Colleen suggested in the previous that we send e-mail to the most
frequent users of Grex who aren't members, soliciting donations.  There's
already a script around here that ranks people by the number of hours
they log in to Grex.  I think we should give this a try, sending e-mail
to the top 100 or 200 non-member Grex users.  A polite, "soft-sell"
message explaining how Grex is financed, and why they were selected for
the mailing list, could definitely garner some new memberships.
 
  I could see some people not liking the "big brother" aspect of our
counting how many hours each person was logged in (in fact I don't care
for it much myself!), but that's always been a matter of public record
whether people know about it or not, and whether we send them a message
or not.
 
  If people in this conference think it's a good idea, it should
probably be discussed in the co-op conference to get a bit more public
comment.

40 responses total.

        I think it would be a good idea to try out anyway. It would keep the
issue of membership in mind. I mean heck, I even forget about membership and
I am a member, i have to be reminded to send in the check. 
        The top users would probably be the most willing to become members.
I would be interested to see how many of the members rank in the top groups
and how many don't. Maybe I will look it up. 

I think that when danr was Treasurer he occasionally did this. 

        Well being the insomniac that I am I took the time to look some of this
stuff up. I went through the top 350 users or so, and out of those users 34
were members. I stopped at 350 because the monthly total was less than 25
hours for the month of Aug. 
        If danr did this before does that mean that it doesn't need to be
discussed in coop?

  I just sent some e-mail to Dan asking if he'd done this, and if so
what the results were.  I suppose there's no real obligation to discuss
this in co-op, as anyone can just do an unofficial mailing, but I think
it would be good to get additional input.

  Interesting figure, 34 of the top 350 being members.  I think e-mailing
people at around the 25-hour-per-month mark sounds about right.  Or maybe
make the cut off 30 hours per month, so it's about an hour a day.

I did indeed e-mail many users back when I was treasurer.  And, I even used
the 30-hour/month criteria. :)  Overall, I think it was effective and think
it would be worthwhile to start doing this again.

In addition to the 30 hour/month crieteria, I also e-mailed people who had
a large number of logins, but perhaps very little on-line time.  I surmised
that these people were using Grex for e-mail and should be members just as
much as people who party or conference heaviliy.

So is this something that "we" want to do? I would be willing to help out in
anyway that is needed. 

   I dunno. A gentle reminder is nice, but could be tantamount to pressure.
I would rather see a fee structure that people could live with, and then see
if we need to issue subtle reminders. A little guilt never hurt anyone ;)

   I would also like to offer some PBS style premiums, like buy 2 months of
Grex and get a t-shirt free. Cost $20. Buy a mug for $12 and get a month of
Grex free. Does anyone see this working?

  I can see a "gentle reminder" being equated to "pressure," but it's an
awfully small amount of pressure, and I don't see what's wrong with a
little pressure anyway.  It's certainly not a sin by Christian standards,
given the practice of passing a collection plate!
 
  Also, I would view this not so much as a gentle reminder, as a polite
request.  Many people are unaware of how Grex is funded, and for those
people, the e-mail would be educational, not memory-jogging.
 
  I think the issue of fee structures and premiums should be discussed
separately, so I'll start another item for that.  The reason I think it
should be separate is that I don't think a fee change will affect
whether people think mass e-mail is a good idea or not.  I'd support it
even with a different fee structure.

        Well since this is the beginning of the month the figures could be
looked up to see who the top users were for September. I agree with ajax about
this just being a gentle reminder. I think if everything is explained, like
why the user was selected to be mailed, that it wasn't just a mass grex
mailing. I don't see too many problems. I would be interested to see the
results of this. 

I don't think i have the text of what i sent anymore, but I always was careful
to explain the funding structure of Grex.  That's really important.

Here's one I just wrote.  Seems a bit lengthy.  Comments and
alternatives appreciated!
 
  Dear Grex user,
 
  I'm writing to ask your help in keeping Grex running and improving.
  Grex is funded by donations, membership sales, and fund-raisers.
  Since you're one of Grex's more frequent users (this message is being
  sent to people who average more than an hour of Grexing per day), we
  wondered if you could help us in this regard.
 
  Grex membership dues are $6 a month, or $60 a year.  This provides
  three main benefits: you get to vote (or run) in Grex elections, you
  get to use outgoing telnet service, and you get the satisfaction of
  supporting a worthy cause!  We need a copy of some type of ID for
  membership, but even a personal check with your name printed on it
  is sufficient.  Non-membership donations are equally appreciated,
  and still give you the satisfaction of supporting a worthy cause!
  You can send contributions payable to Cyberspace Communications to:
 
    Cyberspace Communications
    PO Box 4432
    Ann Arbor, MI  48106-4432
 
  By the way, Cyberspace Communications is just Grex's corporate
  name - it's not a big company or anything, it just runs Grex.  We
  have no employees, just a bunch of dedicated volunteers.
 
