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Site Fundraiser

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Site Fundraiser

[info]squeaky
4/14/08 08:11 am
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I had mentioned in my previous post about a site fundraiser. We have decided to go forward with this. I was planning on offering vgifts and extra userpics for paid users, but was unable to get the code finished in time. Don't worry though, those items are coming as soon as I can get them ready.

So you know the reason we are running this fundraiser is to handle the costs of moving the site to a hosting provider that will better suit our needs. Our current web host recently charged us an overage charge that managed to double our single month costs for running InsaneJournal. We need to move ASAP to keep this from happening agian in the future.

We are going to be running this sale until we can raise the costs needed to cover setup and canceling the contracts with our current provider on two of our servers.

Please don't see this as a sign that the site is running out of money because we are not, we just don't want to drain our reserves for the cost of moving the site.

Now for how you can help. We are starting off by offering Permanently Insane accounts from $60 and InsaneUserpics (5000) userpic slots for $175. You can purchase these items by going to the InsaneJournal Store.

If you want to help out a friend and help the site at the same time, here is a way to find out which of your friends have or don't have paid accounts http://www.insanejournal.com/paidaccounts/friends.bml

Once we can get the site moved and stable I can start concentrating on squashing bugs again. Please don't feel that I have forgotten about your issues because I haven't. I have just been consumed by running the business side of the business as well as keeping the site up and available all that I can.
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  • [info]imma
    4/14/08 12:40 pm (UTC)
    You do wonderful work! Don't worry, we're patient and I'm very sure we'll be able to collect enough money to make this happen.

    Thank you for running the site, and for keeping us up to date always.

  • [info]japoniste
    4/14/08 12:55 pm (UTC)
    Thanks for letting us know. Good luck with the fundraising.
    Will the Perm accounts be available at least until after May 1st?
    *looks at empty wallet*

    • [info]squeaky
      4/14/08 01:01 pm (UTC)
      We will let everyone know soon when the sale is going to end. We are leaving it open ended for now.

      • [info]tiferet
        4/14/08 06:01 pm (UTC)
        Please do keep it open till the end of the month, as many people will not be paid till the 1st.

  • [info]tameiki
    4/14/08 01:06 pm (UTC)
    Do you plan to offer smaller increments of userpics? If you could break it up into $25 - $50 - $75 for however many userpics, that would go much easier on many people's wallets.

    As much as I love my userpics, even I would have a hard time trying to figure out how to use 5000 icons :)

    Regardless, I plan to do something to support you and IJ. Was already planning to change a couple journals to paid anyway.

    Thanks for keeping us up on what's going on. You're swell. ^__^

    • [info]shockadelica
      4/14/08 01:43 pm (UTC)
      I'm with you on this. I would definitely love more user pics, but 5000 is a bit over my budget. I'm already Permanently Insane (and purchased one for a friend too). I like your idea!!

      • [info]squeaky
        4/14/08 01:44 pm (UTC)
        I will look into it. But this could take awhile to program

        • [info]tameiki
          4/14/08 02:50 pm (UTC)
          I realize you have quite a bit on your plate right now so THANK YOU for even considering this as a possibility! :)

        • [info]shockadelica
          4/14/08 02:56 pm (UTC)
          I'm certainly not rushing you. You have enough work for 3 people to get all this done.

          I love how you keep us informed. It makes this place feel like family.

  • [info]annotated_em
    4/14/08 01:07 pm (UTC)
    *rueful* Too bad I've already perm'd and insane userpic'd both of my accounts here. Maybe there'll be another way to contribute coming soon?

    • [info]elke_tanzer
      4/14/08 02:23 pm (UTC)
      You might see which of your IJ flist and/or communities are still on free accounts, and if they're using them a lot, look into gifting them with permanence...

  • [info]jenbug
    4/14/08 01:17 pm (UTC)
    Excellent!

    I was planning to make this a paid account today anyway -- now I can make it permanent instead :)

  • [info]aristoboule
    4/14/08 01:42 pm (UTC)
    Woohoo! I'm sure that there are a few more of my RP journals that could use a perm!

  • [info]spyralshai
    4/14/08 01:42 pm (UTC)
    What about straight-up donations? I got my permanent account in 2004-2005, so I haven't been a useful contributor in quite a long time. I don't have the $$ to spare for the user-pics, but I'd love to donate $5-$10.

    • [info]squeaky
      4/14/08 01:43 pm (UTC)
      If you want to send a donation just send it via paypal to payments@insanejournal.com and note that it is a site donation.

      • [info]ouri
        4/14/08 08:29 pm (UTC)
        Aha! *makes note*

        Good thing I read the comments before I asked the same thing. XD

      • [info]ex_thrace766
        4/14/08 09:57 pm (UTC)
        Sent a little something, hope it helps in some way!

  • [info]cmshaw
    4/14/08 02:32 pm (UTC)
    You might want to hype the friends without paid accounts list!

    • [info]squeaky
      4/14/08 02:48 pm (UTC)
      That's a great idea. I just added it to the post.

  • [info]faedustdreams
    4/14/08 03:00 pm (UTC)
    Couldn't afford to add another perm account or the insane userpics but I did manage to upgrade to perm user pics so hope that helps a bit =D

  • [info]alisanne
    4/14/08 03:45 pm (UTC)
    Eee! Vgifts? Yay! I will be all over them.
    And OMG, 5000 userpics? Wow, I'd never have to worry, would I? *ponders*

    You're awesome, btw! Keep up the great work. :)

  • [info]karanguni
    4/14/08 03:55 pm (UTC)
    Whoo. Will try and go permanent once I get the funds - props, props and many props to you! Don't die from overload, man. xD

  • [info]beautyfulevil
    4/14/08 04:28 pm (UTC)
    Thank you for all you do for the site! It's amazing how on top of things you are when something goes wrong. You're amazing!

