The DU Budget: Where does all the money go?

[Skinner]

First of all, I want to thank everyone who has donated so far during this fund drive, and I want to thank all of our monthly subscribers who continue to provide financial support to keep this website online. I also want to thank everyone who will donate over the next five and a half days.

We have already brought in a lot of donations, but there is no guarantee right now that we will reach our goal of bringing in 1000 donations in one week. If you've been watching the boxing glove above, you may have already noticed that the frequency of donations has decreased significantly since yesterday.

In the Bush economy, it is no surprise that many of you are unable to help us out at this time. We certainly understand. And we do not want you to give us money if you need it to make ends meet.

But there is no doubt that many of you are not donating because you choose not to. Perhaps you believe that we do not need the money.

There was a time when Democratic Underground was a pure labor of love. EarlG, Elad, and I would each spend a couple hours a day keeping the site online, and our monthly expenses were low. But that time is long past. If you take a look at Alexa.com, you will see that our website gets more traffic than many very high profile sites like The DNC, the DLC, and MoveOn.org. We now spend thousands of dollars each month on our expenses, and this has become a full time job. I no longer have a "real job" outside of DU. This has become my real job. And the continued operation and success of DU depends on the ability to pay me and the other admins a full-time salary.

Free Republic has a yearly budget of $250,000. Right now, our budget is a little more than half of that number. If we reach our goal, and if we bring in as much money as we hope to, then we will be able to afford the following budget:

PROJECTED MONTHLY COSTS TO RUN DEMOCRATIC UNDERGROUND

2,200.00 - Website Hosting & Bandwidth (a bargain for three servers and over 850 Gigs of transfer per month)
895.00 - Rent for our One-room Office
500.00 - Bank Charges and Credit Card Processing Fees
250.00 - Fundraising Expenses (Letterhead, postage, bumperstickers)
300.00 - Business Expenses (Lawyer, Accountant, Etc)
200.00 - Phone, Fax, Long Distance, Cell phones
130.00 - Computer Hardware, Software, and DSL
100.00 - Moderator Training (conference calls)
200.00 - Miscellaneous Expenses
8,200.00 - Salaries & Taxes (Divide by three -- it's not that much)

TOTAL: $12,975.00 per month

We are not currently paying ourselves full time salaries, but we are working on DU full time. And with an election year approaching, we are going to have to start earning full-time salaries.

If you like DU, and if you like spending time on DU, we hope that you will take a moment to help support DU. We deeply appreciate your generosity.

Thank you.

David Allen (Skinner)
DU Admin

[Robin Hood]

1. You folk deserve every penny.

Thank you for breaking it down for us. Unlike the lavish lifestyle that RimJob at Freeperville enjoys for his crappy site. You prove that Democrats are true fiscal conservatives.

[RICHBUM]

75. Can Someone Use the PATRIOT ACT to Find Out How Much Money you REALLY MAKE

If you use a PayPal Account to Collect most of your Donations and you really only make $32,000 a Year, you should ask your Donors to send you Personal Checks because 3% of $96,000 = $2,800 that you're throwing at Corporate EBay, since they own PayPal Now...

But seriously... How much do you really make???

Whatever it Really is... I'm sure you Deserve as much as Need it!!!

SEAN HANNITY Mentioned one of the Articles you Posted on your HomePage from one of your Anonymous Writers. I e-mailed him to Congratulate him on his excellent article and he didn't even know that he had Struck a Nerve with the GREAT SEAN INSANNITY.

Its a Small World... Like your Budget!!! GOOD LUCK!!!

[goddess40]

101. Stick this to the top so everyone can read it

instead of relying on people to keep kicking it to the top

[liberalcapitalist]

2. $500 for bank charges and credit card fees?

You should find a new bank and get a new merchant account. Unless you're taking in vast excess of $12,000 per month, you should not be even close to $500 in credit card fees. My company processes $30,000 per month in transactions (down during the Bush economy, though!) and we pay about $600 or $700... And bank fees? Only about $50 or so, if that.

