Donations and future plans for the site

Thanks for the words of support. As for your own situation, I am glad the site has helped. That is one of the main points- helping the most deserved of all, those who have been injured in service to our Nation.

First of all, thank you very much for creating this site. In the short time that I have been a member, I have received information that has proven invaluable. I was on my way out of the Army on a separation (non-medical) and found some information-and motivation-on this site that prompted me to ask some questions to the right people. Now, my situation is being reviewed by a lot of important people from the local TMC as well as unit leadership.


Having said that, I am actually surprised that the financial goals are not being met. I mean, take a service such as myself that was about to get kicked out. As a direct result of your information provided here, the chain of events starts and they are medically retired thus retaining medical benefits as well as a higher percentage of VA disability compensation. I figure a contribution to the site would be the very least that a person could do in order to pay back what was given to them freely.

I appreciate the sentiment and the words of support. Still, nothing that was provided here was anything more than you should have gotten directly from the Army- a fair assessment of your situation and the knowledge of the laws and regulations that apply to your situation. (As an NCO, I think you would agree, you would have helped or explained what you know to your team/squad members; I think the Army owes you at least the same. Like I said, what the Army won't help you with, we will on this site).

I understand this a a free site but perhaps a resurrection of this thread could perhaps reignite some interest-and perhaps some revenue.

Maybe so, and I appreciate the thought and the impetus. Support is always appreciated...but, like I wrote, the point of the site is not to generate money. (Defraying of costs or support for improvement of the site is an important goal, though).

As for me, as soon as I can remember my PayPal password that I haven't used in over 5 years, I'll see what I can give.

Support is appreciated, but not required. I appreciate the sentiment. Support given or absent, I hope all goes well for you and you get what you have earned from your service.

By the way, where do you practice law out of?

For more about me and my services, check out www.peblawyer.com. I practice at all PEBs, regardless of location. (And before the BCMRs, and in Federal Court).
 
Keep the site read-only free for all registered members, but disable posting capability unless poster is a paid member. I think $3/month is fair. I see that the forum has 1039 registered members- deduct a couple hundred for inactive accounts and spam accounts, leaving 800 or so (a shot in the dark guess here). A good business model expects a 20-25% return on advertising efforts, so if 25% of the 800 (200 members) wanted to post questions (become a paid member), it would raise $600 per month in revenue. After reviewing the number of members that post questions, that is a low estimate. If you figure that each member spends an average of 6 months to 1 year in the MEB system, you would gross 18.00-36.00 per customer cycle, or roughly $6k+ annually (conservative). Obviously, I don't see behind the scenes of the forum to analyze the current business model, but I think these are reasonable expectations.
Another idea to consider is charging per specific question (to Jason). Maybe add an "ask Jason" tab/section. Some of the ask type websites already do this, and (on average) people pay between $5-15 per acceptable answer. It may not seem like much, but it can add up quick and allow you to raise some capital for your time answering questions and still helping us at an affordable price, and possibly increase your paying client base. Just some ideas.
 
Keep the site read-only free for all registered members, but disable posting capability unless poster is a paid member. I think $3/month is fair. I see that the forum has 1039 registered members- deduct a couple hundred for inactive accounts and spam accounts, leaving 800 or so (a shot in the dark guess here). A good business model expects a 20-25% return on advertising efforts, so if 25% of the 800 (200 members) wanted to post questions (become a paid member), it would raise $600 per month in revenue. After reviewing the number of members that post questions, that is a low estimate. If you figure that each member spends an average of 6 months to 1 year in the MEB system, you would gross 18.00-36.00 per customer cycle, or roughly $6k+ annually (conservative). Obviously, I don't see behind the scenes of the forum to analyze the current business model, but I think these are reasonable expectations.
Another idea to consider is charging per specific question (to Jason). Maybe add an "ask Jason" tab/section. Some of the ask type websites already do this, and (on average) people pay between $5-15 per acceptable answer. It may not seem like much, but it can add up quick and allow you to raise some capital for your time answering questions and still helping us at an affordable price, and possibly increase your paying client base. Just some ideas.



Really appreciate your answer to the post. What has always "gnawed" at me is the young E-3/E-4 who is getting shafted and is to skittish to pay anything (even if its in his/her best interest) to get to the information they need to get the right outcome. I am less concerned about others with more rank/years in service who should know enough to invest in the information provided. But, even then, I think all should have the information they need to make informed decisions. (I get torn more when I think about the crappy job the military does in actually paying to provide this information and fail to do so- they are putting a lot of money against the problem and not fulfilling the goal, in my estimation. Proof in the pudding is the posts on this site where people are given erroneous information).