  If you can't contribute at this time, that's fine - Grex is glad to
  provide free service to many people, and hopefully you'll keep
  us in mind.  If you can contribute, we'd be most appreciative!
 
  Thankyou,
 
  Whomever (Treasurer probably?)

You might push the reasons for funding a bit more.  That phrase from the motd
a while back about where Grex *doesn't* get money from was really good.

A question.. Do you have to pay the $60 year fee all at once? or can you do
payments, like $20 a month for 3 months? If you can, you may want to include it
in the letter...

I think you have to pay the $60 all at once.  

Right, if you make payments, you've opted for the $6 a month selection.

Hmmm, I didn't realize that this had been done in the past.  I do know that
if it came up in co-op it would probably inspire a firestorm of controversy.
There are many people who feel that contacting people personally to solicit
memberships is an intrusive thing.

Me, I'm still not sure what I think.

To tell you the truth, I didn't care what others thought at the time.
We were definitely in a bind financially and we needed the money.  I was the
fund-raising committee at the time, and I decided it was in our best interest
to do this.

Well, Dan, I certainly agree that in a crisis it's easier to get forgiveness
than permission.  I didn't intend any retroactive judgement at all.

What I meant by "what I think" is what I think about using this technique now,
when we could use more members defintely, but it isn't a crisis.

One thing that would influence me, though, is how often it was proposed to
be done.  Once a year?  No big deal, I think.  Once a month?  Definitely
overkill.  Once per user, as they reach 30 hours of usage a month?   Hmmm,
that has possibilities and could *very easily* be defended on educational
grounds.  On the other hand it could be a logistical nightmare.  Maybe.

I think that even though grex isn't in a crisis, it could use the money to
get a faster internet connection and a fasted system in general. I think that
is something that we all could use. I don't think that a mail once a month
is overkill. Some users who may not be able to afford it at one time maybe
able to afford it at a later time, and a gentle reminder wone hurt anything
at all. 
        Should this be brought into coop?

The problem comes in when someone isn't in a position to buy a membership for
a year r two.  If they've recieved 12 "reminders" just how welcome are they
going to feel?

That's why I'd like it to be seldom, if at all.  

Keep in mind that getting a faster system and a faster connection is an onging
project.  While it's a good thing, it isn't a project that you can ever really
finish here.  As fast as we get there are always more people who want in, and
who then slow the link and the processing.


I think I'd better shut up -- I';m sounding like a nay-sayer, when i actually
think getting more member is crucial.  (I've just been beating my head on the
topic for 5 years and come up with lots of things not to do...)

Well, why *not* do it now, since it has been years since the last spam?

  I think Misti raised a good point that frequency should be thought
out with the proposal.  I agree that monthly sounds too frequent,
unless we track who's already been e-mailed, and don't resend to
them very often.  I think 2-3 times a year would be a good number.
(I also agree with Scott; the first mailing is less controversial :-).
 
  Do people think this item should be linked to co-op, or should a
new item be entered in co-op to discuss it, with a summary of the
discussion so far?  I kind of favor the latter.

I agree Rob, a new item will allow us present the best thoughts in a coherant
manner  to start with.  That's likely to be more successful.

I disagree that once a month is too frequent.  It's just an email after all.
It takes many viewings before people get the message.  That's why they call
them ad "camapigns."  If you only send out these messages two or three times
a year, I don't think they're going to be very effective.

I think once a month would border on harassment.

Besides chirping in saying I disagree with other's ideas it 
would probably be nice to offer a few in return.

Why not a focused membership campaign maybe twice a year.
A spring drive and a fall drive.  Make a fairly big
deal of it, with an item updating users on how we
are organized, what we do, and that members are making
it possible.  Send out mailings asking folks to take
a look at how much they use Grex and whether they think
it's worth supporting.  Maybe even have a picnic as
a kickoff for the drive.  Encourage members who may
be in a position to chip in a few extra dollars to do
so or maybe even sponsor another member for a month or two
as a way of showing appreciation for their contributions
to the system.  Have a clear idea of what Grex will
be doing with the money raised and talk it up in terms
of specific goal.

Anyhow, I really feel monthly letters would quickly become
the equivalent of junk e-mail.  And if were were even in
the position that we really and truly needed to get
folks' attention in this manner that it would be less 
than useful.

I agree with Chelsea on this one.  Also, I'm convinced that once a month
reminders would send the message that we claim we're free -- but that we don't
really mean that.

After all, we have no real way of knowing whether a specific individual is
in a position to support GREX.  

