Sorry our site was down for over 12 hours. Can you make a donation?

Our site goes down from time to time but we usually resolve it within an hour.  This time it was 12 hours. Sorry for any inconvenience, frustration, sadness, or depression that you dealt with as a result.  It lasted so long this time because was our amazing volunteer server admin was away from the computer.

 

It gives me a chance to be frank with you.  I hate doing fundraisers, as I want to believe that this site can be sustained on ad/amazon/subscriber revenue.  Many a months, it can.  RRS costs a few hundred dollars per month to operate and right now, we're not quite making that back.  Actually one of our awesome board members recently sent us our largest single donation of the year and it got us to about even.  

Another reason I haven't made a public request for donations in over 2 years is that I feel I let you down on the last public appeal for money to buy a server.  I assure you we got a new server to upgrade our sites to the next era of web utilization.  I am sorry I can't enjoy it's spoils with you quite yet.  I don't want to throw anyone under the bus, but for the most part it's delay was beyond my control.  I could have avoided it if I had 10-15k to spend on professional help. I don't work off a budget that large, we're dealing in hundreds here. 

In the 24 months since we've owned the server, it has done some work for us and been online, it hosts some things, sometimes.  We have practice sites, but it's daddy's are very busy with real life work.  From Feb-Sept I have about 8 hours a week I can spend on RRS, I work multiple jobs and still make less than 30k/yr.  My earning potential is lower now as a result of my life as an atheist activist.  I'm also a single dad of a young man about to head to college.  Right now he needs me quite a bit.  He has me in the gym with him for about 12 hours a week. I'm worried about how I'm going to afford his college.  He'll have over a 4.0 GPA but I'll still have to cover big costs over the next few years.  For example he doesn't have a car.  It's a decent life, very fulfilling, just not very financially rewarding.  

Right now things are tight.  I feel like we can go in two general directions from here...

DOWN: The site continues on a trend where I have to come out of pocket to keep it going.  It feels more cost effective to reduce or scale back in some way then to keep it thriving.  This might allow me to put the last remaining batch of my focus on a real life job.

UP: We actually have enough money to get the help we need to make our site have the cutting edge community site technology and speed we need to compete in the domain of ideas.  We become dominant again.  Everyone who has ever posted here has their views amplified in the domain of internet ideas.

I don't mean to startle you, I am fairly certain we're not going anywhere.  Freudien slip... we probably are just going to be stagnant, no up, no down.  

There are certainly tons of awesome people that care and that contribute.  Thanks to anyone that has ever donated, it's because of you that RationalResponders.com is still here.  But I've had these thoughts for a while, and thought some of you might want to know what kind of financial state RRS/I'm in.  

This site and it's donors are responsible for supporting CelebAtheists.com and Atheism United.  

We could use your help. If you would like to help point us towards "UP" please consider a one time donation.  Go big, it's a one time donation.  

You can also make a $3, $10, $25 monthly donation.

If you do decide to donate, allow me to say thanks right now.  I really appreciate it. 

If you're wealthy and you're asking yourself, "how much would it take to fix all of this and revolutionize these sites?"  The answer is $25,000 will do it.

 

Brian37's picture

Sapient wrote:Our site goes

Sapient wrote:

Our site goes down from time to time but we usually resolve it within an hour.  This time it was 12 hours. Sorry for any inconvenience, frustration, sadness, or depression that you dealt with as a result.  It lasted so long this time because was our amazing volunteer server admin was away from the computer.

 

It gives me a chance to be frank with you.  I hate doing fundraisers, as I want to believe that this site can be sustained on ad/amazon/subscriber revenue.  Many a months, it can.  RRS costs a few hundred dollars per month to operate and right now, we're not quite making that back.  Actually one of our awesome board members recently sent us our largest single donation of the year and it got us to about even.  

Another reason I haven't made a public request for donations in over 2 years is that I feel I let you down on the last public appeal for money to buy a server.  I assure you we got a new server to upgrade our sites to the next era of web utilization.  I am sorry I can't enjoy it's spoils with you quite yet.  I don't want to throw anyone under the bus, but for the most part it's delay was beyond my control.  I could have avoided it if I had 10-15k to spend on professional help. I don't work off a budget that large, we're dealing in hundreds here. 

