JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum Update on site and donations!

That is an interesting response. Did you think it cost $10 dollars to upkeep the site? If not, then do you understand that it requires donation from multiple sources to cover it? We have literally spelled out the donations each year and increase the number with each new donation at the top. Some people give $20, some give $100, some give thousands. We hope it adds up in the end and I have personally covered the shortages over the years since the non-website part of the org stopped contributing. For the first 30 years, the folks NOT on the message board covered the cost of the board. With a few notable exceptions, it has mostly been two very different groups of people. The non message board people participated by attending live events during our tours, performing live at showcases or attending panels and workshops. Many thousands attended monthly showcases and song circles in our chapters around the world. Every activity we have ever done has been free outside our music awards ceremonies which sold tickets (though it was always free to enter the awards and you did not need to attend to win one as most winners came from 185 countries around the world so it would be impossible for most to attend anyway). I did live events from 1985-2015 and we did the awards up until late 2020. Only since then have we relied on the message board people to help pay the cost. Thanks to a few generous people (all listed on the the donations honor roll) and my own money we have kept it going. But the donations this year are still well short.

So yes, $20 dollars is helpful, especially if everyone who visits regularly donated something as well. I have never asked for a membership fee because not everyone can afford it. I used to pay the bills by keeping it free for members and having sponsors pay to associate with JPF. It worked very well pre-Covid, but since that time (really since about 2018) the money has dried up entirely and my health simply does not allow me to be on the road 9+ months of the year anymore where I sold Merch to help pay the bills. Us losing 100% of our income during the critical music awards process cost us our entire Org. savings (well into 6 figures) that I had put in bank to pay Org costs starting in 1985. I have never taken a penny of money from the org, and up until 2018, the org had never taken money it couldn't pay back from my family. That is no longer the case.

The bickering among users here ran off 90% of our regulars. That includes the worst offenders, but sadly it ALSO includes plenty of acrimony by folks like Martin. You can't call for civility enforcement when you have blood on your own hands Martin, which you admit to. I am not going to take sides with anyone where we have "rules for thee but not for me" style accountability. Every time I get complaints I find plenty of mud slinging on all sides. So if I ban everyone involved in the fighting, then all we have is non-registered users and a smaller number of people than it takes to have a community. The donors have obviously gotten no special treatment, and folks that actually make this a fun place like John Schick (among others) donate a LOT and never cause anyone any trouble at all, lose out because others are incapable of simply IGNORING trolls. This is my site and I have to ignore people I think are being ridiculous every day. It is called FREE SPEECH.

So Martin, should we delete everyone you disagree with, or just Japov? That is a serious question. Your $300 dollars could be the difference between keeping the doors open or not. Would you like the roll of disciplinarian? Keep in mind, at least Japov has shared his identity (though I have no idea who he is as we have never met) others seem to know, but if you want to get any NEW members, you have to let new people sign up meaning trolls get right back in and usually RAMP up their attacks and disruptions. It all seems easy until you have to make it work and keep the lights on.

If you two add another $320.00 that means we are already almost half way there. I am sure there are others who will help out as they always do in the end. But if I remove everyone who has had an argument here, you'd both be gone so then who do I turn too?

Remember, if you are a small part of the problem, you are still a problem right? On the otherhand, if you cleaned up your own behavior, then it would be WAY easier to hold others to account. But the people filing nearly ALL the complaints are always rolling around in the same mud as those they complain about. If no one argued constantly with JAPOV, he wouldn't have anyone to argue with right?

Like most things, people only realize what they have entirely lost once they have let it go. You guys can be part of keeping us going, or not. That is your choice. I will have 40 years invested in this soon, but I can't hold up the world by myself without a little help.

Brian