Site Donations

webmaster · 09-05-2025, 06:27 PM

Recently several generous forum members tried using our "Donate" button to make a donation to help this site running. Although they received a confirmation of their donation the connection to PayPal failed and the payments were never completed.

After some digging I found that the old donation system on this site was no longer compatible with PayPal and another way to accept donations was needed.

I've now setup a Patreon option to replace PayPal. Patreon is a popular and reputable system that allows visitors to join and automatically make a small monthly donation to help support their favorite creators or websites. To help support this site you can make a donation of as little as $2/month or enter any amount you like. The monthly donation can be discontinued at any time and all donations will go directly to the expenses related to operating this site and server.

As an added benefit to being a Patreon member of this forum I've created a new private forum area exclusively for our Patreon supporters where discussions about topics unrelated to the Lakes Region are allowed. I hope that access to this open forum area will be another incentive to join our Patreon and see what's going on in there.

Since I started it 30 years ago this site's expenses were always covered by advertising and some donations. Recently the advertising has dried up and Lakes Region businesses no longer seem very interested in advertising here, even though the cost is only a few dollars a day and we get lots of traffic. I'm not very good at marketing the advertising and that may be part of the problem. I tried adding Google ads but it seems that many of you now block those ads and the income from them is minimal. I will always appreciate the donations I've received through PayPal and do have a few other ideas to offset the growing expenses that I'll be trying soon.

The future of the site really depends on finding a way to cover the growing expenses. I am now paying almost all of the site's expenses out of my pocket. Now that I'm 5 years into retirement I have to decide if I can continue doing that indefinitely.

If you are a regular visitor to the site please consider becoming a Patreon member and making a small donation every month to help keep this site operating. If we can get 100 members donating a small amount monthly it will keep the site and forum running.

The "Donate" links on the site have been updated to Patreon and here's the link for you Tapatalk users:

https://www.patreon.com/winnipesaukeeforum

Slickcraft · 09-05-2025, 08:25 PM

OK boys and girls, we should be able to do this.

Alan

John Mercier · 09-05-2025, 08:29 PM

Send me a format for local advertisers.
We exist.
Just need a way to present it to them.

Susie Cougar · 09-06-2025, 08:16 AM

I just joined Patreon.
Don says he needs 100 forum members to join to be able to cover all his costs. Let’s see if we can all sign up today and reach that goal. No one wants this site to go away.

DRH · 09-06-2025, 03:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Susie Cougar

I just joined Patreon.
Don says he needs 100 forum members to join to be able to cover all his costs. Let’s see if we can all sign up today and reach that goal. No one wants this site to go away.

I just signed up too. Let's all help Don reach the 100 contributing member goal!

ghfromaltonbay · 09-06-2025, 04:12 PM

Joined yesterday. Let's keep our forum going.

TiltonBB · 09-08-2025, 02:40 PM

Like many people above, I have joined with a monthly contribution too.

I check the forum every day, at least once, and enjoy reading about anything happening on Winnipesaukee or on the area. The restaurant reviews and other business recommendations are very useful and helpful.

I hope many more people sign on to make regular monthly contributions. It just takes 5 minutes. We all enjoy what is here and appreciate what Don does to keep the site on track and useful.

If you have not done so yet, please consider it. Don should not have to financially support the site.

BroadHopper · Yesterday, 07:10 AM

I check the forum every day, occasionally step in. I will be glad to support the forum.

Rick

winni83 · Yesterday, 07:57 AM

I have also joined with a monthly contribution. This site needs to continue to operate.

ishoot308 · Yesterday, 09:16 AM

So there is no longer any way to make a one time or single donation?? You have to do a monthly subscription / deduction on your credit card?? Not sure I like this...I wonder how easy it is to cancel. Sirius XM and Planet Fitness come immediately to mind in regards to a nightmare to cancel monthly subscriptions...

