Joke:
You ever here the story of how copper wire was invented?
Two pilots got in a fight over a penny.
From a Movie:
The Big Lebowski: Are you employed, sir?
The Dude: Employed?
The Big Lebowski: You don't go out looking for
a job dressed like that?
On a weekday?
The Dude: Is this a... what day is this?
RV fans of
planet Earth. Before we start, let me take a moment to
state one thing about this website - this small family business: I'll never put
(1) email in your inbox or (1) letter in your mailbox asking for
money. Ever. If I do, you have
my permission to kick me in the man-vegetables with a steel toed
boot. Hard.
Reflect on all
the mail you get, physical and electronic, disguised as a bill that ends up being
something you didn't ask for. You walk in the door from
work all tired and hungry and pissed at the traffic, and you just
want to grab a beer and watch the idiot box for 30 minutes.
And there's the mail. Ten pieces of it, all junk.
All unsolicited, and all looking like something you should probably
open. And there it is again, some 'friend' asking for you to renew some stupid magazine you
ordered 12 years ago from the neighbor's kid so he could go to
band camp. Motherscratchers...
You'll never
get a letter or email from me asking for money. If you
enjoy the site and find that you receive value from it, send $25 a year to help keep
this business going.
Just wanted
to make sure you know that I think your free time is valuable.
I won't send you junk mail.
VAF will never
be behind a 'paywall'.
I
could sugarcoat around the edges, but won't. If the
regular readers don't donate each year, the site folds and I go
get a job somewhere. College for two kids is around the
corner and life is expensive. Family before airplanes.
If VAF is part
of your regular online routine, please donate yearly. You know
who you are.
Some high level stats for 2011:
(as of
1/1/2012 0000z)
|
Donations
sent in during 2011 |
1,940 |
Registered VAF
Forum Users:
|
14,958 |
|
The 2011 Donation Graph
Donations
ended up being
97% of last
year.
The graph here shows donations sent in
during the current year relative to the total amount sent in last
year (the red 'mercury' read off the left scale). It also shows how far through the current
year we are (right scale with the red hash mark).
If the red mercury reaches 100% at midnight on Dec 31, 2011, then
donations will be the same as last year. |
Short
version:
Click
HERE
to send your yearly honor system $25 using a credit card.
It takes less than a minute if you have your card in front of
you. You don't have to have a PayPal account to do this,
look for the 'Don't have a PayPal account' link in the
lower right corner after the jump.
Long
version:
In April of 2007 VansAirForce.net
became my full time job, and I have
staked our family of four's financial future on it.
The site accounts for
almost 100% of our family income. Health
insurance, house payments, food, college and retirement savings, medical bills....the whole smash.
I
ask the regular readers to send in $25 a year on the honor
system (remember the part above about me not bugging you).
You can use a credit card through PayPal
to send the money - it takes about 45 seconds.
You don't need a PayPal account to do this. Or you can send a check.
If your name is
on this list,
I've received your 2011 donation. And thank you to those
that donate.
Why does VAF use an honor system business model?
The simplest explanation I can offer is because it's less work for everyone
involved and it helps preserve my sanity. Forcing anyone to pay just to
view or post introduces another colossal layer of complexity, and changes
the vibe. Hello
unintended consequences.
Also, when I have
to go look up my username and password for some website just to
see the damn thing, I want to put a shoe through the monitor.
I vowed to never make this site be that. Same
man-vegetable boot kick offer as above...
Three more reasons...
First, as a United States citizen who is VERY appreciative of those who defend(ed) my freedoms, the 'exempt from donating' category
upper right is of
primary importance to me. Who would setup and maintain the list of
thousands of free combat veteran accounts? How do you verify their credentials?
This all implies employees, and an office, and status meetings,
and peer reviews, and a thousand other things that a) gets us off topic and
b) killed large
parts of my soul
in a previous corporate life. I'd have to charge much more to
cover the increased overhead, just so I could net the same
amount. It becomes an episode of ‘The Office’ every
day. Thank you, but no. I do it this way for my own simplistic,
sanity-preserving reasons.
Second, it releases me from
the ‘I paid my money so this is the direction I expect you to go with the
site’ back and forth. If you don’t feel you got $25 in value during the
past 12 months, don’t pay. On the other hand, if you visit daily, post
often, saved hundreds on something in the classifieds, don't fit
in one of the exempt categories and still choose
not to pay, well, I don't even know what to say to that. I
guess your parents are very proud.*
Third, this honor system business model allows those who are on the fence
regarding getting into the hobby to virtually ride along, for years if
that’s what it takes. The soft sell approach gets people involved in the
hobby and sells kits. Having to pay just to see what’s inside right there
at the beginning, right when you're just getting interested, is a major buzzkill.
Thanks to those that ‘pay their tab.’
Things I'll never
do with VAF:
You'll never have to click through a pop-up
ad to see any page. There will never be an ad that moves
your screen over to the side and starts talking to you.
When you go to the front page, it won't start singing, or
dancing around, or try to get you to buy some car or cable
service. You'll never have to login just to see the dang
story. I'll never start a VAF
wine club (what?),
or put together a VAF lawn tractor discount
(come
again?).
It's focused only on RVs and the people who fly and build them.
Two bucks monthly -
it will almost buy one medium cup of coffee at Starbucks. Two bucks
for something you will visit thirty times a month (if not more). I
don't think anyone can argue that isn't an outstanding value!
If you come to this site every day.....I'm talking to you,
friend. <g>
2011 Donators List
(previous years:
2010
|
2009 |
2008)
Those who donate are in the
running for prizes that I pick
in spurts. It can range from a $30 gift
certificate to something worth over a grand.*
Thank you for supporting
our family's small business,
Doug Reeves (and family)