[Skinner]

8. We may be able to decrease that number.

That number is not entirely for credit card processing fees. That also includes add-ons like the ability to do monthly subscriptions.

We were stuck with a high credit card rate because we were not doing a large volume of transactions when we started out. Also, we do not have a long record for financial institutions to go on.

I have not tried to get the rate lower recently. But now that we are doing a higher volume, we might be able to cut it down a bit.

[Nlighten1]

3. Anyone know how to get in touch with George Soros?

With the kind of traffic and service DU provides this would be a great investment for a sugar daddy like him.

:)

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

4. The mods are yukking it up in the Bahamas

I've heard. Elad ran off with bags full of cash and Skinner is busy ripping copper wire out of the walls!

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

5. You forgot the wardrobe expense

Heck to get a torn T shirt like Elad's at Urban Outfitters is probably 40 bucks! :evilgrin:


Thong dry cleaning and Yak feed isn't cheap either. :D

I am sending you a note authorizing an increase in my monthly donation.
You guys are worth it.

[arcane1]

6. damned snail mail and paydays

it's coming, but I may not make the deadline :evilfrown:

[jeter]

7. How much in donations do you take in?

[Skinner]

9. Hopefully, enough to cover our costs.

We shall see.

[flamingyouth]

10. I can't believe FR has twice the budget of DU

Gee, *that's* money well spent. That has to be one of the worst-looking sites on the web.

I'm going to become a monthly donor.

[LynneSin]

11. Even God says we should donate!!!!

:shrug:

I think I can scrounge up a few extra dollars this month!!!

[Skinner]

14. LOL! That is funny!

Earl and I are laughing out loud here in the office! Great!

[LynneSin]

15. God had to re-edit his sign

Elad's name got dropped off in the sign making

:shrug:

[WoodrowFan]

86. God made an error?

I thought the original sign was inerrant.

[ParanoidPat]

27. Dear God,

If you can arrange for me to win tomorrow's $30,000,000 California Super Lotto Jackpot, I'll match all of this years donations to DU and then DOUBLE it! I'll even pay for a major upgrade to the Black Box Voting web sites, pay all of the expenses for those sites and help the poor and homeless any way I can. All I need is some dental work and some repairs to my '87 Ford van and I'll be fine. Oh! And my job back. (If that's not too much to ask.)

Thanks God!
Pat :)

P.S. If that is too much to ask, I'll settle for being able to post here a while longer till I can afford to donate! :evilgrin:

[VeniceBeat]

12. Wish I Could Afford the Monthly

But every little bit helps, right?

Keep on keepin' on!

:yourock:

[TacticalPeek]

13. DU will get you through times of no money

better than money will get you through times of no DU. (aaaaghk!)

[northzax]

16. er, I don't see a line item for the hot tub

or the 'massages' for the mods. what kinda shady accounting procedures are you all involved in, anyway?

[Skinner]

17. That's under "Miscellaneous"

along with the ice sculpture of Michelangelo's David that pees vodka. (See Top 10 Idiots #133 for the reference.)

[trogdor]

22. ROTFLMFAO!!!!!!!

I just got me some decent multimedia speakers (which ROCK). Now I might need a new keyboard.

[LynneSin]

20. Did you see the receipt we found at DU headquarters???!!!

[Ellen Forradalom]

65. Hey at least they kept the receipt

Try getting your expenses processed without it, never mind the tax deduction.

[EarlG]

28. Well obviously

We give each other massages. No point paying a third party to do it, sheesh.

That reminds me, it's time for my afternoon rub down.

[northzax]

32. my eyes, argh, the pain!

I may never see again, even the mental picture was too much!

[LynneSin]

34. Geez, you guys hiring?

I want a job where we get daily rubdowns

:D

[Zephyrbird]

82. oh damn...... too much information!!

:silly:

[Zephyrbird]

83. oh damn...... too much information!!

:silly:

[alcuno]

18. Salaries of only $32,000/year? Really?

I hope that's wrong.

[Skinner]

21. Well, we aren't all getting paid the same amount.

But yes, the total number above is correct. You are getting a bargain for three skilled professionals.

