Posted on 11/28/2001 7:31:29 PM PST by Jim Robinson
Free Republic has had one helluva run over the last five years or so. We helped impeach one president and helped get another into office. We've been active in demonstrations and protests in nearly every city across the nation. We've participated in conventions, petition drives, activism campaigns and projects for dozens of conservative causes.
We've grown from a tiny web site with a few hundred posters and readers from the time of inception in 1996, to one with tens of thousands of participants today. Along the way we've made lots of great friends and, unfortunately, also made lots of bitter enemies.
We've grown from a small web site that I could manage myself on a part-time basis to a huge monster that has totally consumed all of my time and resources plus nearly all of John's time, plus the time and resources of many dedicated FReepers who volunteer or contribute large amounts of their own time and money.
The site is now consuming all of a 10 mbps dedicated line with two servers and we're still growing, and it consumes large amounts of money to keep all this running. In the early years, it only took a few thousand dollars per month to keep Free Republic on the air, but it is now costing over $20,000 per month to cover all expenses.
The major costs include approximately $8,000 per month for bandwidth, 3,000 for systems management and programming services, 7,000 for management, operating and administrative services, plus two or three thousand per month for miscellaneous office expenses, telephone, communications, repairs & maintenance, travel & lodging, postage, rentals, insurance, legal fees, accounting fees, etc., etc.
We anticipate a reduction in bandwidth costs next year as we renegotiate our contract (the market price for bandwidth has fallen recently), however, that will be more than offset by an expected increase in costs of our legal expenses. As most of you know, our pro bono attorney has left us and we've hired a new attorney to continue with our case, plus we have the suit against eschoir to pay for. My projections are that our regular monthly expenses for next year will be running in the neighborhood of $22,000 per month, or approximately $264,000 total for the year. This means we will need to raise approximately $66,000 per quarter.
Talking about making enemies, we've got several ex-FReepers and other detractors who are claiming on their anti-freeper web sites that I am ripping off the donors and that Free Republic is a fraud. Now, Free Republic is what it is, and it is definitely not a fraud. It is a conservative news discussion forum that encourages participation in politics and activism projects. It is not being billed as anything else. We are not selling or promising anything. And I am being up front about our operating costs. The costs of running Free Republic are what I've stated above and they are necessary to keep FR on the air. I do not have the financial wherewithal to operate this site without your help. If the majority of the FReepers feel that these costs are out of line or too much to bear or that Free Republic is no longer wanted or needed, then we will either cut it back or shut it down or do something altogether different.
I've also been criticized about not making our financials public. Well, the reason I do not want to do this is that I have been sued, both personally and as Free Republic, LLC. The people suing us want to bankrupt us and shut us down. They subpoenaed our financial records, but we refused to turn them over. The judge agreed that the plaintiffs have no right to the information, thus I have no intention of making any more of it public than I absolutely have to, until this lawsuit is resolved. You all know the amounts of money we raise if you follow the fundraising threads. It is all above board and out in the open. The totals posted by BadJoe are usually pretty close to the actual cash received and the amounts expended are pretty close to the amounts projected. No one is getting rich here and no one is being ripped off. The funds raised are being used for the purposes stated, and that is keeping this website on the air and that's it. Nothing fraudulent about it. Those who want to help fund us freely do so with nothing expected in return. Those who do not want to contribute do not have to.
There was a thread running this morning where people were making all kinds of accusations about Free Republic "hiding the truth" or whatever. These accusations are being made by Chuck Allan and others and fall along the same line with the accusations being made by some of the earlier banees or AFers including Mojo, Inspector Harry Callahan, Arator, keep U.S. Sovereign, TKEman and others. Some of these people are existing FReepers and some are banned. I am going to reinstate Mojo, Inspector Harry Callahan and Arator's accounts so they can join Chuck Allan, TKEman, K.U.S.S. and whomever else wants to get involved, and I invite them to come onto this thread and make their accusations public. As long as they do not go onto other threads and make a nuisance of themselves, I will let them have their say.
Like I said above, if it is time for Free Republic to go away so be it. Those who want to keep it going speak up. Those who want it to go away, tell us why. But if those who want it to be gone lose out in the debate, then I'd say they should just go away themselves, or, in the very least, shut up and quit whining about it.
Thanks,
Jim
Free Republic is an outstanding website and serves a great purpose as a "meeting place" for conservatives. I became a member in the aftermath of last year's election while I was living outside the U.S., using it primarily as a source of information and to exchange comments about the election controversy.
My one criticism about the site is directly related to the concerns that people have raised here about "banned" posters. While I am generous enough to provide financial assistance as needed (I actually promised some support over the summer but had to address a more immediate charitable need that I shared with other Freepers), I must admit that the thought of writing a check to an organization that can remove me from its site at any time is a little disconcerting.
My suggestion, Jim, is that you develop a business plan that will include some kind of subscriber fee. You are paying $8,000 per month for bandwidth, but we are the ones who are using that bandwidth with our posts, our profile pages, etc. This will mean that a membership in Free Republic will essentially become a contractual relationship between you and your members, which will require a financial commitment from the members as well as a loosening of the content controls by Free Republic. Any poster who is banned from the site would be entitled to a full or pro-rated refund of the membership fees for the current month.
There are three major issues here, as far as I can tell: 1.) What is the optimal subscription rate that will allow you to cover your costs without chasing away large numbers of members?; 2.) Will you have to "dilute" the content of the site to make it attractive to people who are not currently members?; and 3.) Will there be any legal issues related to charging a fee for a site that allows members to post copyrighted stories from other media sources? Item #2 is a particularly intriguing one, since it introduces the possibility that the membership rolls will contain a large number of liberal Democrats.
Perhaps other Freepers can come up with some ideas for a good revenue stream that will allow you to keep any subscription fee to a minimum.
Let me know if there is any way I can help you develop this idea further.
Thanks, Jim.
It was fun while it lasted.
Best Holiday Wishes to you!
Callahan
Jim, you are a treasure and FR is a guiding light. Please keep the fires burning.
1. What arrangements are being made to pay the $105,000 Winston & Strawn bill in the Eschoir matter? Did you have any idea the bill would be this large?
2. What is the status of the appeal in the LAT/WP matter? Who is FR's attorney, now that Clarity has left the case?
3. Why is it costing twice as much to run FR today as it did last March, what with all of John's bandwidth improvements?
4. Did FR raise $7,300 for non-profit filings? If so, how was that money spent?
5. Who owns the forum software?
6. How is FR's revenue reported for state and federal tax purposes?
I have many more questions, but these will keep you busy for awhile. Thanks in advance for your answers, and the opportunity to question you!
Like, 'if every freeper could give ___________ per month we could meet the dead line each month. 25.00........50.00.....what?
I have NEVER seen Harry step over the line as far as civility goes. Of course I am not on the forum 24/7, only 23/6 *g*. Although people tend to classify Harry as "ecentric", I have never seen him return some of the hostility and nastiness directed at him for expressing his views. This is my opinion.
I think Harry took exception to what he perceived to be a public mischaracterization of his behavior here.
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