What do you think is fair?

[Justin]

Please indicate how you think we should be funded, you can select up to 3 options.

[fredster]

now quote me if im wrong here ... lol
i once enquired about such a fee for my own forums and was told it wasnt legal to do so .. for whatever reasons i cant quite remember.
why not simply add a nominal fee to something that we all regularly order and do it that way? or sell something crazy like a fridge magnet and add the cost on top? it worked for me

[Justin]

i once enquired about such a fee for my own forums and was told it wasnt legal to do so ..

Not something I'm aware of but I will look into this. I would have thought if the forum was made part of a business it could be done.

[fredster]

as i said i cant quite remember as it was about 3yrs ago now...

[accdave]

Justin I think DFS is funded by selling sofa's

[Justin]

Awww jees, it had to happen I guess. OK, I'm willing to give everyone 5 years free credit but be quick...sale ends Sunday at 4!

[jennywren]

If it is true you can't charge memnership fees for a forum, then charge it for advertising, this is what we do to raise funds for group that I belong to, and in away thats what you do.

[JSR]

i once enquired about such a fee for my own forums and was told it wasnt legal to do so ..

Not something I'm aware of but I will look into this. I would have thought if the forum was made part of a business it could be done.

I've not heard of that either. So long as it's declared (and the cost of the hosting is declared, too) in your books, then surely it's just as legal as any other legal business transaction.

Likewise, if we pay by PayPal, we'll all get a payment receipt and we can all declare our payments in our own books too. Everything's above board, no worries.

[Andrew]

I personally think it should be optional on fees. We are trying to build a decent membership base and compulsory charges would hinder this. For those that donate to the forum then added benfits should be given. Website listings/backlinks, special offers arranged with suppliers, "members only" section could be created. Supplier Advertising /Supplier pages are a must in my opinion. Doesn't have to be a large fee and all suppliers should be welcome to have their own section. We already have a listing for suppliers so one step further shouldn't be a problem. We want this to be the main resource for sublimation and it has built well so far so it's time to move onward and upward.

[Justin]

OK, latest results on the poll indicate most members would prefer advertising/sponsorship etc. as a way of funding. A fair bit of support for £5/£10 per annum membership as well.

My thoughts at the moment are to have a single advertising banner at the top of the forum and a section devoted to suppliers where they could advertise promotions/new products/discounts and so on. Member would then have the option whether or not to view these sections. Just thinking out loud at this stage but I will start to look at adapting the forum towards this. We'll still need regular donations which just aren't happening right now, other than a couple recently (many thanks to you both!) but this would give us a great foundation.

If I have any further ideas I'll post. I don't really want to start the whole debate on adverts again. I know some members wouldn't be happy, I'm not that chuffed myself but unless we can find a better way.....