As I'm sure many of you have noticed, we've started a donation drive of sorts, where members can contribute $ to DaniWeb in exchange for membership perks. However, I'm very disappointed to say that it's not providing the results I was expecting.

Sooo ... I just thought I would open it up to discussion. Why not donate? Are the benefits not worth it? Would ad-free DaniWeb browsing be a good enough motivator? How much would you pay for an ad-free DaniWeb experience?

Great ideas but in the end it just doesn't cut it. Here's how I see it...

Stuff you get if you donate
If the inbox approaches 100 (capacity) you just clear it. I don't know about you but, the PM's I get are mainly from random people begging for help.

Cute idea but hardly worth donating money for.

I won't quote the others because they're mostly the same as the one above.

In the end, it comes down to the fact that people are very unwilling to part with their money. That's unlikely to change.

Maybe, if revenue is dropping, you're going to have to consider incorporating more intrusive ads into daniweb. It's decision time. Because in reality that is the only way you're going to be able to keep this place a float. Hoping for healthy member donations is just that... A hope/dream.

I don't need to tell you this. You probably know it already.

Good luck.

So... the glass is half empty? From your point of view, iamthwee, what features / additions would YOU like to see, that you WOULD pay just a little money for? Anyone for that matter, what things could Daniweb offer, that would entice you to want to be a member?

One solution, that might help a little bit, is to consider accepting donations by some other means than paypal. I have a lot of friends (as we are all paranoids) who won't even consider the idea of having account information online. Maybe it's a paranoia, maybe it's old-fashionism, but sending a money order is the only way some people will approach the concept at all.

When you get to the payment page you can see that I accept mailed checks.

Oops :o New Addition. Well done Dani.

Would anyone be interested in such things as DaniWeb T-Shirts, caps that kind of thing? Assuming that DaniWeb were makigna small profit on each sale to help towards site upkeep of course.

Ohhh ahh a T-Shirt, I may buy it just as a Novelty item .