Donations to the site

[nolimitsoldier]

So I've been thinking about this, and it's something I helped roll in over on club18t, but I think it'd be cool to set something up on here where we could, if one chooses, to make a donation to the site.

Brian works his ass off on these sites, and I know it costs money. I donated on club18t because I'm glad for what he has setup for us.

Anyone else have opinions on this. Of couse I'm not suggesting anything mandatory, just something to help, even if it's a few bucks.

Brian, what do you think?

[stu]

I would imagin that even a couple of dollars from a bunch of members could add up to a significant amount. I am in the process of re-settingup my paypal account, so I would be down. However, only on the condition that Brian actually shows up to at least ONE meet where I could formally meet him.

[Hellified SH]

edit

[Hellified SH]

Originally posted by stu
I would imagin that even a couple of dollars from a bunch of members could add up to a significant amount. I am in the process of re-settingup my paypal account, so I would be down. However, only on the condition that Brian actually shows up to at least ONE meet where I could formally meet him.

I 2nd that notion

[Brian]

Thanks Brandon, I really appreciate it. I'm never going to make it mandatory to donate or anything like that, but it is always appreciated. This site has so much traffic now that i'm definetly going to have to upgrade to a dedicated server here shortly. I'm working on ways to offset that cost, but donations would definetly help out at the beginning. I can probably setup something like I did on club18t.com where people who donate are given a special status next to their name and marked as a contributor. I know it's not much, but it shows everyone that you support the site.

I definetly HAVE to make it to the next meet we have. There are so many new members here that I have yet to meet. Anyhow thanks again for all the support guys :)

[Bee18c]

let me know when we can do this and I will be ahppy to donate some...

[TXKompressor]

yeah let me know too I will help out as best as I can.

[ericjames]

Bryan,
who do you host with? and how much bandwidth are you using? I run several websites that get at least 3,000 hits per day with forums ect and my bandwidth never even gets close to the limit.

-Eric

[David]

I have seen a couple of other sites do this...but they have it so that if you donate so much money you get a free small webpage for your car (pictures and text, nothin fancy) That would probably get more people to donate.

[nolimitsoldier]

brian, I think setting up the donation link would be good.

[Brian]

I'll setup a donation link on the main page.

ericjames, HAI alone is using about 25-30 GB a month with an average of 5-6 million hits a month now. Traffic has gone through the roof in the past 3 or 4 months. Plus I have club18t on another account which has almost the same traffic as this site, so between the two a dedicated server would be the way to go. Rackshacks servers are alloted 500GB a month which would allow me to resell quite a bit of space to other sites and "hopefully" end up turning a profit each month over time. I'm trying to get into web hosting myself so I can recover most of the monthly costs.

[Brian]

Originally posted by 4g63_KickAss
I have seen a couple of other sites do this...but they have it so that if you donate so much money you get a free small webpage for your car (pictures and text, nothin fancy) That would probably get more people to donate.

That sounds like a promising idea. Like X amount of dollars get you a yourname.highaltitudeimports.com site along with your own @highaltitudeimports.com e-mail account. I could set something along those lines up.

[ryanman]

I'll donate some $$$$$.

[Jai SI]

Yeah maybe you can put the donate link at the top in place of the non-functioning "SEARCH" button.

[Brian]

I went ahead and placed it on hte main forum page under the menu :)

[stu]

Too bad making a donation doesn't help your credit. But I made one.

[Jai SI]

How much is the average donation? I didn't know how much to give but I donated 10 bucks.

[stu]

There is no average. I would tell how much I donated, but I don't want other people to not donate. Any money will help.

[nolimitsoldier]

Thanks for the support all!

[Brian]

Thank you very much guys. Every bit definetly helps.

[HONDA GHANDI]

Well Brian, I really appreciate the site you have built and constantly maintain free of charge. I personally have made at least a few thousand dollars on just parts sales and work performed drom being a member here. Plus its the best online community ever. So I am going to donate also. Its the least I can do. Keep up the good work, I know it will eventually pay off for you too.

[Brian]

Thanks tobi :)

[silvercrxSiR]

sell a premium membership with more benefits or jack up sticker prices or something

[stu]

Bad idea. Being a "preimium member" here is earned. If you just put a price on it, the whole site will go to shit.