How is the Creek doing with donations?

[Tom Henry]

Last year during the month of November we were given blow by blow on the fund raiser/donations so everyone had an idea how the Creek was doing. Any chance of that happening this year?

[Drew Armstrong]

Yes... How much are we looking for total and where are we so far?

Drew

[Mike Heidrick]

I know we are +1 more than yesterday

[Tom Henry]

Aaron-

Any updates?

[Keith Outten]

Sorry, I don't have any updates as I haven't communicated with Aaron for a couple of days. We have been receiving some donations, Jackie and I are doing the account updates and Aaron has the data so we have to communicate to get the big picture.

I think since we started selecting FreeStuff Winners there has been a small increase in donations as more people become aware of our fund drive but my best guess is that we are approaching about 8% of our Active Members donating at this time. I can't get this information from our back office because we still have contributors from previous years in the listing and I can't sort on just 2008 so I need Aaron's help to get to the information. Accessing the database directly is out of my skill set. I think it is safe to say the Shop Tours module will be way out of reach again this year and it is doubtful that we will be able to save any finds for programing from this years fund drive.

Today is Jackie's birthday and I believe that Aaron has offered to cook her birthday meal so we should all be together this evening.

.

[Tom Maple]

How long does it take for the Members' List to show that one has made a contribution?
I made one a week ago via PayPal and I'm still listed as a member - not a contributor.
Just curious.

[Keith Outten]

Tom,

I just checked and can't find your donation. Send me a PM with the transaction ID, email address or some other information that I can use to search for your transaction.

.

[John Schreiber]

. . . my best guess is that we are approaching about 8% of our Active Members donating at this time . . .

That's really disappointing. I know that in almost everything, a few carry the weight of the many, but I would have thought it would have been much better here on the creek.

[Bob Feeser]

This is just an idea, maybe it is a good one, maybe not. Others may know better than I. But...

I was not a donater before, having joined the creek after the November fund drive, but all the while, I felt funny with just a member status hanging under my name, but here were my feelings
I didn't want to shell out 50 bucks. I belong to a lot of forums, and if I supported each and every one of them, it would add up.
Then I saw a signature area on the bottom of someones message that said something like, "A typical donation is only $6" I loved sawmill creek so much I immediately went into Pay Pal and became a 2008 contributor.
Do others possibly feel the same as I do? Maybe they are embarrassed only spending 6 bucks so they don't step forward, but on the other hand, they may be shy when it comes to spending 50. For those who want to contribute more that is great, but a lot of 6's really can add up, and do a lot of good.
I would do a test, and place the "typical $6 message" right on the home page, where the donate announcement is and measure how many people donate, and how much, then compare that to the current results you are getting. I bet Pay Pal will be hooking up another server to handle all of the flow.
Just a suggestion. I know what worked for me, maybe it will work with others as well.