Supporter Program.

Duke · 07-07-2007, 06:37 PM

Just so nobody is in the dark, I've started working on a Supporter Program for Lifesupporters.com. The program is intended to allow members and guests a means to donate to Lifesupporters.com thus gaining special status in the forums as well as additional goodies (still in the works).

The reason for this is to help offset the ever increasing rise in costs necessary to keep us online. Currently, Lifesupporters.com costs around $120.00 USD/month which will go up soon due to requiring additional RAM on the server.

Needless to say, three years of paying the bills on my own has really taken it's toll and I just can't do it on my own anymore. There are a number of things in the works that I'm attempting to help ensure we're online indefinitely, the Supporter Program being one of them.

There is no need to feel pressured to donate as that is not the reason for this program. This program is meant to give members who choose to donate to one of our Supporter Tiers additional status and recognition for their financial contributions.

Current Tiers: (W.I.P.)

$5.00 USD/month.

$10.00 USD/month.

$15.00 USD/month.

Additional Privileges being discussed in Supporter Forum.

PLEASE NOTE: Returning here to post is also a donation, a donation in your precious time. Please do not worry if you cannot donate financially and please do not feel pressure to do so. The Supporter Program is merely a vehicle to allow those who can afford it, a means to help with our costs.

This is by no means mandatory to anyone, only voluntary to help me cover costs of the site, server and software.

Thanks for your support!

Ken (aka Duke)
Lifesupporters.com Network Founder.

TKDLady · 07-07-2007, 07:02 PM

If we want to donate, how do we do that?

Duke · 07-07-2007, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tkdlady

If we want to donate, how do we do that?

I'm still setting the program up at this time so I'm unsure of how it's going to work exactly. I do know that all Tiers will be linked to PayPal (owned by eBay) so hopefully, once you've donated, your permissions and rank should change automatically.

Of course I've never done this sort of thing before so I'm open to suggestions as well should anyone have them.

I hope to have the automated portion with PayPal setup sometime this weekend. For now, I'll link to donations in my signature (once setup) and will also ad a news topic (on the main site), announcement as well as information in the FAQ and a Donate Button in place of the Calendar Button above the Header Image.

TKDLady · 07-07-2007, 07:12 PM

I look forward to the PayPal option. That is what I used before and I like it the best.

Duke · 07-07-2007, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tkdlady

I look forward to the PayPal option. That is what I used before and I like it the best.

Ya, I prefer PayPal as well. I've been using it for years and just recently became a verified member. With all the crap that goes on these days online, I find PayPal not only to be very convenient but also, surprisingly secure.

The only thing to be careful of is getting e-mail from PayPal. PayPal does not e-mail customers unless a payment has been made (so far as I know) and the few e-mails I've received asking for account info have all been spoofs (forwarded, investigated and replied from PayPal).

To those of you considering signing up to get a PayPal account, it truly is a great means of monitoring any spending you do online. It has a full history of what you've spent and works very much like a bank account.

I've used it for 4 years or more now and I've never had one problem.

TKDLady · 07-07-2007, 07:28 PM

I ditto Duke's response. I have also used PayPal for years and they are very good about investigating any spoof type e-mails. I have never had a problem with them and really prefer to shop at online stores that accept it. In fact, I go out of my way to find only those shops. If you shop online, it is the best way to go.

Duke · 07-07-2007, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tkdlady

I ditto Duke's response. I have also used PayPal for years and they are very good about investigating any spoof type e-mails. I have never had a problem with them and really prefer to shop at online stores that accept it. In fact, I go out of my way to find only those shops. If you shop online, it is the best way to go.

Agreed 110%.

I've added the Supporter Tiers to my signature for now and will do the same for Luba's profile once I've enabled the donation system.

This method is only temporary until I can update the site templates and FAQ.

darkangelism · 07-07-2007, 08:10 PM

Sounds interesting.

PepsiChic · 07-08-2007, 02:09 AM

actually i had trouble with paypal and i gave up with it. guess i was one of the unlucky one. Question: are the payments a monthly deduction from your paypal account? like an an going thing, that you need to cancel hould you need to stop it. or do you have to send the amount each month?

i ask this because some month i will be able to send money and others i wont and id hate to have to keep registering and unregistering it every month

Duke · 07-08-2007, 02:20 AM

It will be setup to be recurring in nature which will likely mean that cancellation will have to be done manually.

Of course this is just a guess right now because setting this system up has proven much harder than originally intended. I was hoping to automate the process as much as possible but it's very difficult to do with differing amounts and differing payment plans.

Once I'm closer to having something that works, I'll let you all know.

PepsiChic · 07-08-2007, 02:21 AM

oki doki, ty

Duke · 07-08-2007, 07:59 AM

Alright, I think I have the donator system set up but I'm not 110% sure so if anyone donates, please do not donate more than $5.00 USD for one month only.

I need to get the bugs worked out (if there are any) so I don't want it to represent some huge financial burden. I can refund money to whomever wants to help me test the system but there will be a limit on testing performed because each transaction will likely cost me a small percentage in the form of transaction fees.

Thanks.