Dan

09-05-2025, 06:27 PM	#1
webmaster Moderator Join Date: Jun 2002 Posts: 2,470 Blog Entries: 1 Thanks: 461 Thanked 3,964 Times in 849 Posts	Site Donations Recently several generous forum members tried using our "Donate" button to make a donation to help this site running. Although they received a confirmation of their donation the connection to PayPal failed and the payments were never completed. After some digging I found that the old donation system on this site was no longer compatible with PayPal and another way to accept donations was needed. I've now setup a Patreon option to replace PayPal. Patreon is a popular and reputable system that allows visitors to join and automatically make a small monthly donation to help support their favorite creators or websites. To help support this site you can make a donation of as little as $2/month or enter any amount you like. The monthly donation can be discontinued at any time and all donations will go directly to the expenses related to operating this site and server. As an added benefit to being a Patreon member of this forum I've created a new private forum area exclusively for our Patreon supporters where discussions about topics unrelated to the Lakes Region are allowed. I hope that access to this open forum area will be another incentive to join our Patreon and see what's going on in there. Since I started it 30 years ago this site's expenses were always covered by advertising and some donations. Recently the advertising has dried up and Lakes Region businesses no longer seem very interested in advertising here, even though the cost is only a few dollars a day and we get lots of traffic. I'm not very good at marketing the advertising and that may be part of the problem. I tried adding Google ads but it seems that many of you now block those ads and the income from them is minimal. I will always appreciate the donations I've received through PayPal and do have a few other ideas to offset the growing expenses that I'll be trying soon. The future of the site really depends on finding a way to cover the growing expenses. I am now paying almost all of the site's expenses out of my pocket. Now that I'm 5 years into retirement I have to decide if I can continue doing that indefinitely. If you are a regular visitor to the site please consider becoming a Patreon member and making a small donation every month to help keep this site operating. If we can get 100 members donating a small amount monthly it will keep the site and forum running. The "Donate" links on the site have been updated to Patreon and here's the link for you Tapatalk users: https://www.patreon.com/winnipesaukeeforum

09-06-2025, 04:12 PM	#6
ghfromaltonbay Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Clifton, NJ, Alton Bay Posts: 837 Thanks: 257 Thanked 225 Times in 131 Posts	I'm in! Joined yesterday. Let's keep our forum going.

Yesterday, 07:10 AM	#8
BroadHopper Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Laconia NH Posts: 5,601 Thanks: 3,237 Thanked 1,113 Times in 799 Posts	Joined the 'club' I check the forum every day, occasionally step in. I will be glad to support the forum. Rick __________________ Someday may never be an actual day.

Yesterday, 09:16 AM	#10
ishoot308 Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Gilford, NH / Welch Island Posts: 6,341 Thanks: 2,412 Thanked 5,336 Times in 2,085 Posts	So there is no longer any way to make a one time or single donation?? You have to do a monthly subscription / deduction on your credit card?? Not sure I like this...I wonder how easy it is to cancel. Sirius XM and Planet Fitness come immediately to mind in regards to a nightmare to cancel monthly subscriptions... Dan __________________ It's Always Sunny On Welch Island!!

The Following 5 Users Say Thank You to webmaster For This Useful Post:
Charlie T (09-05-2025), DRH (09-06-2025), jeffk (09-06-2025), Senter Cove Guy (09-06-2025), Slickcraft (09-05-2025)

09-05-2025, 08:25 PM	#2
Slickcraft Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Welch Island and The Taylor Community Posts: 3,329 Thanks: 1,240 Thanked 2,118 Times in 968 Posts	OK boys and girls, we should be able to do this. Alan

The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to Slickcraft For This Useful Post:
DRH (09-06-2025), TiltonBB (09-06-2025)

09-05-2025, 08:29 PM	#3
John Mercier Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2021 Posts: 3,513 Thanks: 3 Thanked 621 Times in 512 Posts	Send me a format for local advertisers. We exist. Just need a way to present it to them.

The Following User Says Thank You to John Mercier For This Useful Post:
Susie Cougar (09-06-2025)

09-06-2025, 08:16 AM	#4
Susie Cougar Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2019 Location: Parrish, Florida Posts: 619 Thanks: 295 Thanked 225 Times in 160 Posts	I just joined Patreon. Don says he needs 100 forum members to join to be able to cover all his costs. Let’s see if we can all sign up today and reach that goal. No one wants this site to go away.

09-08-2025, 02:40 PM	#7
TiltonBB Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Gilford, NH and Florida Posts: 3,037 Thanks: 715 Thanked 2,212 Times in 943 Posts	Like many people above, I have joined with a monthly contribution too. I check the forum every day, at least once, and enjoy reading about anything happening on Winnipesaukee or on the area. The restaurant reviews and other business recommendations are very useful and helpful. I hope many more people sign on to make regular monthly contributions. It just takes 5 minutes. We all enjoy what is here and appreciate what Don does to keep the site on track and useful. If you have not done so yet, please consider it. Don should not have to financially support the site.

The Following 2 Users Say Thank You to TiltonBB For This Useful Post:
Slickcraft (09-08-2025), webmaster (09-08-2025)

Yesterday, 07:57 AM	#9
winni83 Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Moultonborough, NH Posts: 437 Thanks: 17 Thanked 217 Times in 137 Posts	I have also joined with a monthly contribution. This site needs to continue to operate.