Do you ask for sponsorship from your members?

[Heatman]

There's no denying the fact that forum management requires money and other resources. Do you see it as something feasible to do when it comes to asking for sponsorship from your forum members? Which strategy do you think is the best to ask for such assistance?

 

[Cory]

Never had the need to since I've always used free forum software. The only expenses I have are the custom domain name, and I think I can handle paying $15.00- a year for that.

 

[Shawn Gossman]

I've always tried to give the option to become a premium member of my forum which is very reasonable for each (usually under $20 a year). And I've enabled the feature to donate.

It's nice to earn some money to let the forum pay for itself from time to time.

But I never make it an obligation or really push it that much. In most cases, we can all expect to pay most of the costs for our forums these days without actually creating a paid community.

I'm the community manager over at Copyblogger. I get paid to do it. But people also pay to be a part of the community. It helps to pay for the community which isn't cheap. To me, that makes sense but for my admin forum, it's going to just be an up-to-member feature.

 

[Tracy]

Personally.. nope.
As for the expense of supporting the site.. I provide it out of my pocket as I would any other "hobby".
My site is ran for my enjoyment and my benefit (it could have been a blog but not as much fun for me). There are no "premium/VIP" accounts other than those for the first set of users that joined and showed activity (and they are simply shown with a banner as Founding Member and get no other "gimmes".
If others want to join in and play in the sandbox... great... it's a community site. Simply want to read/get data... once more.. great, that's what my intent was as to share what my experiences was to others.
Now.. could it ever reach a point it would need to be subsidized... maybe... and if so, once more, it would not be on the back of the users, but I'd look at engaging one or two outside niche related resources that would be willing to invest in the site.

 

[Shortie]

I have the options for people to be able to buy services that I complete myself under user upgrades or they can also buy a VIP upgrade option for more incentives for supporting the forum.

I also have a donate button so that option is there if people wish to support us through donations.

Other than that, everything else is funded by me.

 

[Ravenfreak]

I never have a VIP group, I just pay for everything for my community out of my own pocket. Maybe I'm odd for saying this, but for me personally I feel weird asking others for money to help fund my hobby.

 

[SDL]

I understand why people are saying it’s your hobby so why should anyone pay for it but your community is also your members hobby as well. They aren’t doing you a favour by signing up and posting, they’re doing it for their own enjoyment. If they didn’t enjoy it, they wouldn’t do it. It’s a community for a reason after all.

Sure, we can all pay out of pocket for our hosting etc but we don’t have an unlimited bank account. We have to set a budget which is affordable for us to keep it sustainable. Imagine the possibilities if your budget doubled, tripled or even quadrupled? That’s what’s possible with sponsorships etc, even if you’re not looking to profit.

 

[Tracy]

Sure, we can all pay out of pocket for our hosting etc but we don’t have an unlimited bank account.

But once more...in how many other "hobbies" do you expect others to subsidize you?
Some of us simply have a position that our sites bring US enjoyment... and we choose to share that enjoyment amongst others. My sites are strictly ran for MY enjoyment, and I have the spare funds to support them instead of some other (and frequently more expensive) hobbies... hell, I have a bad enough time with the hobbies of both sites I run.. neither are "cheap" in themselves... and gaining product to generate content gets even more expensive..... but it's a cost I simply incur because I enjoy the niche(s).
Now, the realistic of us recognize that at some time, if our sites take off and get large, they they will have to be subsidized.. but many of us (I being one) will choose to partner with a provider in my niche for "add space" instead of dumping the cost onto the end user.
My WHOLE point is NOT profit.. but the distribution of information amongst the masses.