[HCoop-Discuss] Financial situation

[Aaron Hsu]

On Sat, 28 Apr 2007 12:51:39 -0500, Adam Chlipala <adamc at hcoop.net> wrote:

> Now, a few months into that, we have about $4000 worth of those
> charges.  I sent a request to hcoop-announce recently asking for people
> to throw in more money to help cover these costs in the mean time.  With
> the volume of people who seemed to respond to that, it's clear that only
> payments of several hundred dollars per person could make a difference,
> and that didn't happen.  I've ended up essentially paying all Peer 1
> costs from my personal funds each month.
>
> So, what should we do?  I don't have any idea how soon we'll be ready to
> switch to the new servers.  Essentially no one responded to my call to
> "lend" HCoop money in the interim.
>
> Should we call this the point where we bundle the charges so far into
> one sum that we split among willing members ASAP, and from here on bill
> monthly charges to everyone as they arrive?
>
> Or, can more of you add several hundred dollars each to your HCoop  
> balances?

Unfortunately, I do not have the resources available to throw that much  
more into my account, but I have taken a moment to put more money as I am  
able into my account. One thing that I find problematic is just how long  
it is taking to make all the changes. Of course, I don't understand all of  
what is involved, and I would offer to help if there was anything I could  
do. I personally would not mind having some money taken out of my account  
to help pay for some of the costs, but I think that these servers really  
need to get up and useable (I know, that's nothing you all do not already  
agree with).

Would it perhaps make sense to charge people as soon as they have been  
migrated over? To me the most appropriate thing is to have the people only  
pay if they have been migrated, but as you say, you've been putting a lot  
of money in to make these servers remain available. I am offering to help  
as I am able, and I think others should do so as well. At the same time, I  
think this is a good time to implement an expansion part of the costs  
here. I believe it would be a good idea to be constantly expanding or  
preparing to expand, but to only do so when sufficient funds have been  
acrued. To this end, if we began, immediately, to take the current hosting  
costs, plus 10% and charge members for that, this would not all be harmful  
to the members, and when this is combined with the assistance of other  
people, such as myself or the multiple hundred dollar accounts that are  
paying more, the costs could be offset some while we are still migrating  
over all users. Then, leave the 10% Expansion Fee in place after we have  
migrated. This money can then be stored up and used for expanding services  
when the time comes around. This way, HCoop Members are not just paying  
for the costs of the group, but they are also paying to ensure that the  
service continues to be around. 10% is NOT a big increase per member in  
costs, but it is enough that it could help to provide for expansion costs  
in the future. So, in effect, I am saying that now is the time to start  
charging members for expanding, and using the expansion money obtained to  
pay the owed money if you will, for this latest expansion.

Of course, this probably won't solve the entire balance of the hosting  
costs, but it may help, and if migration is completed sooner than later,  
it might be enough?

-- 
Aaron Hsu <arcfide at sacrificumdeo.net>
http://www.aaronhsu.com | XMPP/Gtalk: arcfide at xmpp.us
(703) 597-7656 | "No one could make a greater mistake than he who did  
nothing because he could do only a little." - Edmund Burke