Why the site has been down, how you may help!!

Why the site has been down.

Ok guys here's the rub and some of you guys may not like what im about to say.

WE (THE CLUB) needs paying members .
The reason the site is going down is we currntly share the server we are on and because this club / site is so popular with many folks enjoy posting items either for fun or know how, this is making it so we are having more than our fair share of the server so the host of the server pulled the plug, its as simple as that.

We have at the moment 470ish paid members and about 10,000-15,000 unpaid forum users.

We need income to run the site NONE of the money we get lines anyone's pockets it all goes on the day to day running of the site and the AGM.

Now guys we have a situation here, we cannot continue with the way we are as far as the server for the site is concerned so we need to up grade it, but this will cost alot more, so something will have to give, either those who use this site regularly for their pleasure and enjoyment who are not currently paid members Dip in their pockets and support us or we have to make budget cuts I'm thinking of you guys out there who are here most nights and have post counts of over 100 we need as Sir Bob once said "your Bloody Money" its either that or we have to have the AGM every 2 years or so, or we limit the usage of the forum :dontknow:  there are other options but these need to be fully discussed.

Please have a think and try to help us out otherwise this club will have real problems supplying the service we currently do.
its in your hands.

Andy.

Hey Andy

Iv been a member since 2005, and without this club i would be lost    

Can you get someone to set up a donations link, cash waiting here    

ans4r
 

i was a member as soon as i joined

i think you should charge to use the site that why more people will pay, and you will also get a little less traffic

poeple will pay up because if you own a mk1 this is ther place to be

also a increase in membership would be ok to say £20

just my opinion

x2 with the donation - I'm sure we had a £1 donation thingy a while back - That took my spare coins every now and again

I would definitely pay to keep this site running, but I agree, I think that a load of the 'heavy users' should be nudged into membership (the 4p per day cost isn't exactly steep) but of course it's a delicate subject and we may end up with some users taking offense

:dontknow: without knowing the cash flow i can't recommend anything

Come on all you non payers.

Its one payment a year of £15, its not a lot of money.

Just think of the money you have saved when someone has helped you out or you came across a topic thats saved you a few quid.

Thats got to be worth paying for by itself.

Plus the discount you get by being a member.

Most of you service your car yourself so the discount you get off the parts will pay for your membership so your not really paying for the membership BUT you will be doing your bit to help keep the club going.

I find it quite staggering that there are so little paid members compared to non paying.

What membership level is required then Andy ?

I have always been a member since 2005, it is a no brainer for the discounts alone. Same goes for Club GTI, I use that site a lot as well, been a member there continually for 10+ years !!! YOU HAVE TO SUPPORT THESE THINGS OR THEY WILL DISAPPEAR.

I think the time for direct debit has come, I am sure that you would retain more folks that just forget to renew.

Definately setup a PayPal donation system.
Happy to pay £5 more on the membership as well.

Also what about new forum sections that are deicated to various suppliers. You could charge for these sections and it would allow purveyors of mk1 parts and services to generate much more detail of what is on offer, provide promotions etc.

I would also like to see the option of multi year membership. Say £40 gets you three years.
Or what about first year membership at £10 as long as you sign up to a direct debit for the following year.

x 4 on the donations link…  :wink:

0.04% of people or less using the site are members  :redfaced: …. that aint good!!  No wonder the community is struggling  :cry: …. save the club… don't let the mk1 community dwindle  :cry:

I have to confess that when i registered to use the forums and the site i didn't become a member as i didn't own a Mk1 Golf but now that i have bought one, i became a member and i am glad i did.
So what i am saying is that a lot of users who are on this site might not even own a Mk1 Golf so you can't really get them to pay straight away but for all of you who do own a golf, become a MEMBER.

I was just thinking of how we could make the site better for paying members as i was a member of another site and it had a lot of good features on it that wanted you to pay for the membership so that you could use the privileges that only members had access to.
This is the site i am talking about is -  http://www.tamiyaclub.com/
It would be good if we could have some sort of profile page where we can upload pictures of our golf, recent meets and have a main for sale section for members only like on TamiyaClub. Then it might get more people to become a member.
Also the member map feature on that website is quite good too so you could contact members in your area to organise a meet or to ask for help with your own project.

I understand that to make changes to the website money is needed so become a member everyone!! (please )

Also, how is getting all the merchandise sorted out, we really need a section somewhere on the website that displays all merchandise that is available to buy instead of having to trawling through different threads to find it all.

