donations

[craig45]

i've looked around trying to find where to make a donation to this forum. i can't find one, blindness on my part is a possibility. i know it costs some $$$ to run this board and the wife and i would like to help out. this is a fun place to hang out and you can also learn alot here. any ideas on how to go about it?

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[Scott]

craig45,

Bumper has never mentioned accepting donations to help with the forum. It is actually a big decision to take people's money to support a site like this. I have been through it before and don't envy Bumper having to ever make that decision. Bumper will respond I'm sure and I'm also sure he appreciates the offer.

You can help right now by being a contributor to the forums.

Thanks,
Scott

[craig45]

that's cool. i just wanted to help out if it was needed.

[P95Carry]

Craig your generosity is laudable - thx for that.

It would indeed be Bumper's decision.

[HollowpointHank]

Send to: HollowpointHank c/o General delivery Elgin S.C. 29045 Oh! and Thank you!!!!

[Bud White]

Craig that goes to us mods in the From of Ammo First up is Bud White with 500 S&W Thanks Pm for my Addy

[craig45]

hahahaha. very funny guys. everybody here is a comedian. on the other hand at least what you're asking for IS gun related.

[Bumper]

Thanks, craig, I really appreciate that you are getting enough enjoyment out of the forum that would be willing to donate towards it's costs. I hope everyone is getting useful information from it's existence. I know I do.

My vision, and the reason I started the forum, and the reason I keep it going is to support our cause. I want this to be a place where people can go to participate in (or just sit in on, by lurking) sensible discussions about concealed carry issues. I want those that oppose us to find us in their searches for information and go away thinking maybe they were wrong about us and we are not all a bunch of gun nuts looking for someone to shoot. I want everyone to see that we are rational and genuinely concerned for the safety of our families and ourselves.

I want a parent to have a place that they can take their kids (or spouses or boyfriends/girlfriends or just friends) when they are eligible to carry and say here, spend some time on this site to learn what concealed carry is really all about.

I have said, from the start, that when the site goes out of control like so many other forums, with members not wanting to post because they are opening themselves up to being ridiculed or otherwise "pounced on" or when you can't read a thread without having to cringe over cusswords, or when we have a growing membership of keyboard commandos that are looking for someone to shoot, I will close it's doors. If I charge for membership I lose some of my control over who gets to be here and what they can do when they are here. I am committed to keep this a civil and clean place above all else. I think all of you deserve that and, if you've been here awhile have come to expect it of us. At least I hope you have.

But making money off the forum is not the reason I started it. I hope someday to do something to at least make it break even, but I will never charge a member for being a member.

Thanks again for your support.

[craig45]

bumper... that's why i asked. this is a great place to come to. my wife and step daughter(11 years old) are usually reading here with me. the wife posts too. i just wanted to help out with expenses. over on thr they had a donation going to cover costs only. i contributed there because i didn't know how much it was to run a forum until they posted the costs. if the costs get out of hand, let us know. we'll be glad to help out.

[Bumper]

Thanks, I really do appreciate it!

[Wayne]

The main reason that the owners of the boards don't ask is that if they do, and a member that has given money, gets out of hand/doesn't obey the rules, then they have a lawsuit (paying for a service and then that service being taken from them). When you give, even if it's a donation, that includes the person as a "stock holder" sort of speak and thus, if banned, removed, they are entitled to just compensation for the monies given for the service.

Think of it this way. If I own a house and I have a friend that comes over all the time. I charge him (or he gives me) money each time that he does. He now has a vested interest in my house, since he is helping to pay the morgage. We have a fall out, he is no longer my friend (or I his) and he's pissed. He wants to get back at me so he files a motion to take his "share" of the house. He is legally able to do so because I took his money with the expressed action that the money was going to pay for the house. He is entitled to his "fair share" even if the money was given voluntary and without a signed agreement that it was for the house payment.

Now, since this is Bumpers house, he is responsible for it's upkeep (the rules) and it's continued existance (pays the rent). If he shares this responsibility with others (members) than it's no longer his house but a shared home which now is the responsibility of those that have helped to pay for it, so they have equal say in what will be allowed in the house and they cannot be silenced by the original owner of the house, or a lawsuit will happen and 98% of the time, the shared interest will win.

So, it's just as well that the owners of the board, whether it be Bumper on this board, Oleg on THR, Rich on TFL, Alan (which is another story) on FFF, Dan (which is another story) on OCC, etc.., it's their boards, no matter how or what they did to come to own them, and therefore, have 100% control. But if they started to ask for money, then the boards are now in control of a "board of interest" and has to go through them to make decisions.

Wayne

[P95Carry]

Wayne - I don't think if bone fide donations are made, in the spirit of charitable gratuities, there would be any ''power'' gained or implicit. If however shares were issued and folks have a paper document then things could be different.

Usually donations for boards are asked for and made on the understanding that it yields no rights of property or control. I cannot see major law suits being ''tried on'' by folks who gave and then transgressed, as in failed to follow rules that were available to see before they donated

[rfurtkamp]

In my real, pay the bills life, one of my major clients is a music instrument-related forum with 50k+ members and enough traffic to warrant keeping me on hand for technical issues and program upgrades.

We've made it abundantly clear that donations don't imply a guarantee of anything, and it's seven or so years and counting without any problems.

Sure, we've gotten threats, but with a decent attorney and putting the forum in the hands of a LLC or its ilk, there's no real risk.