What do the donations get spent on?
(1) Over a year we probably spend between $180 and $220 (approx. £120 - £145) on removing the adverts from the site.
(2) We spend $30 (approx. £20)per year for file storage due to the increased speed of downloads for this site.
(3) It costs around $40 (approx. £27) per year for the domain name/security and permission from Proboards to allow us to use our own domain name.
How much should I donate?
I have been asked this time and time again and it's such a difficult question.
In the past we have had donations from £5 to £50. It really is about what you can afford. If you think that £5 is your limit then that is fine for the 12 months.
If you can afford more then that is great! We have a very wide spectrum of ages (I'm aware of people who have donated from 16 to 70+ years of age)
and people from varying degrees of wealth. It really is what you feel comfortable with.
What do you get for your donation?
You get a faster loading service using some of the latest software. No waiting for adverts or images to load.
You'll also get a badge on your profile showing that you have supported the site and entry into a group that will get certain privileges. At the time of writing this, the site is
very new and these privileges haven't been worked out yet.
At this point it is worth noting that donation badges/privileges will last for a year from the date of donation.
Nobody will lose their badge for the moment even though we haven't had many donations recently.
After talks with the other staff we decided that 12 months was the right length of time.
But the most important thing is that you'll be securing the future of the site. It needs financial backing to stay as it is, or indeed to move forward.
On this note, it's also worth mentioning that donating to the site gives encouragement to the staff that give their time free of charge (and recently
that has been a lot of free time while the new site has been developed).
If you have decided to donate, thank you very much, not only from myself (Pebble Admin) but from the staff and all the other members of the site who will benefit from your donation.
All the best and I hope to be chatting with you on PebbleLeague.com for many years to come.
Pebble Admin