[underpants]

23. Oh I see all DU admin are equal but some of more equal than others

:bounce:

[alcuno]

24. I didn't think it was enough.

[Skinner]

26. I know. And I appreciate it.

Sometimes I don't think it's enough either. ;-)

But there are perks. I get to be my own boss, which is nice.

[bearfartinthewoods]

29. sharing those' low income but i'm my own boss shoes', may i say

it's priceless....almost.

errr....don't tell she-bear i said i'm the boss..ok?

[alcuno]

31. What's better? A yearly donation or a monthly donation.

Please don't say it's up to me because it doesn't matter.

[Skinner]

41. If you want to do a monthly donation, that would be great.

Having monthly contributors does help us have a consistent minimum income each month.

But if you'd rather give a larger amount less frequently, that's good too.

[TrogL]

63. Geez, what do you guys do all day?

Take turns on the treadmill attached to the generator?

[underpants]

19. Wow that's a pretty high rate for bank fees and credit card fees

I am not trying to tell you what to do but I jsut talked with my fellow acocuntant and we have 250 employees and we only pay about $250 a month in bank fees. We also use American Express and there is not fee. I'm just tyring to help.

BTW- I asked about not receiving a bumpersticker each time I contribute and you said that it was harder not to send me one but you might want to look into giving people that option. I'm just saying.

I wil be contributing (as always) at the end of the week.

[Skinner]

25. Those are credit card *processing* fees.

Those aren't credit card fees for things we buy. We pay our bill on time, in full, every month and almost never have to pay late charges or finance charges.

That number includes the cost to process the donations which we receive from all of you. We pay a percentage for all of the donations which are made to DU. I think it's around 2.5%. That's part of that number, but that's not all of it. We also pay a fixed montly fee for the service that automatically debits money from our monthly subscribers. So far, that total number has averaged a little under $400 per month.

We may be able to cut our rate now that we are processing lots of transactions. See my post above about why our rate is high.

[underpants]

80. Okay. I'm a revenue guy so I don't deal with expenses too much

I had to check with my fellow accountant about our bank fees.

[Stuckinthebush]

30. Skinner, could we all be considered as Board Members

and vote to give you guys a raise?

You deserve it.

[Rabrrrrrr]

33. Hey - how about an auction??

I can't offer you donations in the hundreds of actual cash dollars, but I'd be happy to donate some artwork for an auction, that WOULD bring in some of the actual hundreds of cash dollars.

Might be many more who would be happy to donate *items* to the cause!

i think it's wonderful that you work with half the budget of FR, you aren't stealing money, and DU is 900,000% better looking and easier to read than FR. (I just had a thought - I wonder if FR is purposely set up so poorly so that the posters will automatically be enraged before they post anything?)

[salin]

35. an auction is a very interesting idea

we have many talented DUers.

I don't have much of anything to donate - but would be interested in perhaps buying something...

Don't think anyone would pay for a copy of a book on designing early literacy programs. Or a genuine... used by salin comb - shedded hair included! ;-)

[Rabrrrrrr]

38. Hmmm...used comb? Gives me an idea...

I bet there are many, given the tone of discussions that happen in the lounge, who might pay dearly for used underwear, used bras, etc.

I wouldn't, but I wouldn't disbar anyone from donating $100 to DU becuase they want so-and-sos used underwear.

:-)

Though the used comb is intriguing - perhaps that could become my thing. I will have the largest collection of combs used by DUers in the northern hemisphere!

[salin]

40. LOL DU.. .the used comb collection!

as to the lounge... bet someone might pay for the car wax used to shine a particular car hood...

[Rabrrrrrr]

47. wink wink, nudge nudge

"Car wax", "shine" a "hood". Say no more!!

[LWolf]

53. Hey, you never know.

I'll bet I could find a buyer for the book. The comb...I'd have to see if the finches out there could cough up some seed for ya.

[Skinner]

45. That's an interesting idea.

It might be worth pursuing.

