I just have to say...

[EarlG]

Last Thursday I posted a personal fundraising plea explaining that a recent downturn in global ad rates had caused a worrisome hole in DU's budget. Since then your response has been, frankly, overwhelming.

THANK YOU.

The last few months have been difficult for me personally, trying to manage the transition from DU3 to DU4 while also trying to figure out what to do about the financial situation. I didn't want to say anything because I figured I could resolve it myself without having to ask for help -- until it became apparent that asking for help was exactly what I needed to do.

And, dear DUers, you came through, and then some. Your generous contributions over the past week have gone a long way to resolve our short-term budget situation, which is exactly what we needed while we wait for expected improvements in ad rates as the year goes on. Not only that, but MANY of you signed up for a monthly subscription, which doesn't just help us in the short term but helps us to stabilize our budget on an ongoing basis.

After the fund drive we will immediately start work on an important required database upgrade, which is a major project, and will be potentially expensive as we have to purchase additional server space for testing purposes. So your help couldn't have come at a better time.

And your overwhelming response has made us realize that it's time to start looking into improving our contribution system to better track everything and offer additional options beyond PayPal. This will be no small task either, but it's something we'll be adding to the pile of projects.

If you are still interested in helping us stabilize our budget to keep DU financially healthy in the long term, the fund drive is not over -- you can keep buying hearts for your favorite DUers until Thursday.

• If you already have a recurring monthly or yearly payment, and you want to make an additional one-time contribution, use the One-time online payment option -- your recurring payment will not be affected.


• If you already have a recurring monthly or yearly payment and you want to increase the amount, my recommendation would be to visit this PayPal page and cancel your existing payment, then come back to DU and start either a new recurring monthly or recurring yearly payment. (If you're unable to cancel an old subscription, please contact me directly and I'll take care of it for you.)

I noted in my personal plea that DU is full-time work for the Admins -- it's a real job. And that's true, but it's so much more than just a job. It's a real privilege to be able to provide this service for you, because I get to enjoy it just as much as you do. And without you all, there is no DU. So thank you for being here, and thank you for caring about this place so much.



EarlG, on behalf of Elad -- the DU Administrators