Donate to Stage48

Good evening,

as you will have noticed, Stage48 is going through a bit of a change these days. There's still a number of things to come. The main page should start looking even more colorful than it is now, posting (and "liking") functions will be extended, and of course I'll be posting the new rules once I feel everything else is running just fine.

For a long time we, the staff, were against accepting any money from our members. It's been suggested several times but it didn't seem necessary or right. Call it false pride or whatever. Since then the forum has grown a lot. We're in our seventh year. In 2013 only, Stage48 recorded approximately 2.08 million unique visitors and 6.63 million visits.

We decided to introduce the idea of donations around the time I posted the forum announcement in September last year. At that point we still thought we were going to continue using phpBB. But I had been looking into other options, and in the end I decided that I wanted to go all the way and not just change a few things but the whole engine. The change to Xenforo was my idea; MrWaffle has been financing it up until now.

The reason we haven't been mentioning donations up until now is that I wanted to be able to show a result first and demonstrate that we intend to keep making this the best place for you guys. Together with @aezea we're going to make the most out of it.

Many of you will have noticed the downtime today. In response to that we put in an order to double our amount of RAM. We shouldn't run into any bigger problems in the near future. It's frustrating that as the major forum for one (or arguable THE) biggest act in Japan we can't deal with a few hundred users. We should be purring through that like a cat. Having the forum crash during bigger events is simply not an option anymore. Anyways...

There are several things that we plan to partly or fully cover:

• Server costs
• software/hardware updates, extensions or changes
• yearly Xenforo support fees
  
• paid add-ons for Xenforo
• pro accounts for imgur (used extensively throughout the forums), Vimeo, etc.
• hiring web / graphic designers for smaller jobs
• giveaways in forum competitions
• blackjack and hookers
• and so on...

There is no need for any of you to feel obligated to donate. Neither Waffle nor I would ever let this forum die. I'd sell my last shirt if it would mean being able to continue to offer this place of fandom exchange. You probably wouldn't notice a difference in forum performance.
The donations are supposed to serve as a safety net. Whenever we're in need of additional resources, I don't want us to have to worry about actually being able to afford it. We shouldn't have the site depend on one or two people. It's just too important for that.

In the future, I intend to use this thread as a place to let you guys know about the things we've invested in so you'll know what your money is going to.
Also, depending on the response to this, I will introduce an option to give donors some kind of extra badge so that they'll get some recognition from everyone for helping us out.

We created a button on the main page. You should be free to put in any amount. Please be aware that the currency is US dollars. If for some reason the form doesn't work for you, you can send a direct payment to donations@stage48.net.

Thanks in advance.

 

I would like to donate but I'd rather see what it's being used for before I donate. Even if it's something as trivial as server fees, that makes me feel a lot better.

 

Agree with joooooooooe, if you going to be spending our money on hookers, we need proof.

 

At this point the yearly expenses for Stage are easily in the hundreds. The update we made after Request Hour to extend our RAM bumped us up another hundred.

In the OP I gave examples of things that we're going to use the funds for. Was I not specific enough? Ideally we'll be able to fully cover the server fees, since that's the biggest chunk. Any funds we're getting that exceed our expenses of that given year will be used in future years. I doubt it's going to be a steady or regular source of income, so anything that can't be used now will come in handy later.

The first "member-sourced" purchase is an extension of the rating ("like") system that you got to try out in the first few days. It's already up as part of the forum but not fully configured/active yet.

I'll make sure to get a receipt.

 

They wouldn't spend it on hookers, extra handshake tickets or rare BLTs maybe, but not hookers.

 

Donated! Love the site, sorry I can't give more.

 

I'd like to see this implemented first before I commit.

 

You'll have to wait a little. It's all connected to the new rules and everything. There's no need to hurry with any donations anyway (no need to donate at all). We're still here next week, next month and next year so a donation is welcome any time you feel like giving one.

 

I'm in for the funding of blackjack and hookers. In fact, forget the blackjack!

 

I think I can wait, because my card expires this month and I just receive paypals notice, LOL.

BTW, just is there a funding for @Afro_Stud image host. I don't want to see that disaster two years ago, such a loss.

 

Donated! I feel good supporting our Stage48 Community and to see it grow!

Edit: This forum even saves drafts automatically thats amazing!

 

Donated too =)
This forum is amazing and a great way to connect with other fans.
Blackjack, hookers and server space are all good uses of my money

 

I've donated too! Not much because I don't have money right now especially when it's sousenkyo period haha

 

You don't all have to donate something NOW, you know. It's not like we're in a hurry or need to get xy amount together by the end of the month. Just do whenever you feel like it.

Please check your e-mails for a message from me in case your donation hasn't been confirmed yet.

 

If you guys keep it up like that pretty much every forum member will be flaunting a 'donor' badge in a few days.

 

Yeah i know, just though I'd do it now rather than next time since it's so fresh in my head now haha ^^;

 

I donate to almost every forum I'm in and def will be donating to this one. I'll wait till after the Senbatsu Sousenkyo though.

 

Might as well, since i've been here for a while although i don't know how much is a lot or a little to donate.

 

I've donated, thanks for giving us this site!