[Rabrrrrrr]

55. Well, if you do, absolutely count me in

I'll even pay for the shipping of the artwork to the high bidder, if he/she is in the US, as MY donation to the cause of elimiating that worthless dynastic fuck and all his brethren, both genetic and idealogical, from this government, for now and in perpetuity.

[Plaid Adder]

74. Me too!

Nobody sane would pay a dime for my artwork, but I'm sure I could come up with something.

At Wiscon, a feminist sci-fi/fantasy con I go to every year, they raise money for their annual book award at a live auction during which they manage to raise enormous amounts of cash for joke items just through general goodwill and having a funny emcee who's willing to do anything. If there ever is a DU con, you could probably adapt the custom profitably. Imagine what you could raise on 'edited' versions of those George W. Bush action figures.

C ya,

The Plaid Adder

[bearfartinthewoods]

104. ya'll will have a hard time believing this but i was the funny auctioneer

in a similar event about ten years ago. we raised almost ten thousand dollars during a marathon 5 hour auction. when i fell down "dead" from the strain, about four hours into it, they auctioned off my body!

we had a blast. it's a shame we don't have large in person meetings where we could do something like that.

[GOPisEvil]

81. By the way, I can attest to the bad-assed-ness of Rabrrrrrrrrrrrrrr's

artwork. The one I bought from him is at the frame shop as I type! :-)

[Rabrrrrrr]

94. hee hee - thanks for the attestation!

And tell that framing shop to hurry up - I wanna see it!

[OneBlueSky]

36. for what this site provides . . .

and for the number of members it accommodates, and for the amount of traffic it services, this is a very reasonable budget, imo . . . though I'm disabled and on a fixed income, I'm going to figure out a way to squeeze out a few dollars to donate before the end of the week . . . this is where I spend most of my time, and where I get most of my news, so I'll do whatever I can (though, unfortunately, it won't be much) . . . thanks for all of your hard work, guys . . . :)

[Cronus Protagonist]

37. Given any thought to text ads above the forums?

Unlike DU, I rely on selling my products and I use the proceeds to keep http://bushspeaks.com, http://hated.com and http://cronus.com online.

I'd like to contribute, but I need to have it as a business deductible.

Ads are my primary way of supporting my favorite web sites. You might have seen some of my banner ads at BartCop and text ads above the Fucked Company forum ( http://bbs.fuckedcompany.com - I don't have any running there at the moment) - I think DU could easily implement text ads to run above the fourms and I'd be a frequent contributor if that was available.

Please consider making them available so I can help you and you can help me and together we can help the cause.

Click Here To See Fair & Balanced Buttons, Stickers & Magnets

[Mirek]

39. hmmmm

Ok, I don't know much... but I do know that if you are paying anywhere near that for 3 servers and 850 gigs of bandwidth (not sure why in the world you would need 3 servers to take care of 850gigs either) you are paying way too much... considering you could get yourself a nice dual 2ghz xeon with 1200GB bandwidth for about $250 per month... unmanaged orcourse, but even managed it would be way way less that what you are paying ;)

send me a mail and save some money, hehe,
Mirek

http://www.friendlywebhost.com

[Skinner]

44. We're quite happy with the service we're getting, thanks.

We've already got a nice dual 2gh xeon.

The three servers isn't for the bandwidth. If DU were all static HTML, we'd be fine. Most of our requests are for database-driven dynamic pages, so we need more processing power.

[Mirek]

50. bandwidth

Well my point about the 3 servers was that anything using up only 850gb of bandwidth wouldn't need that many servers.. not good ones, I host sites that get a lot more traffic using databases and even processor intensive cgi on slower servers, and they are fast, it just seems to me that if you are taking donations from people you should try to optimize how you spend the money... and you can get enterprise lever hosting, on multi-cpu servers for less.

I'm not saying come to me for hosting, I was just going to let you have some links to places... but if you are not interested I'll stay out of it

[Cheswick2.0]

42. Cronus

terrific web page. I haven't been there in awhile and you have some great new buttons. "Leave it it's beaver" cracked me up.