In the 24 months since we've owned the server, it has done some work for us and been online, it hosts some things, sometimes.  We have practice sites, but it's daddy's are very busy with real life work.  From Feb-Sept I have about 8 hours a week I can spend on RRS, I work multiple jobs and still make less than 30k/yr.  My earning potential is lower now as a result of my life as an atheist activist.  I'm also a single dad of a young man about to head to college.  Right now he needs me quite a bit.  He has me in the gym with him for about 12 hours a week. I'm worried about how I'm going to afford his college.  He'll have over a 4.0 GPA but I'll still have to cover big costs over the next few years.  For example he doesn't have a car.  It's a decent life, very fulfilling, just not very financially rewarding.  

Right now things are tight.  I feel like we can go in two general directions from here...

DOWN: The site continues on a trend where I have to come out of pocket to keep it going.  It feels more cost effective to reduce or scale back in some way then to keep it thriving.  This might allow me to put the last remaining batch of my focus on a real life job.

UP: We actually have enough money to get the help we need to make our site have the cutting edge community site technology and speed we need to compete in the domain of ideas.  We become dominant again.  Everyone who has ever posted here has their views amplified in the domain of internet ideas.

I don't mean to startle you, I am fairly certain we're not going anywhere.  Freudien slip... we probably are just going to be stagnant, no up, no down.  

There are certainly tons of awesome people that care and that contribute.  Thanks to anyone that has ever donated, it's because of you that RationalResponders.com is still here.  But I've had these thoughts for a while, and thought some of you might want to know what kind of financial state RRS/I'm in.  

This site and it's donors are responsible for supporting CelebAtheists.com and Atheism United.  

We could use your help. If you would like to help point us towards "UP" please consider a one time donation.  Go big, it's a one time donation.  

You can also make a $3, $10, $25 monthly donation.

If you do decide to donate, allow me to say thanks right now.  I really appreciate it. 

If you're wealthy and you're asking yourself, "how much would it take to fix all of this and revolutionize these sites?"  The answer is $25,000 will do it.

 

 

I feel I let you down not paying you back for the donation you made in my name. Things are tight all over for more and more people, not just you. As you may know I am jobless right now. Shit, if there were a way for me to make money off of my poetry or get paid to do a podcast, I'd definately throw some money your way.

You've provided a home for everyone and your neutrality attitude has benefited everyone and you also started long before this website creating the platform for other atheists to have their own websites. If a history  book were to be written about atheist activism, you should be included.

I can't help right now, but whomever can, don't do it because I asked, do it because you value this website and all the efforts Brian puts into it.

 

 

 

"We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus -- and nonbelievers."Obama
Check out my poetry here on Rational Responders Like my poetry thread on Facebook under Brian James Rational Poet, @Brianrrs37 on Twitter and my blog at www.brianjamesrationalpoet.blog

 Sorry we were down a few

 Sorry we were down a few times in the last few days.

FWIW: Nobody donated from the request above.

digitalbeachbum's picture

$3x12=$36 a year.Setup a

$3x12=$36 a year.

Setup a paypal account, shove $36 in there and do an auto deduction.

Easy peasy.

Man, if I had ANY extra

Man, if I had ANY extra coin, I'd toss you enough to help you take a few gasps of air from treading water for so long instead of slowly drowning like it sounds like you're doing with all the future costs you'll be enduring.  It saddens me that you're in such dire straights because this is my first foray into atheist activism and there are a lot of good people here with a lot of good vibes to send out.  I'm in my own huge mess right now with the holidays behind me and losing my job before the break so, I can't do much of anything.  I just wanted to let you know whatever happens, thank you for creating an outlet for me and many other people who had none with no place else to go to voice our free thinking opinions and not feel like social outcasts.

 In positive news, there

 In positive news, there has been tons of progress on the new server and upgrading our current sites.  It is coming sooner than later now.

 

Thanks Digitalbeachbum!