How we can support Atheist Nexus, and why we should.


Last weekend, I started a discussion here, about money. By the laws of unintended consequences, this discussion morphed into active fundraising to keep Atheist Nexus viable.

To reiterate some points from the earlier discussion, and expand:

Current funding for Atheist Nexus consists mainly of

Google Ads: $150 bucks monthly
Donations from members: $35.00 monthly.



Members: 10,000
Unique Monthly Visitors: 200,000
Monthly Page Views: 1,000,000

Atheist Nexus is in the top 75,000 most visited sites on the Internet.

Based on the numbers (Br. Richard, please correct me if they are not accurate), the reach for Atheist Nexus is tremendous. Will a billboard reach so many? A bus ad? I don't know. Considering the investment, the return is amazing.

That's also the issue. Atheist Nexus is currently run by a volunteer administrator, with minimal contributions. No one can begin to survive on that amount of money. If we are going to have a full time Atheist Nexus administrator, then it's time to jump start the development of a funding process. Same for making programming changes to expand the capability of the website. Same for creating a not-for-profit organization.

I think that many members of Atheist Nexus would contribute, but the green "donate" button is a bit like wallpaper - we see it for a while, then forget about it. Or we think, maybe next time. Last weekend, with encouragement of matching funds, quite a number of Atheist Nexus members stepped up to the plate with contributions.

Two members are providing a time-limited offer of matching funds, up to $750 each, for contributions of at least $25.00, by Oct 15th. Just go to the green "donate button" on the front page, and click on it. Then leave a note on the comment wall for Louis Davout, so that your contribution can be matched, tripling it's value.


For those who have, thank you so much. For those who have not, I'm hoping that you'll be inspired to make a contribution, to the amount that you are comfortable with, as a personal investment in keeping Atheist Nexus viable and starting us towards a more sophisticated process of keeping the site vibrant, exciting, influential, and welcoming.

Over the next week, I'll continue posting information and background regarding funding for Atheist Nexus. Please check on this thread to learn more during the days to follow!

Tags: funding

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Chrys Stevenson on September 17, 2009 at 10:59pm
I do hope people will donate. I may be way over here in Australia, but I know how hard Brother Richard works. As I'm in a different time-zone I'm in a position to chat to him at sometimes 'ungodly' hours of the morning his time. More than once, I've emailed him saying, "GO TO BED RICHARD!" Recently, I know, he did a nearly 48 hour stint sorting out glitches on the site and making himself ill in the process.

The pity is, Richard's so busy he doesn't get enough time to let us know what he's doing, so people just assume he's just sailing along happily - or, more likely, they don't think about how the site is run and what happens 'behind the scenes' at all.

I said this in another thread, but I think it's worth repeating here. If you have a car, you pay money to have the engine serviced because, if the engine isn't looked after, your car won't go. Richard is the engine that drives this site. Without Richard, the site won't run. I don't know of anyone else who would work the hours that he does, and cope with the stress that entails, for no reward, and not even enough to properly maintain the site.

Please chip in if you can possibly afford it. If you wouldn't think twice about going out and spending $25 on lunch, then skip one lunch and donate it to Atheist Nexus. If you're working and reasonably well off, consider a regular contribution to the site - $10 a month is about what you'd pay for a magazine subscription, and I bet you get a lot more out of Nexus than most magazines.
Permalink Reply by Louis Davout on September 18, 2009 at 12:55am
"but the green "donate" button is a bit like wallpaper"

I'm so used to tuning out 'ad-like' sections of web pages I didn't even notice it.
Permalink Reply by Sentient Biped on September 18, 2009 at 10:32pm
Sydni,
This does sound interesting. I'll pass it on.
Permalink Reply by Sentient Biped on September 19, 2009 at 11:48am
Our challenge at the moment is that Atheist Nexus is not registered as a not for profit. That is one of the goals for the fundraising effort - to jump through the legal hoops to attain that status.

Sydni, thanks for the link - I copied from the auction site here. It looks like a great idea.

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Permalink Reply by Marc Draco on September 18, 2009 at 6:07am
I'll take some advertising, if that helps, but I'm not really interested in the sucky Google model - I want guaranteed coverage (not necessarily clicks, although that helps) and the ability to target areas of the site that interest my clients.
Permalink Reply by Andrew on September 18, 2009 at 9:54pm
Although I am not currently in a position to advertise, I was recently looking for an online tutor for my daughter and thought about my options. I would prefer to choose from within A|N if possible, but there are no classifieds or advertising by members to sift through. If there was an option like this I would seriously consider it.

Although as a Canadian I'm not a hugh supporter of the 'Buy American' policy I can understand the principle, and would support a 'Buy A|N' initiative.
Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on September 18, 2009 at 9:24am
How much has been raised so far with the current matching funds offer?
Permalink Reply by Sentient Biped on September 19, 2009 at 12:26pm
The contributions went up to the matching funds and then some. $926.00. I know that one matching fund has been sent this am, I don't know about the other yet.

As a goal, we need to raise the equivalent of $1.00 per member by the end of the year. As contributing, or subscribing, members of A|N, members will feel more like it's "theirs". This is separate from the concept of sliding scale memberships, subscriptions, or other ideas.

Im pushing now for a membership card. More to follow.

Part of that funding is toward non-profit status. A|N is currently a money-losing situation, so non-profit will be an improvement. Obviously, far, far fewer than 100% of members will contribute, so the recommended amount at this time is $25.00 per member, but as much or as little as people are comfortable with and willing to contribute to A|N.

Part of the funding is also toward web development, with the remainder toward creating a stable administrator's income. Both steps are needed to keep the site viable, flexible, dynamic, and rewarding.

There are currently 11,349 members. How many are active? I don't have a way to guess. BR may have a way to know.

This is certain - I'm very grateful to the many people who haved already contributed. They have made a big step in keeping this amazing phenomenon of A|N going strong.
Permalink Reply by Chrys Stevenson on September 19, 2009 at 3:22pm
Great work Daniel - and thanks for getting this going! Also thanks to all who've contributed so far.
Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on September 18, 2009 at 7:37pm
That really sucks! This recession/depression is really hitting a lot of groups hard.
Permalink Reply by Jaime Paredes Muñoz on September 19, 2009 at 3:37pm
This is not a recession,this is a Great Depression like in 1929 ,in which 25% of Americans were unemployed.Now,considering part-time works, it is around 15% the unemployment ,and here in Peru it is like 50%, since we depend upon the USA for loans.Japan has ,therefore,become communist,Germany is in the process of becoming communist,Peru is 75% communist and Obama is acting like Bush,make him an atheist,like his father from Kenya and everything will be fine!
Permalink Reply by Little Name Atheist on October 7, 2009 at 3:55pm
50% in Peru Jaime? That's terrible!

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