Donation Drive Q & A.

[runfiverun]

at one time they were two separate websites.
the boolits site was piggybacking on the gunloads site. [you could click a link between the two places from the other site]
eventually the boolits site outrun the gunloads site and they basically merged into one to keep things simple.
if you look at the blue and orange CASTBOOLITS LOGO at the top of the page you'll see at the bottom where it shows
castboolits.gunloads.com that's the domain name here.

[OS OK]

Who is who behind the site...from the top down?

[K7sparky]

at one time they were two separate websites.
the boolits site was piggybacking on the gunloads site. [you could click a link between the two places from the other site]
eventually the boolits site outrun the gunloads site and they basically merged into one to keep things simple.
if you look at the blue and orange CASTBOOLITS LOGO at the top of the page you'll see at the bottom where it shows
castboolits.gunloads.com that's the domain name here.

I noticed when I subscribed - just after joining - the PP receipt was Gunloads. I was a bit intrigued but never pursued it.

Thanks for the background

Does that have something to do with your 2 green Mod boxes?

[Half Dog]

I created an account on Swap Arms and wish to support both boards. Do I need to make separate donations?

[runfiverun]

well it's not a corporation. [they just got fancy tongue in cheek labels]
Ken, Rob, and Willey deal with the running of the place. [each have their own role, IT, Bill paying, etc.]

I just show up and wander around poking and pointing at things, same as the other Mods do.
I guess I'm more the go between the mods and the guy's keeping the lights on.

it's really the members here that drive the place and keeps it going.
choosing to discuss new ideas, post pictures of their outings, making family announcements, discussing minutia about alloy details.
that's really what keeps things moving forward.
the money just makes it possible to keep the server we tie into up and running and safe.

[lefty o]

ive always felt that when a site sells advertising space, then asks for "donations", that they were double dipping. just my opinion.

[runfiverun]

unless the donation goal is to cover what the advertising don't.
I dunno all the particulars, but the donation goal has remained pretty steady.

[RogerDat]

I work in IT, deal with servers, web sites and applications. This is what I know based on that experience.

Advertisers pay maybe a few tenths of a cent per view if that. Possibly a few cents if the advertising link is clicked from here. Or there can be arrangements that are a flat fee but none of these sources are going to generate large revenue per customer view. Google gets good money from advertising but it has thousands of advertisers, and millions of page views. Along with big data to tailor the ad to your interests so you are more likely to click and generate the bigger payout.

Think of how many advertisements you see one some "free" web sites. Compare that to the simple banner with image links here. While that advertising and any fee paid by vendor members might help with expenses it can't pay the full cost of the higher end resources a site such as this needs. Just think about the sheer number of uploaded pictures, lot of bandwidth to send them up, more bandwidth every time a page with them is loaded. Not to mention the server disk space they require for storage. Your desktop hard drive is much less expensive than server grade hard drives which are almost always installed in sets rather than as a single drive to make the data storage redundant so a single drive failure does not wipe out everything. Companies that provide that charge for it, enough that I have a job so we don't have to pay those costs

Figure sending in $20 USPS money order is far cheaper than buying the reference library of information I get from here. There is a reason that a Google search for my shooting or reloading questions always has this site on the first page and usually one of the first three links. The answer is here, or the link to the answer is here. Or a member here will PM you with the answer or a suggestion on finding the answer. There are about 3 or 4 top sites for this sport and hobby on the internet, this is one of them. Has value, cost money to provide that value. Choice is between we pay for it or there are more advertisements scattered on all pages, top, right, left and center between posts.

That is just my never humble opinion. I get "it will cost how much?" a lot.

[rancher1913]

I for one like that the few ads are NOT MOVIES, this makes viewing the site a lot easier to us country folk with limited internet. I have another site that I like but rarely visit as they have gobs of those ads that run as a movie and it locks up my computer for several minutes trying to download.

[osteodoc08]

I thought that sponsorship and donations were different. Are they not?

I have a sponsorship level that is automatically withdrawn every year through PP. I've also donated. What if any is the difference and where do the monies go for sponsorship status?

[runfiverun]

same place.
that's pretty much how we hit 2-K the first day.

[No_1]

The question I have is how is the relationship between " Cast boolits" who has No1 as owner/CEO and Gunloads who has Gunload Master as CEO/CFO. Can the relationship be explained and does the money fund both sites or just one?

The sites are different. As Lamar has indicated Castboolits, Gunloads, Ammo Brass Trader (ABT) as well as a couple other sites are separate entities hosted on the Gunloads server. The Server Fund Drive provide much needed server upgrades and also outside help when things get beyond the capabilities of Willy. Ever see this site hacked? Ever see this site down? Ever received a spam e-mail from this site? Ever see this site spammed? Keeping this place up, clean and running good 7/365 is what the donations pay for. There is no salary / payroll for myself or the moderators.

[DerekP Houston]

The sites are different. As Lamar has indicated Castboolits, Gunloads, Ammo Brass Trader (ABT) as well as a couple other sites are separate entities hosted on the Gunloads server. The Server Fund Drive provide much needed server upgrades and also outside help when things get beyond the capabilities of Willy. Ever see this site hacked? Ever see this site down? Ever received a spam e-mail from this site? Ever see this site spammed? Keeping this place up, clean and running good 7/365 is what the donations pay for. There is no salary / payroll for myself or the moderators.

understood, thanks for being up front with the info and letting us know. Happy to be a paying member and continue enjoying this site.

Thanks for all yall do keeping it up and running! One of my few refuges from the daily grind that I enjoy visiting.

[K7sparky]

Just popping this one back to the top of the stack.
Plenty of good info for where our subscriptions / contributions $ go
A BIG THANKS to those in the background that keep this site running for the good of usens

[rcslotcar]

I donate because the members here are so willing to share information. The goal amount to me sounds very minimal so the monies must be used wisely. Good luck with the drive and keep up the great work!!!

[waksupi]

Trying to scrounge spare change, disability doesn't pay well!

[cabezaverde]

Check is literally in the mail.

[sav300]

No 1,
Sir, how far ahead would this donation drive be. If every member-user donated $5?
I will be sending us$10 come pension day.
Even tho I have retired form all forms of shooting ,I still visit everyday. (tumbleweed addict)
sav300

[smoked turkey]

I look forward to clicking on this site at least once per day and sometimes more depending on my schedule of activities. As always this is the only web site I need to feed my passion for almost all of my web activity. The wonderful folks here are my "extended family" and one the highlights of my day. I can truly say the satisfaction I get from Cast Boolits far outstrips the meager donation I am about to send in by snail mail. My heartfelt thanks to all those who keep this place running like a well oiled machine.

Willy I have just sent in my check to you for $20 for the fund drive. You should see it in a couple of days. THANK YOU!

[sav300]

Yea !, I love pension day for about 30 minutes till all are paid up!
Sheez. $10us on the way via Paypal.
A big thanks for keeping this site up and running.
Sav300