One key element of the forum is the fact it has no ties to any traders, which is a superb ethos, some forums i haunt have relationships with specific traders and this in itself means that to avoid losing any revenue from the traders the forum admin must keep them happy. this results in blind loyalty from forumites, a lack of educated choice for members (prejudice toward the sponsor), and other companies not willing to get involved due to sponsorship roles being exclusive to one brand
no one likes adverts on forums except the sponsor that benefits from it, users get annoyed with them, they can also have the adverse effect of slowing the viewing experience for the user and also effect the bandwidth if not managed correctly.
and also with sponsors come rights, if the sponsors have priority rights due to funds donated, then the users of the site drop in priority by natural selection - no sponsor = no bills paid
Donations by members can be effective but only to a point, people don't like giving money away on the whole unless they feel a genuine benefit from it. Even hard core users of sites will avoid donating if they disagree with the process regardless wether or not they agree with funds needing to be raised, they become passengers to the process. Yes regular users can donate regularly but it becomes two tier, why should those that donate get for free which others have paid for? Not everyone has a problem with such a thing but it would prevent donations happening from others.
But to donate then you would need to be aware or at the very least be active within the forum realms, there are a large amount of registered members that don't post and prefer to read the threads regularly. I've met forum members who actively sought me out to say hello at GTI international last year as they wanted to chat about various matters, however i had never heard of their username and have still yet to see them post. someone like that wouldn't donate potentially however still reap the benefits of the site.
The key here is the age old statement of "if it aint broke don't fix it" however it clearly needs fixing but to remain as close to original format that users have become familiar with and without giving loyalty away.
so with that said, fund raising rather than donations could be the way forward but by utilising the traders rather than relying on sponsorship from them and bring the forumite into an active role on their own choice
for example a membership scheme.
Now i don't mean a two tier system with the forum, nor do i suggest the forum has restricted areas or members gain elevated status, the key is to make no change to the forum by introducing it
to run it would be a simple matter of a membership card and number, something thats cheap to both produce and element. The forum user pays the site to join the scheme, this money is used to fund and run the site and all related aspects, in return they get a card and number.
this membership gives them a discount with each trader associated with the scheme, a percentage off of products for example (not just one product but a cast iron discount with that trader). Although you could put together a membership pack, a simple card and number would manage the same result.
Traders would want to join the scheme to get involved, all they would potentially need in return is an area of the forum restricted to themselves where they can gain access to membership details to confirm names with numbers before issuing the discount on their service or product.
- result would be forumites get a discount scheme and save money on products and services
- the forum doesn't outwardly change or run adverts yet receives an income which returns the buyer with a benefit system
- traders get customers guided to them with a discount
managing a scheme is a question of information, making the traders aware of changes, the members aware of offers and finally monitoring the expiration of memberships
traders can be added, new companies approached to keep the interest alive and in time with build to a valuable card to hold, making it a no-brainer for a forumite to purchase as rather than donating money for the privilege or reading a forum they are in effect buying a money saving device which in turn actively pays for the running of the forum. As long as discounts are strictly given to those with
member numbers only by the traders involved
no loyalties are giving to any one trader this way, more than one type can join the scheme and can be monitored for performance and dropped from the scheme if they don't perform as expected (after all the only financial outlay is for a forumite to buy a membership - less of course the card production and time taken to help manage the scheme)
i have other thoughts too.... but i'll let that lot get digested first