[Skinner]

48. We've considered text ads.

We kinda like the way FARK does it. We think it would be a good idea, for DU, too. We've just never had a chance to do it.

[Noordam]

43. Skinner while I am not sure

when I saw the FR Budget I almost shit. IMHO somebody is making a lot of money over there.

I do not know how much bandwidth they use, but from what I have seen of their site I was not impressed with the software but they have hight budget numbers for system support ?????

Anyway keep on rocking.....

[Skinner]

46. FR does a lot more bandwidth than we do.

They had a 5-year head start on us. Someday we'll catch up.

[RuB]

49. Just waiting for payday end of month.

I won't be the one to smack stupid in the face unfortunately.

[Skittles]

51. my donation will be snail-mailed as always

I consider my donations to the DU an investment in my sanity.

[amazona]

52. mail in donation

I will be mailing a donation but assume it won't arrive in time to be counted in the "drive," as I think first class mail is taking five business days to travel about the country. But that's one more if you want to count it. I am very low income so I can't be as generous as I would like.

[LWolf]

54. Can I assume that

a regular subscription will continue, or do I need to resubscribe? Do the subscriptions show on the boxing glove?

[nostamj]

56. skinner, a suggestion for funding/networking DU

now that you have the ability to 'pin' threads to the top of individual forums, you can offer 'sponsorships' for those forums.

on a NYC cabaret website i visit (and have advertised on), a significant amount of funding comes from selling space to display banner ads (animated or static) which appear in rotation on random. (not useful for you) but, the website also allows advertisers to sponsor a specific page (ie. message board) to get maximum exposure.

there are a lot of entreprenuers, activists, campaigns, bumpersticker makers, bloggers, etc. that hang out on DU. (duh)

i think you could sell/barter enough sponsorships to make a difference in your funding while spreading the DU word further.

the sponsor thread would be 'pinned' and locked. and i think should be limited to a specific number of sponsors. it will be a graphic heavy thread and should be relatively easy to load. and sponsors shouldn't have to compete with dozens of links/banners on a thread.

and with cross linking between sponsors and their sites, the potential for more DU memberships is increased.

if the rates were reasonable, i'd advertise my graphic design work.

whatever you do, keep this lifeline alive.

please.

nost

[SmileyBoy]

57. I'll be sending $20 by money order as soon as I can.

I can send a donation by money order, right???

[jiacinto]

58. I am under stress

but I will try to send a small donation.

[patdem]

59. When can you do CHECKING ACCOUNT DEBITS????

I would love to have my account debited directly, but NO!!

Will you ever be able to do ACH? or will you remain Credit Card ONLY? I mean I would add the $5.00 extra for an ACH...because to remember to print out the form...then the check...makes it too easy for me to forgedaboudit!

[EV1Ltimm]

84. they're using plug n pay...

i use to have to deal with them on a daily basis because of the field i'm in. we made our own gateway just so we wouldn't have to deal with their lazy asses anymore.

not alot of affordable gateways offer ACH, so most of the stuff you see out there are custom jobs.

And furthermore, there's no reasonable means of validating that there is sufficient funds in a checkwriter's account, unlike with a credit card. The best you can do is compare it to a negative file and see if that account has negative items on it, but that won't ensure that du will get their money.

[Myra]

60. I just donated

Wish I could afford more.

Let's keep it coming in guys!

[David Zephyr]

61. I Gotta Get You Guys Some More Moolah, Skinner.

Look for it.

[John_H]

62. You've deserved salaries for a long time

[psychopomp]

64. I don't live in the U.S. but...

...I would like to donate via money order. It is possible, isn't it? Could somebody PM me to walk me through it? Thanks.

on edit: I guess it is the same as sending a money order from w/in the U.S. so, unless I have it wrong, nevermind.

[noiretextatique]

66. DU does take PAYPAL

i use it to donate. it works for international folk, and also for the person who inquired about donating from your checking account.

