[Theforum] Revenue - m.e.o. accounts

Luther, Ron Ron.Luther at COMPAQ.com
Mon Mar 18 13:07:12 CST 2002


Hi Hugh,


To carry that a step further ... {and maybe a step too far!}:

(a) It's not unusual for volunteer organizations, or professional societies to have an annual 'membership fee'.  It's not paying for hosting - it's paying to 'be a member'.  What do we withhold from non-members?  Maybe only voting rights.

(b) Many charitable organizations, (and similar things like museums and [stage] theatres), have different levels of contributions - things like 'sustaining' memberships, etc. Often accompanied by plaques on the wall for contributors.

I bring this one up with a little trepidation because, while I'm not particularly offended to see ExxonMobil giving money to the local theater here in town and getting a plaque on the wall --- I'm not sure if we would welcome their 'e-plaque' on our 'e-wall'.

How far would we want to go with this?


RonL.
(Okay - but what if the contribution came from Microsoft?)

-----Original Message-----
From: Hugh Blair [mailto:hblair at hotfootmail.com]

"Charging" for an m.e.o. account *does* have it's problems, as you've
noted. How about this idea?

Those with current m.e.o. accounts are 'requested' to 'donate' some
(to be determined) amount for their site. Those that don't donate,
just will bear any burden on their conscience. It's not unusual for
organizations to have some costs associated with various services
like newsletters, mutual referrals to members etc. The Donation
amount should somewhat reflect what's charged for similar accounts
in the 'open' market.

New requests are told that there is a (to be determined) Donation to
evolt.org for a new testing/learning space. This Donation is used to
cover evolt.org's expenses,




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