The Steel Guitar Forum

b0b tells us in this thread that his line charges alone run $825 per month. That is $9,900 per year -- roughly ten grand -- and that doesn't count capital investments for equipment, and operating costs such as maintenance, office space, etc. It is remotely possible that b0b makes enough profit from sales to cover maintenance costs - but even that may be doubtful. There are currently registered with the Forum 5397 members. I think we can safely assume that at least half of that number represents casual lurkers. If this is anywhere near a valid assumption, then about 2,500 of us use the Forum on a regular basis. Dividing it out, the "fair share" of the line costs for each of us would be about 4.00 per year. Like church offerings, many members contribute little or nothing, so the rest need to contribute enough to pick up the slack. So, considering all of this, each of us who is an active participant in the Forum and who really cares about keeping this great Forum alive should be donating at least $10.00 to $20.00 each year. (And I suspect that $25.00 or $50.00 wouldn't put most of us in the poor house.)

Would all of those who donate $10.00 or more each year please stand up?
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I'm posting this under "Events and Announcements" because I believe that donations should be a periodic "event."


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<FONT SIZE=1 COLOR=BLACK><P ALIGN=left>Visit my Web Site at RoysFootprints.com
Browse my Photo Album and be sure to sign my Guest Book.

Well, I would say over the past year between instrument sale donations, plus the purchase of strings and CD's I've contributed at least $50.

I'm with Roy on this one. Think about how much knowledge, advice and out-and-out entertainment we get from the forum each year. That would <u>easily</u> be some multiples of $10 or $20, I'd bet. Then think how much a person can spend each year on Christmas gifts, newspaper/magazine subscriptions, movies, CDs/DVDs, coffee from the java-hut down on the street corner, what have you. Think about what a great & unique forum this really is. And then donate to the SGForum accordingly, whatever that may be. Lots of modest donations can add up fast! This forum depends upon our support. (There, all done, I'll get off my soap-box now. And no, I don't work for public broadcasting...) <font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by John Pelz on 26 December 2005 at 03:36 PM.]</p></FONT>

Roy glad you brought this up. Count me in for $30 plus I could probably use a couple sets of strings.
b0b- money's on it's way.Thank you for your efforts and Happy New Year.

Roy, thanks for the little nudge that we all need every now and then---IMHO, whether it's $1.00 to $5.00 per month isn't too much to ask when one post can save you "boo coo" cash based on the pros and others who "chime" in (pardon the pun) here on a regular basis with great info/solutions. b0b has my payment for the year and I made it fairly close to my anniversary date of officially joining this great forum---Of course, everybody has a budget and it's a personal/confidential choice---Thanks again Roy and as always, thanks to b0b for his time/effort--Happy New Year to all! Carl
P.S. John, I just read your post, so I'll kick the old soap box on down the road! ha<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Carl Williams on 26 December 2005 at 04:55 PM.]</p></FONT>

Roy- A good and important post. I am sure many forum members contribute evry year.

I send my annual contribution to b0b at the end of every year. It will be sent out right after the Holidays.

I wish a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New year to everyone....al


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My Website..... www.cmedic.net/~almarcus/

Roy thanks for the much deserved "Kicking" there will be action when the post office re-opens.............. Happy new year to all............

I gave at the office.

Seriously, Roy, it's the thing to do. I think there should be an annual ponying up of 'dues', but lacking that, contributors should think of this time of year as a time to kick in the extra.
Pass it on.

Roy, count me in!!!
Send particulars; to whom and where?

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Would someone please post b0b's address, if that's where the support checks are to be sent. I'm here almost dailey so it's 'bout time a pay the fiddler.

Mailing address:

The Steel Guitar Forum
148 South Cloverdale Blvd.
Cloverdale, CA 95425
USA

Also: hit the "Contact Us" underlined word pair at the bottom of select pages.<font size="1" color="#8e236b"><p align="center">[This message was edited by Ray Minich on 27 December 2005 at 06:36 AM.]</p></FONT>

No one gets anymore benefit out of the SGF than myself, so Bob I will be forwarding $25.00 toward the cause. I would hate to see this page go away.

