BT3Central Funding FAQ

[Sam Conder]

Here's a brief FAQ regarding the funding of BT3Central.com...

Q: Who pays for BT3Central?
A: You do! BT3Central is a user-supported resource, much like public television or public radio. We run on the principal "if you like what you see here, make a contribution to ensure that it sticks around."

Q: OK, how do I contribute?
A: The shorcut is to click here. It's always available via the "Paid Subscriptions" link in your "User CP". Additionally, at the beginning of each calendar year we have a "Fund Drive" and the funding information is linked to in the header of the site.

Q: Do I get anything special for contributing?

A: BT3Central has designated members who contribute financially as "patrons". There are four levels of patrons: Bronze, Silver, Gold and Platinum with the contribution amounts of $10, $25, $50 and $100 respectively. Patrons are extended a few "perks" for contributing but all patrons have the same perks, regardless of their "level". Currently, those perks are:

• Use of the "Gallery" feature to host images for posting. Unlike the "Attach image" feature all users have, the Gallery pictures can easily be inserted into any post.
• Custom Avatars
• A warm fuzzy feeling deep within your heart.

Q: Is the fund drive the only source of funds for BT3Central?
A: No. BT3Central also has "affiliate agreements" with a few online retailers. Info on that can be found in this post. Historically, affiliates revenue accounts for about 1.7% of the annual BT3Central budget.

Q: What regular expenses does BT3Central have?

A: The fixed costs of BT3Central include:

• Server payment.
• DSL service for Sam to facilitate backup. (This was discussed here. )
• Yearly domain name renewals
• Yearly software license renewals

Q: What happens if BT3Central takes in more than the requested amount in a year? Does someone make money?

A: I hope not. BT3Central is not a corporation and it's tax ID number is my SSN. I'm not looking to make money so I try to spend all of the income on "business related expenses" so as to never turn a profit. I always incur a tax penalty from year to year, but it's not enough for me to worry about. In the event of a surplus, I try to find things to spend the money on that will benefit the site. In the past the surplus has been used for:

• Services and equipment to facilitate regular nightly backups
• An additional hard drive for the server to host images on
• Additional softwares for add features like chat, image Gallery, log file analysis and website management

Q: Why should I give? The fund drive is over and all the requested money was raised.
A: I set the fundraiser amount based on the bare essential amount needed to maintain BT3Central at the same level as the previous year. Obviously, there is room for improvement and additions. As Surplus funds are built, I begin to investigate ideas for upgrades and enhancements as well as anything else that might benefit the community. Besides that, contributing financially, at any level, is an indication of support for what we provide here at BT3Central.