I think sending out the message that "grex is free" is the wrong thing
to do, too.  The message should be something along the lines of, "If
you really can't afford it, feel free to use it, but if you can afford
it, you should really be chipping in."

Re: #26.  Focused membership drives would be a good thing.

I consider once a month to be way too often.  The membership drive idea sounds
interesting...

I like the membership drive idea!

Dan, I agree that we need to let people know why we need their support. 
I agree that anyone who uses GREX a great deal and could help support 
probably should -- but I guess we'll have to "agree to disagree" about 
the "GREX is free" message. 

 Now that I've had time to sleep on it, I like that idea, Misti

  I like the membership drive idea too, but I don't see that as a
reason to not do group e-mailings as well.
 
  The only part of Mary's suggestion that I don't wholly agree with
is that a fund drive should have a clear goal of what the money will
be used for.  In the past, the time from raising money for a goal to
actually fulfilling the goal has been around a year.  Less for simple
things like adding a hard drive, and more for complex things like
replacing the CPU, but most hardware stuff proceeds very slowly even
after money is raised for it.  (Replacing the old Supra modems is a
current example; there have been extenuating circumstances, but there
are almost always are! :-)
 
  That's not to say that we shouldn't have a goal, but I certainly
wouldn't want to advertise that the goal will be accomplished anytime
soon, and I don't think a goal should be *necessary* for a fund drive.
The idea of an auction was rejected a couple years ago because people
thought it should have a specific goal.  This year it was finally done
without a specific goal, and worked out quite successfully.

Perhaps she meant that a "development plan" (I can't think of a better
phrase to use right now) with some goals would be a spur to folks
thinking of becoming members.  E.g. if we can reach the 150-member
level, we could afford an ISDN line; 200 members will allow us to
offer PPP connections, etc.

Exactly, Dan.  There may be a time when all we'd be able
to offer is the fact that we need to cover the phone bill
and anything you could send along would help keep lines
open.  I'd hope things wouldn't be that tight, but no
matter, there should be a sense of why we need to 
encourage donations, what the additional money will do
for the Grex community.

  I see; sounds good to me.  I just entered a separate item on the
membership drive idea, to keep it from derailing the group e-mailing
discussion.  But in rereading Mary's suggestion in #20, I see now how
the two are related: it suggests "Send out mailings asking folks to
take a look at how much they use Grex and whether they think it's
worth supporting."  So it kind of absorbs the group e-mailing idea
into a larger plan.  If that's to be part of a membership drive, then
I can see why we might not want to do group e-mailings outside the
membership drive, as it could detract from their impact there.

If we are going to do a group E-mail thing, we should find a way for someone to
say "I'm flat broke, and I'm not going to be able to chip in for a while" and 
therefor be taken off the list for a while.... I know I'd love to contribute,
but I have no money whatsoever, and getting frequent e-mails about a subject
about which I am INCAPABLE tto about, would make me UNWILLING to do anything.
Pardon any grammatical errors, had a long day..

  It wouldn't be too hard to do that.  The list of members would
already be subtracted from the mailing list, so subtracting another
file of names would add no more difficulty, on an automated basis.
Most of the work would be handling the e-mailed requests.
 
  I think it might be better to make the mailings infrequent enough
that they aren't that annoying anyway.  As I recall, only one person
here suggested as frequently as monthly, with plenty of opposition,
so that's unlikely to happen.  At two or three times a year, I think
very few people would get so annoyed that they'd be unwilling to help.
(If and when we try the mailings, we'll probably get sufficient
feedback to know whether this's true or not :-).
 
  I'll enter a proposal in co-op in a day or two about doing a mailing,
unless someone else cares to first.  I'll suggest it as a one-time
experiment, with the idea being revisited before other mailings
are sent.  If we do a spring '97 fund drive, and fall/spring fund
drives after that, then maybe future mailings should only be done in
conjunction with those.  For now I think the timing of doing a fall
fund drive this year is a bit late; I'm guessing the PBS/public radio
fall fund drives are timed in part to avoid getting too close to
Christmas, when many people spend disposable income on presents.

A spring membership drive would give us time to come up
with some nice ideas too.  Like reserving space at Gallup
or another easily found location.  Maybe getting a press
release circulated and an event announcement in the
Observer.  Maybe invite some local computer-related business
owners to represent their companies?  Heck, if we invite
the Mayor and Council members explaining how we are
a community resource and a forum for political discussion
they may decide to see what we are about and join in.
Local users could offer to house out-of-town users who
would like to come in but maybe don't want to pay Hyatt
prices.  Misti will need time to design a knock-your-socks-off
flyer and we'll need to organize a staple-em-up party.

Anyhow, spring sounds about right.

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss