Canal World - Fundraising

[rmo]

 

Good afternoon,
 

As many of you will know, Canal World is funded entirely by its members. Rising operating costs mean that our current donations no longer cover the monthly running expenses. 

 

Most of our costs relate to the technical side of keeping the forum running. We host the site on powerful servers to ensure it stays fast, stable, and completely ad‑free for everyone. These costs fluctuate with usage, much like a utility bill, so any additional support from members would make a real difference.
 

If you’d like to donate via PayPal, you can use the “Donate” button at the top right of the page, or click here. Every contribution goes straight back into running the site and helping us keep this community going. As a small thank‑you, donors receive a star next to their forum name.
 

Please click here if you’d like to donate today.
 

Thank you,

Canal World Team

[David Mack]

Back in December 2024 @BEngo advised that 60 members, each contributing £30 per year or £15 per six months would cover the forum's costs. In response I pointed out that the donate by PayPal options the website offers don't include those figures. Hence my donation uses the closest available figure, and thus falls short of my fair share of the forum costs.

How about adjusting the amounts on the Donate page, adding a note that the relevant sum equates to a user's fair share of the forum costs?

 

[rmo]

17 hours ago, David Mack said:

Back in December 2024 @BEngo advised that 60 members, each contributing £30 per year or £15 per six months would cover the forum's costs. In response I pointed out that the donate by PayPal options the website offers don't include those figures. Hence my donation uses the closest available figure, and thus falls short of my fair share of the forum costs.

How about adjusting the amounts on the Donate page, adding a note that the relevant sum equates to a user's fair share of the forum costs?

 

 

Thanks for the feedback. I’ve added a few more options.
 

Our costs aren’t entirely fixed and they move around somewhat depending on usage. We work hard to keep things efficient. For example, last night we moved the whole site to a new server to reduce costs and in part to balance out the expense of running the test forum for a longer period. That’s probably a topic for another thread, but the point is that our costs do change.
 

Not everyone can afford or will want to pay £30, even if it might seem fair for everyone to contribute equally. That’s why we offer a range of options.
 

At the moment our funds have dropped below what we forecast for the year ahead, so we’re asking for support a little earlier than expected. 

[Jo_]

I've added to the coffers a bit!

[IanD]

28 minutes ago, Jo_ said:

I've added to the coffers a bit!

Me too. Good to see that the single donation option has reappeared, but only up to £15 maximum which seems rather small... 😉 

[rmo]

Thanks to everyone who’s donated so far - you’ve already covered a full month of running costs. It makes a real difference. Every contribution helps keep the forum running. 

 

1 hour ago, IanD said:

Me too. Good to see that the single donation option has reappeared, but only up to £15 maximum which seems rather small... 😉 

 

Thanks for the feedback. I based it on the previous donations received, though open to suggestions. Though one thing to note, if we add more than 6 options it makes the donation page look a little cluttered. Imo the layout isn't otimised for donations, perhaps it will be better in v5!

 

 

[Chris Lowe]

Rich

 

Have Invision fixed the bug where donating removes you as a Mod, if not I'll message you when I donate?

[IanD]

1 hour ago, rmo said:

Thanks to everyone who’s donated so far - you’ve already covered a full month of running costs. It makes a real difference. Every contribution helps keep the forum running. 

 

Thanks for the feedback. I based it on the previous donations received, though open to suggestions. Though one thing to note, if we add more than 6 options it makes the donation page look a little cluttered. Imo the layout isn't otimised for donations, perhaps it will be better in v5!

 

CWDF won out anyway, £15 single donation wasn't enough for me so I had no choice but to sign up for a bigger annual one... 😉 

[PCSB]

Donated

[Arthur Marshall]

Can you remind me how to donate without using PayPal?

[BEngo]

Go through the donation process and PayPal will ask you whether you would like  to pay via a PayPal account or a credit card.

 

If you have a PayPal account you could use the Pay and Get Paid route to send a donation to "paypalxcanalworld.net"  replacing the 'x' with '@'

 

 Thank you to all  who have donated.

[Col_T]

So, how does one go about donating a one-off amount that is implemented on one of the set buttons??

[Tony Brooks]

9 hours ago, Col_T said:

So, how does one go about donating a one-off amount that is implemented on one of the set buttons??

 

You click the relevant button and then follow the screens and prompts. You will eventually end up at Paypal, sign in as Guest unless you want to set up a Paypal account, and that takes you to their payment page.  If you don't have a Paypal account you need a credit or debit card so fill in the details. Then there is every chance you will b asked to prove who you are by some form of two factor identification, I use a little cardsentry gadget or I think you can get a text to your mobile if you have. Enter the number you will have been given and then you will have made the payment. Much easier when one could stick a cheque in the post.

[BEngo]

22 minutes ago, Tony Brooks said:

Much easier when one could stick a cheque in the post.

Yes, but first CWDF would have to open a bank account.  That alone would be difficult. Then I would have to take the cheques to the bank, or photo them so an app could pay them in and we would charged for banking them.  More than PayPal charge if my experience of 'paid-for' banking is any guide.

[Tony Brooks]

9 minutes ago, BEngo said:

Yes, but first CWDF would have to open a bank account.  That alone would be difficult. Then I would have to take the cheques to the bank, or photo them so an app could pay them in and we would charged for banking them.  More than PayPal charge if my experience of 'paid-for' banking is any guide.

 

I understand that, but trying to pay by card on the web to anyone has been made more difficult. The need for extra "security" really just shows how insecure card payments over the web are. I think the two-factor authentication stage comes from one's bank/credit card company, not Paypal.

[LadyG]

16 hours ago, rmo said:

Thanks to everyone who’s donated so far - you’ve already covered a full month of running costs. It makes a real difference. Every contribution helps keep the forum running. 

 

 

Thanks for the feedback. I based it on the previous donations received, though open to suggestions. Though one thing to note, if we add more than 6 options it makes the donation page look a little cluttered. Imo the layout isn't otimised for donations, perhaps it will be better in v5!

 

 

Yes, i think i managed to find £25. I see ive got a new star, shining bright. Does it fade after a year?

Edited March 28 by LadyG

[Col_T]

11 hours ago, Col_T said:

So, how does one go about donating a one-off amount that is implemented on one of the set buttons??

Bug*er! What I meant to ask was “how does one go about donating a one-off amount that is NOT implemented on one of the set buttons??”

[cuthound]

I had an annual contribution set up on my PayPal account.

 

I've just checked and it is now marked "inactive". Why is this - shall I set another one or can I reactivate the old one?

 

[Mac of Cygnet]

3 hours ago, BEngo said:

Yes, but first CWDF would have to open a bank account.  That alone would be difficult.

So where does the money reside now, then, if not in a bank account?  Just curious.

[Tony Brooks]

59 minutes ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

So where does the money reside now, then, if not in a bank account?  Just curious.

 

Presumably in a PayPal account. I notice that you are invited to pay all sorts of businesses by PayPal nowadays. 

[MrsM]

Done. Thanks to everyone who works so hard to keep this fantastic forum going. I've recently spent time on the CAMRA forum and some of the bickering and nastiness there makes us all seem like a bunch of angels! 

[BEngo]

1 hour ago, Mac of Cygnet said:

So where does the money reside now, then, if not in a bank account?  Just curious.

The money resides in our PayPal account, from where I am able to pay our providers.