Good insight on the different options. The one I have leaned most heavily on is what you suggested in the way of "dedicated" answers forums to questions. So far, I have not done anything with this because some of the "value" in google's eyes is ranking the site as far as being able to scour the the site for information which goes towards showing the site higher in terms of search results. ((Which, by the way, kills me when periodically, I get requests to delete accounts, which are free, and people spend a lot of time answering the posts- it is kind of like (and encompassed in the terms of service when people sign up), you aren't charged for access to the site, the value of your posts are really only in terms of search engine return for your issues, and after you are done with the process, you want to "rob" the site of the value of members responses to your issues that might help someone else)).

I have also toyed with a "privacy" account, where the posts are only in forums hidden behind a subscription model. This would keep posts hidden from "prying eyes" (search engines, and potentially, government officials- though, I really have not seen cases where posts have ever been brought up in actual case adjudications- but this would allay those fears).

Bottom line, I have tried to keep the forum overall as accessible as possible. I weigh that against the possibility of providing more to members if we can garner some additional monetary support.

Like I wrote before, I have been conflicted about this issue. But, I appreciate your reply and the input of other members. I will take all into account before making changes.
 
Jason, the service you have provided to the service members is incredible. Without this site, most would be blind to their rights and be bull dogged through the process. When you search PEB or MEB this site almost always comes up on the top. I will donate, and hopefully others will too.

If that doesn't work, maybe a membership fee of 5 bucks or something would be good. I would set it up as it being free to browse and look around the site and then charge the 5 bucks for a premium membership which would allow you to ask questions and respond to threads. This would be a very fair way approach this. The information would still be open to all, but specific problems or questions would cost a very small amount.

Joe
 
If that doesn't work, maybe a membership fee of 5 bucks or something would be good. I would set it up as it being free to browse and look around the site and then charge the 5 bucks for a premium membership which would allow you to ask questions and respond to threads. This would be a very fair way approach this. The information would still be open to all, but specific problems or questions would cost a very small amount.

Joe

This is what I recommended in my earlier post. Read only for free, membership fee to post. I think that, if it comes to it, this is a viable solution.
 
This is what I recommended in my earlier post. Read only for free, membership fee to post. I think that, if it comes to it, this is a viable solution.

yeah you beat me to it dang you!! Anyway, I really think it would be a fair solution to improving the site. I know you are not interested in profiting from this site Jason and I would offer this solution. If you make money above your operating expenses, maybe create an account that the money can go into to donate to wounded warriors. Another idea for the account would be to use it for expenses when you see a warrior in true need and offer your help.

Anyway, as always, good job.
 
Really appreciate your answer to the post. What has always "gnawed" at me is the young E-3/E-4 who is getting shafted and is to skittish to pay anything (even if its in his/her best interest) to get to the information they need to get the right outcome. I am less concerned about others with more rank/years in service who should know enough to invest in the information provided. But, even then, I think all should have the information they need to make informed decisions. (I get torn more when I think about the crappy job the military does in actually paying to provide this information and fail to do so- they are putting a lot of money against the problem and not fulfilling the goal, in my estimation. Proof in the pudding is the posts on this site where people are given erroneous information).

In my opinion, this is the greatest potential negative to a, for the lack of a better term, non-free site. And, in my view, helping those mentioned above is what this site is all about. For instance, I probably would not be a member of this cite had I had to pay for the advice and information I received from you, Jason, and other members when I was going through IDES.

With this being said, I believe in the service this site provides and that you will ultimately do what you think is best for all parties involved. I know I will stand by whatever decision you make and will do everything in my power to make this site work...whichever direction you decide to take it.
 
This site is a gold mine of information and wished I knew about it from my assignment to the WTU. It's too bad that this couldn't be a part of the inbriefing but I'm sure there are all kinds of legalese to prevent that. I am pretty much on board with the comments that usafaviator mentioned; read for free, membership to post (higher your rank, the more dinero to chip in??). I think that there is one developing issue that needs to be considered; Iraq is over and Afghanistan is drawing down thus eventually the number of soldiers/airmen/sailors searching for this type of information will decrease and therefore the potential revenue. HOWEVER; if things pop in Syria and that goofball in North Korea punches off a missile who knows.
 
Dude i totally do a small monthly fee for this insanely large wealth of knowledge!
 
I agree that there is an invaluable amount of knowledge on the site. However, if you had a fee to post, combined with the possible loss of traffic due to drawdowns as was pointed out by akbanone, I believe that the long term viability if the site would be severely impacted. I'm sure you would maintain a high level of traffic from the free browsers for a while, but the amount and eventually the quality of the information stared will start to decrease because the fewer "paid" members. It's pretty plain and simple. In the end, if you want revenue, no matter the reason, advertising is your best option to maintain your throughput without drawing a line and having people go to some other free to use forum of lesser quality. Or continue managing donation drives from dedicated members even though it is unreliable and most likely a pain in the ass. Another thing to keep in mind. This sight, with all it's great and vast information might be owned or managed by one person, but the true value if this site comes from the contributions of all the members in ways that are not based on the almighty $. Knowledge truly is an awesome thing.
 
AS much as this site has helped me, my "payment" has been in the form of helping others, both on and off site. NOW with that said, would I pay for an "advanced user" account that allowed private messages, file downloads etc., Yes I would. ( pretty sure you can make PM's to site owners/mods seperate and under free users, but msg between members PM's etc could be based on a monthly/yearly fee). Make a FAQ page a "rules and regulations page" and have that be an AD supported front end, and leave the forums alone, or small ads along side bars. I do not want to be distracted while on this forum by "click here" or "cabela's got ammo in stock" or looking for SSDI help" spam. I concentrate pretty hard sometimes when writing a reply trying to give thoughtful, accurate feedback, and sometimes I am an arse, but either way if this forum went full blown ad supported, I would likely visit it only to ask/review my own threads and not help others as much. Trying to give honest feedback from my perspective-you could easily loose folks like NWlivewire, warrior, nd, hawkdriver, jeep, myself etc. because of a mandatory fee-at this point in my forum usage I seldom ask questions and spend more time replying to others.
 
All good points- I have not been all that concerned about the issue, generally. My actual concern has been if I could "do better" in helping more folks with more investment in the site (like most things, this is also a relative issue...if I had a million dollars, I could do a lot more...but, I don't. So, the better/more realistic question is if with marginally more support, I could do appreciably better in helping people. It is a waste to spend on things that aren't helpful. It is also not a goal to raise money for its own sake...So, tradeoffs are an important consideration- the site doesn't need money that works against our goal).

As far as the wars and their winding down, you would be surprised at how consistent disability processing has been over the years. The fact remains, while the wars have given rise to more traumatic/combat injuries and more PTSD, the numbers have not skyrocketed because of the wars, nor are they likely to decrease after the cessation of combat. (The constant most likely injury to cause referral to the DES is orthopedic injuries...whether we are at war or training for war, all the physical activity consistently causes injuries). I don't mean to suggest that there is "no impact" because of Iraq/Afghanistan- just that there have always been a baseline of disabilities and the numbers are high enough that I think people will always need the information on this site.

I think Zomglawlz raises a good point, one that I have always been aware of- that a large value of the site is from the contributions and posts from members. I am not inclined to charge anything for posting- at least not in the open forums. I have given some thought and may, at some point, set up "private forums" for those who donate a certain amount. This would be attractive, because it would keep the current structure of the site, but add in an option for those who only want paying forum members to view their posts. But, I have not made any decisions on this.

As for advertising, that is a possible revenue stream to support the site operations. However, I get worried that people will be presented with attorney advertising or advertising from organizations that may not serve them well- and therefore, tend to work against the point of this site in the first place. (I have considered advertisements in Social Security forums, because I think that based on the fee structures set by law, there are less concerns with these issues).
 
AS much as this site has helped me, my "payment" has been in the form of helping others, both on and off site. NOW with that said, would I pay for an "advanced user" account that allowed private messages, file downloads etc., Yes I would. ( pretty sure you can make PM's to site owners/mods seperate and under free users, but msg between members PM's etc could be based on a monthly/yearly fee). Make a FAQ page a "rules and regulations page" and have that be an AD supported front end, and leave the forums alone, or small ads along side bars. I do not want to be distracted while on this forum by "click here" or "cabela's got ammo in stock" or looking for SSDI help" spam. I concentrate pretty hard sometimes when writing a reply trying to give thoughtful, accurate feedback, and sometimes I am an arse, but either way if this forum went full blown ad supported, I would likely visit it only to ask/review my own threads and not help others as much. Trying to give honest feedback from my perspective-you could easily loose folks like NWlivewire, warrior, nd, hawkdriver, jeep, myself etc. because of a mandatory fee-at this point in my forum usage I seldom ask questions and spend more time replying to others.

Well said, and I don't have plans to make a reply or posting fee part of this site.