    Might have to look into buying some more userpics... or something... I can always use more icons. LOL. :)

  • [info]randombastary
    4/14/08 06:26 pm (UTC)
    Whooooooo!! And that "find out which of your friends has free accounts" thing is very convenient. I've already anon upgraded two people. Thank you for letting me throw money at you. This place is my fav of all the blog servers.

  • [info]stones_throw
    4/14/08 06:43 pm (UTC)
    I would love to buy some extra userpics but $175 is way out of my price range and that's also way more icons then I'd want. If there was a mid-level slot for userpics with maybe a couple hundred userpic slots and somewhere around or under the $50 range I'd be all over that.

  • [info]blackroses
    4/14/08 07:00 pm (UTC)
    Thanks!
    I've bought permanently insane accounts for all of mine.
    You're awesome!

  • [info]firesanctuary
    4/14/08 09:46 pm (UTC)
    The prices are a little steep, I feel. $175 for userpics? I know 5000 is a lot of pictures, but that price range is more than I pay for car insurance in a month for icons. The $60 for perm accounts seems more reasonable, and if I could afford it, I would probably partake. I'm not entirely sure why the prices have increased $20 from the original price, but I suppose that's an executive decision due to your funding needs.

    • [info]squeaky
      4/14/08 10:23 pm (UTC)
      That item is so expensive because we dot expect nor want too many people to purchase it.

  • [info]candledark
    4/14/08 10:31 pm (UTC)
    Yay permanent journals! I'd been waiting for this, pretty much constantly checking for it, in fact. ¬.¬ Time to celebrate!

    $.035 a picture. I wants, it's so shiny! My only reservation would be that loading 30 pictures takes forever as it is, let alone attempting to put them in any sort of useful order without deleting everything and starting to reload everything all over again.
    ("Oh, snap! Misplaced a Dr. Who icon in the middle of LotR icons, deleting icons 1464 through 3054 and starting over again." Guh. That's the stuff of nightmares!)

    • [info]squeaky
      4/14/08 10:59 pm (UTC)
      Yeah, I hope to write a better userpic management page as soon as I can

      • [info]haruka
        4/15/08 12:52 am (UTC)
        Any idea why my icon upload page disappears entirely in Firefox (I get a white screen and the word 'done' at the bottom, but nothing's there) and freezes my system entirely in IE 7? Is it because I've got over 1000 icons uploaded or just due to the overload issues on the server lately or both? :(

        • [info]squeaky
          4/15/08 12:55 am (UTC)
          Mainly due to server overload issues. When we get our new servers up and running I feel that we will be able to better serve all of you.

          • [info]haruka
            4/15/08 12:58 am (UTC)
            That's fine then. :) Thanks for the speedy answer!

  • [info]lalique
    4/14/08 11:18 pm (UTC)
    Thats an awesome idea! I plan on buying a permanently insane journal, in support of this fundraiser.

    Hopefully it won't take long for you guys to save up enough money!

    Good luck!

  • [info]ex_oz659
    4/15/08 12:34 am (UTC)
    i like that you're doing this but like some others said 5000 is a lot of unneeded pictures and 175 is a lot of cash to throw around for userpics. i'm sure if that was handled better and broken up better more people would be interested in sending money your way

  • [info]jadewindrose
    4/15/08 02:00 am (UTC)
    Yay! Yay!

    Except.... can you please run this at least through May 2? No more money this month!

  • [info]fursplode
    4/16/08 08:55 pm (UTC)
    What about those of us who want to help, but don't necessary want, or need, extra pics or paid accounts? Is there a paypal account we can send stuff too? Just sort of chip in what we can if the other options are too much money.

    • [info]squeaky
      4/17/08 01:27 am (UTC)
      yes if you want to you can send something to payments@insanejournal.com and just make sure to note that it is for the site

  • [info]suhina
    4/16/08 09:55 pm (UTC)
    If you're trying to raise cash fast, I think you're shooting yourself in the foot with the price you're charging for the userpics. While the price per pic is extremely low, $175 is still beyond many people. I know it's way beyond my budget. If you even halved the number of pics and charged $100, I think you would make more money over all, which would help the site more. Otherwise, I wish you luck. This is a great service, and I hope the problems work out soon.

    • [info]squeaky
      4/17/08 01:29 am (UTC)
      I understand that, but I dont want too many people to buy that item. It is designed to be a very exclusive item. We raise the most vie permanently insane accounts.

  • [info]supsupashy
    4/17/08 02:24 pm (UTC)
    How long should it take for a payment to be processed? I made two purchases this morning, and while paypal has sent me the notification that I made the purchase I haven't seen the upgrades to the actual accounts yet.

    • [info]squeaky
      4/17/08 02:27 pm (UTC)
      If you aren't seeing the payments going through, feel free to open a support request, just be sure to include your paypal transaction IDs.

  • [info]scorpio
    4/17/08 07:38 pm (UTC)
    omg that is awesome :D maybe i can scrounge up some money to get a permanent account!

  • [info]macvarish
    4/19/08 11:53 am (UTC)
    Just made a small donation on behalf of my RPG community. Keep up the great work! I also purchased more user icons and the check is in dee mail! :]
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