Canal World - Fundraising

[rmo]

Good evening,
 

As you may know, Canal World relies entirely on the support of our dedicated members. However, recent increases in operating costs have meant that our current donations are falling short of covering our monthly expenses. For more details on our financial situation, please refer to Nigel's most recent report here.
 

Our operating expenses primarily involve technical infrastructure. Canal World is hosted powerful servers, ensuring we provide a fast and reliable service while remaining completely ad-free!
 

Unfortunately, this setup comes with costs that fluctuate based on usage, much like utility bills. Therefore, we would greatly appreciate any extra donations from our valued members.
 

To contribute via PayPal, simply click the "Donate" button at the top right of the page or click here. All donations will be reinvested into the site, helping us maintain our beloved community for years to come. As a small token of our gratitude, donors will receive a star next to their forum name.
 

Please click here to donate today!
 

Thank you

 

Rich

[1st ade]

Is there a way (for staff) to check if a donor is still current?

 

(In this case, me! I donated a few years ago, got a reminder, in May, a year later [and complied] but I don't recall getting a reminder this year. It could, of course, simply being my brain getting addled now I've retired...)

 

Happy to renew if I have not.

[Arthur Marshall]

I do wish there was a way to contribute other than PayPal, as my account got hacked a few years ago and I nearly lost a lot of money.

[IanD]

Just now, Arthur Marshall said:

I do wish there was a way to contribute other than PayPal, as my account got hacked a few years ago and I nearly lost a lot of money.

You can do what I just did and pay using a credit card rather than via your PayPal account, this has got all the same security measures as any other credit card transaction (e.g. CVS number plus passcode sent by SMS to your phone).

[Tony Brooks]

1 minute ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I do wish there was a way to contribute other than PayPal, as my account got hacked a few years ago and I nearly lost a lot of money.

so do I. They keep badgering me to open a PayPall account each time I donate and try to trick me into doing so with a little slider type box you have to reset if you don't want to.

[IanD]

Just now, Tony Brooks said:

so do I. They keep badgering me to open a PayPall account each time I donate and try to trick me into doing so with a little slider type box you have to reset if you don't want to.

You don't need a PayPal account, just a credit card as mentioned above.

[Tony Brooks]

1 minute ago, IanD said:

You can do what I just did and pay using a credit card rather than via your PayPal account, this has got all the same security measures as any other credit card transaction (e.g. CVS number plus passcode sent by SMS to your phone).

 

Did you not notice the little blue "slider oval" that was trying to trick you into opening a PayPall account when you pay be card?

[IanD]

2 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

Did you not notice the little blue "slider oval" that was trying to trick you into opening a PayPall account when you pay be card?

Yes -- I've got a PayPal account but the card details have expired, so I didn't use it to actually make the payment, I opted to pay via credit card, so it went through with my normal credit card provider authentication (two-factor using passcode via SMS).

 

PayPal want you to use an account with them which is why they keep trying to persuade you to a) open one, and b) use it -- but you don't have to do either if you don't want to... 😉 

Edited November 7 by IanD

[Tony Brooks]

1 minute ago, IanD said:

Yes -- I've got a PayPal account but the card details have expired, so I didn't use it to actually make the payment, I opted to pay via credit card, so it went through with my normal credit card provider authentication (two-factor using passcode via SMS).

 

PayPal want you to use an account with them which is why they keep trying to persuade you to a) open one, and b) use it -- but you don't have to do either if you don't want to... 😉 

 

Yes, by the equivalent of inertia selling, if you don't see their nasty little trick and alter it they will store your details and open an account for you. Just like the tricks Amazon pulls with Prime membership.

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

Just throwing it out:

 

What’s wrong with getting some adverts to pay for the site?

 

 

 

 

[IanD]

22 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

 

Yes, by the equivalent of inertia selling, if you don't see their nasty little trick and alter it they will store your details and open an account for you. Just like the tricks Amazon pulls with Prime membership.

 

Shouldn't come as any surprise, loads of companies on t'Internet do exactly the same, it's their business model -- remember you're the product, not the customer, it's their job to try and draw you in and get you hooked not to be nice to you... 😉 

 

But so long as they don't force you to use their payment system or open an account (which I think would be illegal...), I don't see a big problem.

 

6 minutes ago, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

Just throwing it out:

 

What’s wrong with getting some adverts to pay for the site?

 

 

Have you been on sites which do that, especially where ad blocking is deliberately made difficult or impossible? 😞 

 

It's what makes some of them unpleasant to use, Facebook and YouTube being good examples where feeds are crammed full of annoying and pointless adverts just like ITV and C4 and...

 

So long as enough people donate to keep CWDF ad-free (why not do it, the cost of a few beers would help...) and solvent I'd much rather it stayed that way. If the finances don't add up then it might be time to consider ads -- or just ask people to donate a bit more... 😉 

Edited November 7 by IanD

[Arthur Marshall]

32 minutes ago, IanD said:

You don't need a PayPal account, just a credit card as mentioned above.

That's what I thought, but this time I found it impossible without signing up.

[rmo]

Thanks all for the donations received thus far, we're really grateful as it will help us to continue doing what we're doing while being 100% ad-free. Please keep them coming. Nigel will no doubt share more information about the donations received as part of his next financial summary. 
 

3 hours ago, 1st ade said:

Is there a way (for staff) to check if a donor is still current?