Thanks,
Marcus

There is no real incentive to being a member when a non member can use as much of the site as a member can.

the technical section should be to paid members only.

could you not have it so it £5 join join the site which will allow you to use80% of the forum then another £15 on top to become a full member

i suspose it's a forced donation when you sign up

i'm with Jelly, if they need the tech section then a small donation should be paid, it ain't like they won't save that amount using the information in there, also i think if people are selling stuffs in the classifieds there making money so should maybe pay a small percentage

start raffles and stuffs onsite with items donated ??

but after a rethink i'm thinking raffles are going to be a mission, so maybe members with odds and sods laying around could sell them and donate the money i know its maybe a lot to ask but if theres a chance that the forum could go i'd be willing to help out and no doubt a lot of other people will ..

I think the donations & the sorting a merchandise shop would be good.  
Also on other forums the advertising companies have their own sections so you could charge a little extra for them to do this.  What about making it that only members could reply to stuff in the for sale sections??

Dont really like the donation idea, offers the potential for " i donated x amount  ,  and i want the club run like this" also suspect it may tail of after the first year. obviously anonymous donations would avoid this.

I agree that you do get a lot of discount for becoming a member, and that is why I will probably become a member soon!  The problem for me is that although 15 quid seems very cheap, its all relative depending on your financial state. 1 month ago I would not of hesitated to spend all my money on my cars (mk4 GTi and mk1 cabby GTi), but as I am about to move into my first house, I need every penny available!  Means the cabby project will be slower to complete and I am going to bike the 12 mile daily commute instead of drive.

The bugbear I have is that whenever I post regarding some advice or a "how do I…" it mostly goes unanswered. You get a few people look at it and nobody wants to comment or help Will that change if I become a member-I doubt it!  Thats why I have been on this site for 2 years and have only posted 40 times!

If only 0.04% of forum users are paid members, then non paid members should only be allowed to use the General section of the forum. Then access is stepped up according to what membership they have bought. If you only want access to the Technical section then a reduced Technical Membership would apply. If you've paid the full £15 membership, then only you should get FULL access to the forum. Definatly restrict the classified section, this would help stop members being ripped off by non paid users.

I am also a fan of the Direct Debit membership, I have my insurance though Footman James and if my Club Membership expires, so does my insurance cover. I'd be very happy knowing that I would be a life long member untill I choose to cancel the Direct Debit.

What about having some fund raising activities at the AGM? I'll nominate myself to go in some stocks and have a few wet sponges chucked at me for a few quid, all going straight in to club wallet

Donations must be anonymous.
You know you have helped the club - that is all that matters.

First of all, it's interesting that only Members have replied to this thread, that in itself says everything you need to know.

Secondly, the membership fee was £20 some years back and was reduced to encourage greater take up. When I was Membership Secretary I worked my arse off to get it up to about 560 but this fell off back to what is basically tick over. That's fine but as costs increase we need to think about increasing memberships back to £20 or perhaps somewhere in between. I can't see this having a detrimental affect on numbers.

Thirdly as to merchandise, this has always been an under utilised source of revenue. We've had a stab before and failed but we're looking at it again and trying to get a shop going here and the ebay account Daz looks after is slowly growing. I myself am trying to get as much off the ground as time allows but as you all know, time and space will always be an issue because we do it for free and I for one have a Mrs that doesn't want her dining room taken over by hundreds of Air Fresheners and Umbrellas!

Finally guys we as a core group of members have to think carefully about what the club is here for. We all love the MK1 and ultimately this place is about preserving it. Therefore I worry about making too much of the site members only. I'm on another forum where 90% of it is closed to non-members and I feel that's wrong. Membership there however is twice what it is here so we are still offering value for money.

Moving forward I'd say we need to;

Increase the cost of membership subscriptions

Drive an increase in membership sign ups

Look towards reducing access to forums, perhaps technical but not necessarily.

Get a donation button up again and make it £2.50 instead of just £1

Get the shop organised both on the site and more stuff on ebay and remove the Merchandise Forum as it's never used and frankly gathering dust.

Finally get a new Membership Secretary voted in who has the time and energy to really attack users who don't support the club and increase membership!

Just my thoughts.

T

I think something else that could help is to have more of a presence at shows with more club stands with merchandise available.  How it was done back in the day before all these forums  

I must admit that I only became a member in 2008 when I got another mk1 but signed up to the forum in 2004  :redfaced: