Edited to add another payment method:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/keep-discuss ... ard-online
For those who prefer gofundme, which also takes Venmo, this option has been added. I gave a 10$ test donation, and it took out .59 vs. .79 cents for 10 dollars with PayPal, however, it then requests a tip on top of that. I gave .50, and so I ended up spending more than my test payment with paypal.
gofundme allows you to explicitly check a box hiding identity.
So what happened? After the board was up and running in 2020, I think we were all just relieved it worked out and so we coasted. The 2020 donation round went very well. It brought in enough to cover the first 2 years. The yearly breakdown was 480$ (hosting) + 20$ (domain) + 150$(llc behind domain). We hit a technical difficulty that contributed to the coasting, while the generous individual who pushes the payment button quietly just kept pushing the button. Recently, the difficulty has been resolved, and so it's time to get the ship back on course.
The costs have gone up quite a bit since 2020. That's all hosting fees: discounts expiring, inflation, and the need for more resources. We've had several outages due to lack of space, and for all the years we maintain data, we've got one of the larger message board databases out there. I've recently looked at alternatives, and I think we're more or less in line cost wise, with enough overhead and flexibility to keep the board going. Something can look cheaper, but then you get into it and realize you need to add a couple more things. That being said, we're always open to suggestions.
Feel free to PM me (or Shades) if you have questions. I do apologize for the lack of transparency about the financial state of the board, from now on we'll be sure to keep everyone updated better.