[northzax]

85. just make sure

that the money order is in US dollars, otherwise the fees are astronomical on this end (I work for a small ngo that gets the occasional foriegn donation)

[Blue-Jay]

67. Enjoy that Hummer, Skinner!

:D

Just yanking a few chains, m'man. I'll at least get you gas money to make it through town. I'll throw in a few more toadskins after Christmas. It's worth it.

Note to all other DUers: Donate if you're able. If not, at least continue coming here to help educate me. This is the best place for information that I've found online, and I appreciate all the hard work that has gone into making DU a reality. I can't thank everyone enough.

-Jay-

[Zomby Woof]

68. I owe much to DU

It is an honor to be able to help a site that has done so much to educate, enlighten, and motivate all of us. Then there is that safety valve known as the Lounge... :-)

My next donation is on its way very soon. However slow the pace of donations has gotten, I am confident it will pick up. Payday for many of us is the end of the week, and who knows? We can deliver that KO to Bush by Sunday!

[WillyBrandt]

69. Keep the fundraiser going past 1000!

At least let the days lapse.

I'm making my first donation at the end of the week and want it to be part of the funraiser.

Thanks, guys. Y'all rock.

[Skinner]

78. The fundraiser will continue until Sunday night.

Whether we reach our goal or not, the fundraiser ends Sunday night.

[bitchkitty]

70. I'll kick in as soon as direct deposit does!

It might be delayed because of V day according to my agency.

[Cronus Protagonist]

71. I'm planning on being the last one to donate

I wonder if I'm the only one thinking that....

Click Here To See Fair & Balanced Buttons, Stickers & Magnets

[Skinner]

79. I hope that you will not wait.

If too many people wait, then we will never actually reach our goal.

At the rate we're going, I think there is a good chance that we won't ever get to 1000. It would be a real shame if we missed the goal because people were waiting for the opportunity to punch Bush in the face.

[CSI Willows]

72. I can only spare $10....

....but every bit counts :). I'm mailing it tomorrow from California hopefully it gets to Washington ASAP

[Plaid Adder]

73. Do you have other sources of $$?

I mean, really, 13K/month is a lot of dough...have you got underwriters, apart from individual evilDUers? I mean, I know Mobil Corporation isn't going to go for it...how much revenue comes in through advertising, merchandising, etc.?

Just wondering,

The Plaid Adder

[Name removed]

76. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Skinner]

77. We also make money through Merchandise sales and banner advertising.

Recently those have brought in approximately $2,000 per month. The rest is covered by donations.

[bearfartinthewoods]

108. a good time to remind people about Amazon!

if you are buying books and enter Amazon by clicking on the link at the top of the homepage, DU gets a commision.!

why not take a minute and change your bookmark for Amazon to this

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0446532231/democraticund-20

then, even if you forget, the next time you buy from Amazon you will automaticly be supporting DU!

[WoodrowFan]

87. Bumper Stickers

Where do you get the bumper stickers done? Here in DC?? I need to have some done for work and maybe if you get a referal they'll give you a small price cut!

[Skinner]

88. We are quite pleased with the company we use.

They do our letterhead and our bumperstickers. They give us a good rate by piggybacking our jobs onto the backs of much larger projects for other customers. Sometimes they even get us stuff for free.

[WoodrowFan]

89. great!

may I Please have their name? You can email it to me in pvt if you want. ty. WF

[kyrasdad]

90. Donate, donate, donate

4 days worth of cigarettes, or two weeks of one a day Dunkin Donuts Large Iced coffee extra light no sugar, or 1 tank of gas, or half the Roadrunner bill, or 3 super sized extra value meal #1's, that's all it takes to help keep this great site going strong!

Anybody But Bush 2004!

[Maeve]

91. Doesn't even have to be that much

Even if all you can afford is enough tea to keep EarlG up all night, kick in!

From Donor #451

[ElementaryPenguin]

92. I am planning to lay a very large amount on you sometime soon...

I hate making you people wait - please bear with me on this, Skinner - it will be well worth the wait!

[ProfessorGAC]

93. My Compliments

Very nice of you to make a public accounting of funds. For those of us who donate, it's nice to know you think highly enough of Du'ers to explain how the cash is spent.