 

(In this case, me! I donated a few years ago, got a reminder, in May, a year later [and complied] but I don't recall getting a reminder this year. It could, of course, simply being my brain getting addled now I've retired...)

 

Happy to renew if I have not.

 

Thanks Adrian. Had a quick look, last one was July 2023. Time flies!  If you decide to donate, I will likely need to fix mod permissions after but will get to it quickly.

I will look into what happened with the reminders, thanks for flagging.
 

1 hour ago, Arthur Marshall said:

I do wish there was a way to contribute other than PayPal, as my account got hacked a few years ago and I nearly lost a lot of money.

As mentioned PayPal do allow payments without having to create an account. Appreciate they try to encourage the creation of an account, but it is possible to skip this with a few clicks.

It has been a while but when I last checked, the fees we incur via PayPal are less than what we would incur via many alternatives. Plus PayPal integrate seamlessly & securely with the forum software we use. - not all payment gateways provide us with this level of integration. I can only really comment from a technical capacity though - @BEngo & @DHutch - Would be good to get your thoughts on this also.
 

59 minutes ago, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

Just throwing it out:

 

What’s wrong with getting some adverts to pay for the site?

 

 

 

 

Canal World has been committed to provide an ad-free experience, I believe from day one. @DHutch has honoured this for the benefit of our members and visitors alike. Funding through donations works but sometimes we do need to call for support to ensure it continues to do so.  
 

[beerbeerbeerbeerbeer]

Advertising is not an option?

[rmo]

1 minute ago, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

Advertising is not an option?

 

That's more one for @DHutch but from my observation - we have been able to do what we do without resorting to ads and for the benefit of those who use Canal World.

[Ange]

It's a breath of fresh air being somewhere online with no advertising. Long may it continue.

[BEngo]

14 minutes ago, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

Advertising is not an option?

As Rich has said, that is one for Daniel.  The site policy has always been that we wish to avoid getting involved with advertising.  A change is not impossible, but it is not one I would support.  Apart from the extra work of selecting and  monitoring the advertisers then making sure our dues arrived it would also, in my view, undermine the independence of the site.  At the moment advice is freely given and experience and expertise shared.  Debate sometimes ensues, but none of it is, or can be, influenced by advertisers/ing on the site.

 

As for PayPal.  It works.  It doesnt require that we have a legal identity.  It has been around a while ( ages in internet terms), so should not be going away too soon.🤞

   From my perspective it is not too difficult to use and monitoring our position and  producing both the monthly financial summaries and the monthly reports for members is fairly quick. The fees are a nuisance, but it is rare to get owt for nowt, so we live with them.

 

N

 

[David Mack]

4 minutes ago, BEngo said:

The fees are a nuisance, but it is rare to get owt for nowt, so we live with them.

I suspect the fees of other payment platforms would be higher than PayPal.

[rmo]

37 minutes ago, David Mack said:

I suspect the fees of other payment platforms would be higher than PayPal.

That is often the case, some payment gateways also require monthly/annual fees to be paid by the "merchant" in addition to a transaction fee.

[Wanderer Vagabond]

1 hour ago, beerbeerbeerbeerbeer said:

Advertising is not an option?

Advertising isn't the moneyspinner it once was, advertisers now want their money spent on targetted demographics where they are more certain to get some sort of return. This is why TV advertising is pretty much failing, unless you want the site covered with adverts for gambling websites. How much is someone going to be willing to pay to advertise Elsan fluid or kindling?

[rmo]

19 minutes ago, Wanderer Vagabond said:

Advertising isn't the moneyspinner it once was, advertisers now want their money spent on targeted demographics where they are more certain to get some sort of return. This is why TV advertising is pretty much failing, unless you want the site covered with adverts for gambling websites. How much is someone going to be willing to pay to advertise Elsan fluid or kindling?

There's also affiliate advertising schemes, e.g. Google Adsense. The idea is the website implements some code which points to Google's servers while creating a "placeholder" for the ad on the website. Google then control the ads. I don't know what the cost per click looks like these days, but you're probably right. - Doubt it's what it used to be!

The main benefit of using such advertising programme is that it's a low-touch operation given there's no need to deal with advertisers directly and it's entirely automated. However, control over the type of ads displayed is extremely limited. This could result in ugly banners or irrelevant ads etc etc. - not good.

I have used this previously on other forums I helped maintain but have no intention of recommending/suggesting it here. It would probably sink like an anchor and we'd need a complaints department! 🙃

[Arthur Marshall]

2 hours ago, rmo said:

As mentioned PayPal do allow payments without having to create an account. Appreciate they try to encourage the creation of an account, but it is possible to skip this with a few clicks

I must have missed something. My fault, just carry on the good work.

[MtB]

Slight problem with my donation. I have managed to put two of my chosen donations into the "Basket", but I can't see how to access the "Basket" to cancel/remove the extra item and revert to the one donation I am trying to make. 

 

All this is before I get to the PayPal log-in. 

[Mac of Cygnet]

What a weird selection of amounts to donate - £6 followed by £7 and £24 followed by £25!

[1st ade]

11 hours ago, rmo said:

Thanks Adrian. Had a quick look, last one was July 2023. Time flies!  If you decide to donate, I will likely need to fix mod permissions after but will get to it quickly.

I will look into what happened with the reminders, thanks for flagging.

Donation made, and I appear to be an "Ex-Mod"... If you could work your magic behind the scenes, please...