I ordered two DVDs recently for $60 and sent $100, the rest as donation.

Thanks, Roy, for bringing that up, and thanks b0b for investing your time and money into keeping the forum alive!

Kind Regards, Walter

www.lloydgreentribute.com
www.austriansteelguitar.at.tf

I contribute at least 25.00 several times a year and am glad to do it. This forum is the portal to the worldwide steel guitar community.

To me,the Forum is worth at least as much as a typical magazine subscription.
Go figure, and send b0b a check.

I'm in. I never thought about the cost of keeping this together. So info like this is another example of the educational value of the forum. Now I know why there was something like a steel guitar college (Jeff's?) because that's how much there is to know, and a lot of people here have PhD level knowledge.
And this is an international forum where you get posts from everywhere. This forum is like an international small town where everybody can trust each other.
Also there's entertainment. I've bought a lot of CDs people mentioned here. It's a good way for people to get the word out about their projects.
So a donation is in order. And since there are steelers out there who are unemployed, sick, retired on a small income, called up to he military and had a huge drop in income, etc, some of us might want to consider donating twice. This really isn't self-sacrificing, because it all comes back to you anyway.

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"Drinking up the future, and living down the past"--unknown singer in Phoenix

As with the other organizations I support, I try to spread several donations out through the year.
Perhaps some of the folks who have just stumbled across this great resource were unaware they could support it finacially...

And being a non-profit, those who itemize might find this a great time to do so!

Thanks again, b0b!

count us in for 20.00 +
Allen & Brenda McCormick

Actually, let's fact=check that statement about bob's Steel Guitar Forum being not-for-profit (although it may be unprofitable). I'm not certain that is true. b0b? What's the facts?
But that is neither here nor there. I'm not thinking of tax deductions when I read, post on or donate to the SGF. Yep. Just Do It. Oh crap, here come Nike's lawyers.

You can also use PayPal to make a donation, as I just did. Click on "Make a Donation" on the first page just below "Click Here to Enter." Happy New Year, b0b, and thanks for having this fine resource for steel players everywhere.

Paypal. Great idea. Just go to the top of this page, click on anything except "Links," then over on the left click on "ordering," and there is paypal. No messing with checks and mailing. Saves bOb a lot of time, too.

There's another way to raise $ for the forum.
Use the forum to give things away with the understanding that the recipient will make a donation. But don't be dumping junk.

Roy - As an amateur radio operator, I can relate to this - the ones who use the repeater most pay the least or 0. Let's share the burden... ---j---

Thanks for your post Roy, newcomers like me might not have known how this website runs. I have run a website in the past, and I never got any financial help from anyone in 3 years. At least it was deductible.
I needed strings anyway, and I sent a little for the 'kitty"
Thanks b0b for all you do for us.

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David.C. Wright
GFI SD10P Dynacomp Pod Evans SE200 Fender Deluxe Reverb

I'd just like to say that I really appreciate all of the help I've been getting from folks this month. The Forum is ending the year in the black, thanks to all of you.

MVA wrote:

<SMALL>And being a non-profit, those who itemize might find this a great time to do so! </SMALL>

That's not really true. The Steel Guitar Forum is a California business for sales tax purposes, and also has a business license from the City of Cloverdale, but it is not a non-profit organization. Donations are not tax-deductable.

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<img align=left src="http://b0b.com/b0bxicon.gif" border="0"><small> Bobby Lee</small>
-b0b- <small> quasar@b0b.com </small>
System Administrator <span style="text-align: right; font-size: 0.75em; font-variant: small-caps">
My Blog</span>

Roy, I think you said it perfectly. I wouldn't have a problem of having an annaul "dues" of 25 dollars a year. Count me in.