haven't been enough releases by classic A&M artists to keep that boat floating.

Harry

 

[gameenjoyer]

But, if that's the case, shouldn't sales of Anything Goes have helped you out significantly? I would think many of the forum members would have ordered that CD, right?

 

[Rudy]

Sadly, hardly anyone has ordered "Anything Goes". I don't think we've sold more than three or four copies since it was released. "Definitive Hits" and "Whipped Cream" are the best sellers by far (although those have hardly moved any copies in recent months).

 

[Mark-T]

How's the fundraising going?

 

[Rudy]

How's the fundraising going?

Still uphill, Mark. I only have a few days left before I need to figure out any alternate plans...

 

[SteveM]

Okay, Neil, just sent my contribution.
I don't post a lot, but I read the board all the time, and always find something that enriches my musical life.
And so this board is certainly worth an annual contribution.
Glad to help!
---SteveM

 

[Rudy]

Thanks much, Steve!

 

[venturenut]

Hi Neil,

It's not much, but I made a contribution. This site has always been important to me, whether you saw me here or not. I wish I could help more!

Thank You to you and all of your Corner supporters!

Dave

 

[aymnostalgico]

Are we still taking donations?

 

[Rudy]

Certainly! Any little bit helps.