Dear Bluelight Family:
We write to you with something we find uncomfortable to address, but requires your attention nevertheless - yours, mine, everyone's.
In short, Bluelight needs your help. Today.
As Bluelight has grown, so has the need for better servers and bandwidth, improved software, and a proper domain name. In fact, every penny that comes into Bluelight goes right back out in the form of site maintenance (server fees, software and server upgrades).
We've assessed Bluelight's needs and are ready to upgrade our servers with advanced hardware and software capable of supporting us well into the future. However, these upgrades are not cheap and will increase our monthly operating costs. As it stands, Bluelight costs approximately $8000 a year to run before we factor in the upgrades. As mentioned, we run as lean as possible -- no salaries, no personal equipment, no administrative costs whatsoever. We do this so as not to burden the community and to keep Bluelight running advert-free.
The fact is, our community is huge - the largest on the web of it's kind and generates many millions of visits a year. Unfortunately, our current traffic cannot be sustained by Bluelight's research agreements alone. In May of this year, we launched our donations page with the help of MAPS to handle the transactions. This was a promising step forward. We want to thank all of you who have already donated since the launch of the donations portal. During this time we have received about 20 donations from Bluelighters totaling approximately $390.
With this in mind, we have been given a tremendous opportunity. A benefactor has offered up a challenge to the rest of the Bluelight community in the form of a matching donation. This member will match all donations up to $2,000. We need to see Bluelighters donate a total of $2,000 so none of the matching donation goes to waste. If 80 of you give $25 each, or 40 give $50 each, we will meet our goal. Even $5 or $10 donations are very helpful. Meeting this goal will ensure we can afford our upgrades, a proper domain and our server fees well into 2014.
We know that many are already struggling financially. On behalf of the Bluelight staff, fellow members, and all the millions of people who rely upon Bluelight for support, knowledge, research, and community, thank you for donating as you are able. For those of you who are enjoying the fruits of success, please consider all that you've gained from the Bluelight community over the years and what that's been worth to you. This is an opportunity for all of us to ensure the future of this important community.
All donations are processed through MAPS and are 501(c)(3) tax deductible. Please click on the yellow banner above to link to our donations portal. Those who donate $85 or over will be listed on the forthcoming "Donor's Page." They will also have the option of adding an "in remembrance of" or an "in tribute to" to recognize friends or family. Please denote this in the notes section of your donation when processing.
From all of us to all of you: thank you in advance for your generous support.
Signed,
Alasdairm
Ocean
Tamborine-man
Animal Cookie
TheLoveBandit
Sebastians_Ghost
Abygale
Tronica
We write to you with something we find uncomfortable to address, but requires your attention nevertheless - yours, mine, everyone's.
In short, Bluelight needs your help. Today.
As Bluelight has grown, so has the need for better servers and bandwidth, improved software, and a proper domain name. In fact, every penny that comes into Bluelight goes right back out in the form of site maintenance (server fees, software and server upgrades).
We've assessed Bluelight's needs and are ready to upgrade our servers with advanced hardware and software capable of supporting us well into the future. However, these upgrades are not cheap and will increase our monthly operating costs. As it stands, Bluelight costs approximately $8000 a year to run before we factor in the upgrades. As mentioned, we run as lean as possible -- no salaries, no personal equipment, no administrative costs whatsoever. We do this so as not to burden the community and to keep Bluelight running advert-free.
The fact is, our community is huge - the largest on the web of it's kind and generates many millions of visits a year. Unfortunately, our current traffic cannot be sustained by Bluelight's research agreements alone. In May of this year, we launched our donations page with the help of MAPS to handle the transactions. This was a promising step forward. We want to thank all of you who have already donated since the launch of the donations portal. During this time we have received about 20 donations from Bluelighters totaling approximately $390.
With this in mind, we have been given a tremendous opportunity. A benefactor has offered up a challenge to the rest of the Bluelight community in the form of a matching donation. This member will match all donations up to $2,000. We need to see Bluelighters donate a total of $2,000 so none of the matching donation goes to waste. If 80 of you give $25 each, or 40 give $50 each, we will meet our goal. Even $5 or $10 donations are very helpful. Meeting this goal will ensure we can afford our upgrades, a proper domain and our server fees well into 2014.
We know that many are already struggling financially. On behalf of the Bluelight staff, fellow members, and all the millions of people who rely upon Bluelight for support, knowledge, research, and community, thank you for donating as you are able. For those of you who are enjoying the fruits of success, please consider all that you've gained from the Bluelight community over the years and what that's been worth to you. This is an opportunity for all of us to ensure the future of this important community.
All donations are processed through MAPS and are 501(c)(3) tax deductible. Please click on the yellow banner above to link to our donations portal. Those who donate $85 or over will be listed on the forthcoming "Donor's Page." They will also have the option of adding an "in remembrance of" or an "in tribute to" to recognize friends or family. Please denote this in the notes section of your donation when processing.
From all of us to all of you: thank you in advance for your generous support.
Signed,
Alasdairm
Ocean
Tamborine-man
Animal Cookie
TheLoveBandit
Sebastians_Ghost
Abygale
Tronica