Many thanks.
The Professor

[Zan_of_Texas]

95. organizational structure for progressives

I have been musing about organizational structure for progressive organizations; the one locally I volunteer with is undergoing a difficult time with its structure.

We have a few paid staff (underpaid), and about two hundred volunteers, some of whom work many hours a week. Some have been volunteers for over ten years. Many volunteers also make financial donations. In our organization, which is dedicated to progressive causes, the volunteers have zero power in the structure. A volunteer of ten years or more can be asked to leave by staff with no recourse. The structure is sort of basic non-profit, with an executive director. The place is in an uproar, because the people who are giving their life blood for ideals of fairness, justice, and sharing power are finding themselves in a situation where a few people have power, and the rest just have to deal with it. There's not even one committee of volunteers at present.

The sharing of information here at DU (not to mention funds) is generous and inspiring. Moderation is by its nature hierarchical -- it would be impossible for 34,000 people to moderate these boards. But, would there be a way for trusted, long-term posters to become empowered in the decision-making here? Perhaps a rotating board? Or, has this already been done? (I haven't been around all that long.)

It just occurs to me that progressive organizations have a devil of a time trying to operate with values like consensus and sharing of power that reflects the reality of contributions of all sorts, especially when we use corporate-type hierachies. Reality would be that a few people are working their butts off on DU. But, responsible posting over time is also a contribution. The more avenues are found where power can be shared, the more everyone has a sense of ownership. And, the easier it is to raise money.

Even though our local group is going through these wrenching organizational changes, we had our most successful fund drive ever (in over 30 years) last month -- over $400,000. If we can get some of our organizational structures to better match our ideals, who knows? We might take the fundraising through the roof next time.

[ProfessorGAC]

105. Oooh! I Really Like Your Sig Line

Don't mean to hijack this thread, but that is great. "Paper Ballots Not Vapor Ballots" Very good!
The Professor

[Myra]

96. I just wanted to give this baby a bump

'Cause the donate-o-meter doesn't seem to
be going up very fast...

[Q]

97. I've been uh...mad at DU lately...but I'll STILL donate...

...because there's no other place like it on the web. Believe me...I've looked.

- I once ran a 'non-profit' magazine and I can honestly say that no one is making a 'killing' off this endeavor or getting rich. The costs are reasonable for such a great undertaking.

- Like many others during a Bush Economy...I can't afford a lot right now...but I'd like to help in any way I can.

- On edit: just donated. Wish it could be more...but hopefully I'll be around for the next 'fundraiser'.

- Once again...thanks to DU for all their good and hard work.

[Q]

98. Way Early Morning Kick

...

[newyawker99]

99. kick

:kick:

[prolesunited]

100. Glad to see you still here!

:hi:

[Q]

102. Sometimes I'm a 'troublemaker'...

...but I can still recognize the value of a community like DU. It's an oasis in a world seemingly dominated by far-right conservative BS.

- And a kick...

[Maeve]

103. Just remember who you REALLY want to make trouble for!

As a wise man once said, "Spears pointed outward!"

[Q]

106. Well...we won't get into THAT...

...suffice it to say that both sides need to be held accountable.

- But DU is still a great forum to get out the word about the 'fascists' that have taken over the executive branch of OUR government.

[MessiahRp]

107. Donated...

It was a small amount but hopefully it helps. :)

Rp

[MessiahRp]

109. Early Afternoon Kick

Skinner-

Please post this as a sticky type of topic. :)

Rp

[bushisanidiot]

110. Love The DU Glove! Can't Wait Til It Smacks AWOL's Ugly Mug

it sure is moving quickly! I'm sure we'll get there before sunday!

[Wonk]

111. kick

[Octafish]

112. One picture.

http://www.iog.unc.edu/programs/dispute/

[newyawker99]

113. kick

:kick:

[Terwilliger]

114. I personally think it all goes to EarlG's coke problem

large coke, medium coke, amnd small coke

[newyawker99]

115. kick

[newyawker99]

116. kick