Donations!

[Hawk]

Well, I broke down and did it.
I set up a PayPal account and set it up to accept donations.
For those interested just click on the 'donate' link at the top of the main forum page.

in advance to all who help to keep this site and forum going in these tough economic times.

BTW! You don't need a PayPal account to donate. You can use most any credit card.
There is no minimum or maximum amount set. Just whatever you can afford.

[Gwizz]

Is it possible that we could get a bailout of some type.
It is about time for you to let us share in the costs for the best train site around.

[Hawk]

You'd have to talk to Obama about a bailout.

I just noticed that you made CEO 36 posts ago. You're the only one so far. I guess that means you're a real motor-mouth.
One other person is catching up to you though. TheGrindre stands at 816 posts.

[thegrindre]

I noticed that, too, Ed. No party, no nothing, huh?
(That's 817, now, btw.)

[Hawk]

As an after-thought, if there are those that would like to donate but don't have a credit card or a PayPal account, you can send a check or money order.
Just PM me for my snail mail address.

[Polynesia Rail]

If you would like to help keep this forum and site alive, please feel free to donate

I would love to make a donation, but I'm only 15, and my parents won't make a donation for a site they don't even know

I'm sorry Hawk...

[WPandP]

I would love to make a donation, but I'm only 15, and my parents won't make a donation for a site they don't even know

I'm sorry Hawk...

Solution to this dilemma:
Your parents must learn about the site! Get them to log on and register, and post a time or two.

No, seriously, I don't think Hawk is gonna mind that there are users here who have not donated. That's why it is called a "Donation", rather than a registration fee or anything like that. Really, this site has thrived on donations for a long time - the donations we all make in the form of our posts, keeping the content fresh and interesting. You've made plenty of that kind of donation, so just keep doing so! I know a lot of us are eager to see what you might come up with, for a Tahiti scenario, for instance.

[Hawk]

I would love to make a donation, but I'm only 15, and my parents won't make a donation for a site they don't even know

I'm sorry Hawk...

Not a problem. Sometimes ya' just can't , but ya' never know - your folks might like the site.

I didn't want to do this but the bandwidth is ever increasing and I may have to up the limit, and since I'm not employed on a regular job, and my wife had to quit hers to take care of her dad full time, our money situation is a bit bleak.
We cashed in her profit sharing but it's almost gone.
I'm hoping this donation idea will help some to offset the costs of the server. If not I might have to go with a membership plan for the download area, or close the site down - which I really don't want to do.
For those familiar with bandwidth usage stats, this site uses about 300 GB a month right now. That's up from 250 GB back in Sept.

BTW! I do give out a hearty to those that have donated.

[Cliff]

Hi H'All! I haven't been here for a year or so, but had to check in today to clear out all those PMs that seemed to appear out of nowhere in my in-box.

Haven't loaded RRT3 on my new computer yet, but plan to get back to it one of these times -- when I've finally figured out how to beat Montezuma in Civ IV.

-- Cliff in Virginia

[Cliff]

******! I'm still only a hobo??? I must have posted a couple of hundred times on The Gathering (remember ... way back when!?) And I'm sure I posted a couple of hundred of times on the old Hawk & Badger forum before it was hi-jacked.

Think I'll post a couple of hundred bogus posts so that I can be promoted to Engineer or something.

-- Cliff in Virginia

[Hawk]

Post quality is far more important than post count.

[Cliff]

PolynesiaRail writes: I would love to make a donation, but I'm only 15, and my parents won't make a donation for a site they don't even know

I'm sorry Hawk...

Hey there, son; I see you're about the same age as my oldest grandson. Tell your parents that HawkDawg is OK -- I'll vouch for him.

-- Cliff in Virginia

[thegrindre]

******! I'm still only a hobo??? I must have posted a couple of hundred times on The Gathering (remember ... way back when!?) And I'm sure I posted a couple of hundred of times on the old Hawk & Badger forum before it was hi-jacked.

Think I'll post a couple of hundred bogus posts so that I can be promoted to Engineer or something.

-- Cliff in Virginia

Well, well, well, look what the dog drug in that the cat took out... Hello, Cliff. Long time no see.
Don't feel alone, after Hawk had to restart this board, we all started out at the bottom.

Good to see ya, Cliff...

[Hawk]

Due to the amazing generosity of those that donated to help keep the Hawk & Badger web site and forum alive, I have removed the donation links from the forum.

I did leave a link on some of the web pages though, since there are thousands of visitors that stop by the site to download files but do not participate in the forum, nor most likely read it.
The donations I've received should help to keep the site going until sometime around 2012, and put a little milk and bread on the table, however - I left the donate links on some of the site pages to aid those that don't participate in the forums the opportunity to show their appreciation for the hundreds of files available for them.

Overall, 99% of the donations I received came from forum members.

I want to express a heartfelt big to everyone that helped out.