A point I acknowledge and have always maintained, is that the value is what the community brings to the table in way of input. (When I first started the site, I really took some time to consider whether I would only have a blog- with my posts and others could reply, or have a forum, where the community could start discussions. I landed on the forum format because it made sense to me that my input would only cover the issues I see- and the community has a lot of value).

I also have specifically stayed away from advertising because of the issues you mentioned. I generally don't like seeing a lot of ads, and don't want to turn people off.

I do appreciate all of the input- this issue is not a "hot one" for me- recall that this discussion, while appreciated, restarted because of questions from members.
 
BLUF you shouldn't have to foot the bill.

Definitely appreciate the sentiment and agree (at least as to the "should" part). What "should" happen is that the military steps in and provides the information, community, and insight that this community does (I pretty much figure that the site exists because people are not getting what they need from "official" sources- no need for the help, then people would not come here).

And, while I wish that I had unlimited resources to put against the problem, or- preferably- that there was no problem to fix...bottom line, there is a need. If you looked at it from the point of view of the cost to me, it is a losing proposition. If you looked at it in terms of additional money or profit I could make by not having the sight or sharing the information, it is a very big losing proposition. All of that said, none of that really matters much. Yes, I believe in capitalism as a paradigm and the best economic system out there. However, there are always market inefficiencies and, in my view, whatever I donate to the cause...hell, there are a ton of Soldiers, Sailors, Coasties, Airmen, Marines (not to mention their family members) who have given a lot more and gotten much less. Though not reality, I try to look at everyone who joins this site as if they were one of my Soldiers (when I was in a Company Command position). You have to help those who are in your charge. If you want to be a leader, some times you have to give more.

Anyway, no one should think that the site is crushing me financially. Were that the case, I would let people know so they could take action. My main concern or even issue is if we can do better here to help others. With unlimited resources, that is definitely the case. The reality is, though, that there are never unlimited resources. So, the real questions is how can we do best?
 
Yeah I agree with and know what you mean by sometimes having to take the lead. There are some smart cookies around, I'm sure that something equitable will evolve.
 
Yeah I agree with and know what you mean by sometimes having to take the lead. There are some smart cookies around, I'm sure that something equitable will evolve.

Jason, Have you thought about forming a 503(c) - the non-profit corporation model and folding the website into it?

That way, you could have a chance to gain donations that are tax-deductible.

As you knw, there are several large money people and groups that are looking for organizations to channel their money into so they can assist their tax-deductions dollars they write off and do good to people, too.

Can you not own a for-profit LLC and also head a not-for-profit 503(c) - and fold the Forum into the 503(c)?

Is it possible to "spin" or transfer or re-allign a segment of the services you do provide under the umbrella of a 503(c) (non-profit org.)?

V/r,
nwlivewire
 
Jason, Have you thought about forming a 503(c) - the non-profit corporation model and folding the website into it?

That way, you could have a chance to gain donations that are tax-deductible.

As you knw, there are several large money people and groups that are looking for organizations to channel their money into so they can assist their tax-deductions dollars they write off and do good to people, too.

Can you not own a for-profit LLC and also head a not-for-profit 503(c) - and fold the Forum into the 503(c)?

Is it possible to "spin" or transfer or re-allign a segment of the services you do provide under the umbrella of a 503(c) (non-profit org.)?

V/r,
nwlivewire

Yes, I have thought about going to a non-profit (for several reasons)....one of the impediments/issues is reaching a "critical mass" of income (and interest in this). That is, I would need to receive donations of a sufficient amount to justify going down that road. (I do understand that it is a "chicken or the egg" type of proposition- I might get more donations if I formally organized the site as a non-profit. However, given that I am one man, I could not step out in that direction unless the donations got to a point where I could bring on staff....

The site has run at a large loss for many years. The donations I have received have been greatly appreciated, but, the time and money spent in software, web design, hosting fees, etc., are greatly higher than donations.

We will see where this goes...I am not opposed to considering anything.
 
Can someone with a paypal account donate $1 to the site using the donation widget? I cannot donate to myself (I tried). I am trying to see if the donation widget works (both as to accepting payment, but also to updating the graph). If someone does this, please reply to this post so I can track that the donation occurred and that the "widget" displays this.

Thanks in advance!!!
 
Can someone with a paypal account donate $1 to the site using the donation widget? I cannot donate to myself (I tried). I am trying to see if the donation widget works (both as to accepting payment, but also to updating the graph). If someone does this, please reply to this post so I can track that the donation occurred and that the "widget" displays this.

Thanks in advance!!!

I will try when I get home this evening.
 
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