Hey Harold, thanks for the serious questions and input!
I'll answer and give my thoughts on your thoughts.
First off, do you and Chris have a paypal account?
Yes, we both do. If anyone is interested in getting those, PM me.
I'm going to contact Chris this morning to see what the financial status is these days and if he is accepting donations.
Also, at some point if our funds allow I'd like to present Chris with a group donation (probably accompanied by a written card signed by the members who contributed) from nwsvx to show our appreciation and give the group a little more exposure in the SVX community.
But I'm sure personal donations would be welcomed by him as well!
Secondly:
While I have benefited greatly from this network and I am sure many others locally have too, I don't think a $20 membership fee would be fair to those who really can't afford it. Living in the Puget Sound (for instance) is not exactly the cheap.
However, there are also many of us who can easily afford $20 a year and much much more.
Agreed! Again I want to stress that membership in NWSVX will always be free! If there was any membership fee, it would be only be for a "premium" level of membership, something with extra benefits that would in themselves probably cost more than 50% of the premium fee anyway.
And the point you made about some people not being able to afford even $20 a year, and others being able to afford "much much more" is excellent case for trying to keep things on a donation basis - the very nature of donations is that those that can afford to, donate, and do so in any amount they feel fit.
How does taking a collection at each of the events sound?
An interesting idea, but it is hard enough for me to ask for donations here, I don't think I would feel right about doing it at the events. I really hate that I have to be in this position at all.
Thirdly:
I don't believe that non-profit incorporation would be too spendy. There are enough seriously dedicated individuals in this area who could serve on the board. And there must be an attorney among us (or wives, husbands, bf's, gf's) who would be willing to donate some time. This way, Troy could get a small stipend for hosting the site and organizing the events. Plus it could be a tax write-off for everyone who contributes $$$ to the cause.
This sounds familiar!
This is pretty much exactly the intentions behind the SVX World Network (not these forums, but the formal organization that was attempted to be started), and in fact one of the board members did have a lawyer spouse. As I mentioned, it never got quite to the stage where everything was officially filed and went through. But that is not to say it can't work for us. We seem to have the advantage of more interest and momentum going for us, and the fact that all the board members would be located close enough that meetings and such could be held face to face.
The disadvantage might be that we have a much smaller potential membership base. But it definitely is something that should probably be looked into. I already went on record saying it would be nice to keep things simple, but at the same time I can see some of the added benefits of taking a few steps to make things more official.
Again thanks for putting some thought into this Harold! Maybe this will get some more conversation going.