The future of OTF

[Sits]

I would willingly sell my house and all its contents to help OTF.

Not the Nine O’Clock News?

[ursus arctos]

The only way these things work is the 'set it and forget it' systems like automatic monthly Patreon payments. Reminders, pledge days, etc are doomed to failure.

Patreon takes a not inconsiderable cut for its services

I would think that one could set up a direct debit (at least for UK users) that would have a similar effect while avoiding that problem

[Sits]

What WOM said. But if anyone decides to set up a regular payment for more, all the better. Perhaps we start by asking those who can/will, to set up their regular payments, with 30 quid a year (or 3 quid a month?) as a recommended baseline? That’s the point at which those who choose to make it a bit more, commit.

Appreciate there isn’t an OTF bank account yet.

And to say it for the Nth time, anyone who can’t pay, or doesn’t feel comfortable doing so, that should be fine.

[WOM]

Agreed. I can't do the 30 a year, but 3 a month should be fine...

[Sporting]

I'm in. Just need to know where.

[willie1foot]

I'd prefer a regular Patreon payment to a direct debit, but am willing to contribute 2.5 GBP (~A$4.50) a month to see the board continue. Although my contribution over the years has been minimal, you have no idea how much I have got from this wonderful place over the years I've been a member and I’d be bitterly disappointed if it were to disappear.

[Sam]

As a few have wondered about what Patreon does and doesn't allow, and as I have a podcast which takes Patreon donations: at present it allows you as a subscriber to pay in US dollars, pounds sterling or euros (and allows the person or thing you're paying to set their default currency in the same). They have a 4.5% buffer for exchange rates, so only change their GBP/EUR prices when those change by that amount or more relative to the USD. They introduced this I think around six months ago, and I got an email for the first time this past Monday telling they'd be updating their rates.

When we did this before I think I said I'd be happy to contribute if I ever reached the point of actually being able to afford to do so. I am now at that point (2020 was a really good year, hence why I'm not on here as often for as long as I used to be), so once exact prices and a payment method are sorted I'll be more than happy to chip in as much as [unspecified] pounds per year, or provide some nob pics for EIM's OnlyFans idea (girlfriend's permission permitting).

(I'll definitely pay ?30 and will be able to afford more if the amount of work I've had for the last nine months keeps up. I will expect working diacritics in return, though.)

[Sam]

(Or even a working pound sign, to be honest.)

[ad hoc]

https://alternativeto.net/software/liberapay/about/

This might be a more acceptable site than Patreon (doesn't take a cut and is supported by donations instead)

[Artificial Hipster]

Count me in for the ?30 a year or whatever if it helps to know numbers.

[Ek weet nie]

Fair enough from WSC, they have supported for many years.

Coming from a position of relative ignorance, I was shocked by the hosting costs. A long time ago, I recharged hosting fees for a major airline for their mobile booking channel when mobile was in its infancy - it wasn’t much more than what OTF is costing. However, a quick google suggests that hosting costs are in that ballpark - we’re lucky to have Snake and his expertise to try to bring the cost down but it’s clear that there are real costs associated with the forum which are higher than I would have guesstimated.

I love the idea of a collective approach such as a Co-op. I am conscious of the overhead though. Are you in to annual returns to Companies House and obligations to maintain records? The administrative burden will be a thankless task for someone and an ongoing cost.

Can’t think of an alternative other than one person taking on the expense and collecting donations directly in a casual arrangement. There are numerous people who I would trust to fulfill this but you are then in single point of failure mode and unreasonable to expect someone to take all that on.

Personally, transparency over costs and a view of donations will make it much more likely that I will donate. The difficulty of maintaining cash flow should not be underestimated - the low number of patreon pledgers for high profile content creators is sobering. OTF is a highly engaged community though.

[Sporting]

I pay 24 euros a month for gym membership, around 80 a month for various TV packages, more on internet and phone, and spend much more time here than any other website. I do understand that some people won't be able to fork out and they should not be disadvantaged or disqualified in any way, but for me 30 quid a year seems excellent value. I'd be prepared to pay a bit more than this.

[Uncle Ethan]

I'm in for a regular payment.

[Muukalainen]

Me too for a regular payment, using direct debit if possible.

[Hot Pepsi]

Me too. I’d also be happy to just pay once a year. That might be easier. Just let me know where to send it.

[DCI Harry Batt]

How busy is it, here?

[Snake Plissken]

I'll post the stats in a separate thread, more for reference than anything.

[Antepli Ejderha]

I'll post the stats in a separate thread, more for reference than anything.

Thanks Snake

[Cal Alamein]

I’m definitely in for a monthly or yearly payment.

[Sean of the Shed]

I think there should be the option to pay monthly by subscription or a bi-annual or an annual fee, but also the option just to join without charge, as others have said, this would otherwise deter new members and the board would just slowly die.
Maybe there could be some reward for being a paid member? I understand why WSC cannot continue to support the board financially but could they maybe come to an agreement to offer additional discount on purchases to paid members in return for continued links to the forum?

[San Bernardhinault]

The reward should be smug righteousness. Which is surely something that almost every OTFer cherishes above anything material.

[steveeeeeeeee]

Count me in for the 30 a year option

[steveeeeeeeee]

As for reward, a link to my username on a donators page would do me. It would also motivate me to maintain/not forget my subs.

[Benjm]

I'll definitely pay.

Aside from the basic wish for the board to continue, the biggest inducement to donating for me is having a clear understanding of where the money is going and what it is being used for. I used to have a regular payment here and for The Quietus too when that had a similar donation model (albeit more heavily promoted). In both cases, a big reason for not keeping up the payment was not having tangible evidence or feedback that it was achieving anything. Even "we need X people to pay Y amount" makes the situation more concrete. I'm not bothered about enhanced member benefits as such, beyond that kind of information.

[danielmak]

I know this may be more difficult, but it seems like three payment options could be set up and framed for people: (A) One time payment with a suggested amount (people would choose this option if they have the cash at that time and don't want to mess with monthly payments), (B) One time payment that understands some folks want to help but money is kind of tight and they don't know what their finances will be like going forward, (C) set up a monthly automatic withdrawal from Paypal or some other source (the Blizzard has this option for their print journals, although it is quarterly).

Personally, I would pay a reasonable amount per (A) above so I could be set for the year. I don't need anything special for that, as others have said. The fact that people are genuinely nice on this board, helpful when others have questions, up for conversation is the payout for me personally. I didn't read far enough back to see why 30 pounds per year became the number most used on this page of the thread, but that would be good for me and paying that in one chunk on day 1 of the new payment system would totally work.