James R Gordon

Gil, I hope you are not suggesting I insulted you. If I have I do apologise. The point I raised was the importance of John Simkin's heritage. For example the breadth of the EF. It was not my intention to suggest you were not interested in that? James

Looking at our donations - as they are at present - members have raised $162:60. Today 13 members have donated. The average sum donated is either $5 or $10. One, very generous member, donated $100. Aside from that very generous donation, we would only have raised $62.60. It is early days - a week has not yet gone by since members agreed to make donations. We have sufficient funds to make September’s payment and with the residue it will probability allow us to make October’s payment. The point that is worrying me is how many more members will be donating. In addition - but for that very generous donation - we would not have sufficient funds to even make September’s payment. There is a lot to be positive about, but there is also concern whether we can raise $840 to complete a years donations. Can we be sure we have sufficient membership to raise that kind of sum or might it require repeated donations from members in order to raise that figure? James.

Ron That figure is clearly the total of donations since the site began. With every donation it will increase. James.

Sean, On the funding thread I posted the following At present $154 have been raised. It is not for me to decide. but I feel a central fund [ like a paypal account ] is better. Especially when directly linked to our Invision account. I believe there ought to be a "keeper" for that account. I do get the names of all who donate as well as the amount they donate. I worry about whether we have sufficient active members to donate $840 per year and every year. Not to mention that our internet usage is getting us close to the next payment threshold of $120 per month. I am not in favour of payment in order to post, but I also worry whether those who do not want to donate will inhibit us reaching our donation targets. James

Mark, I have no idea what that figure relates to. At present $154 have been raised. It is not for me to decide. but I feel a central fund [ like a paypal account ] is better. Especially when directly linked to our Invision account. I believe there ought to be a "keeper" for that account. I do get the names of all who donate as well as the amount they donate. I worry about whether we have sufficient active members to donate $840 per year and every year. Not to mention that our internet usage is getting us close to the next payment threshold of $120 per month. I am not in favour of payment in order to post, but I also worry whether those who do not want to donate will inhibit us reaching our donation targets. James

Ty and Gil, Ty it is not clear how many active members we now have. Look back on Kathy’s post yesterday. It is a guess, but I would be surprised if the number of active members is above 50. But that is not the only problem. It is not clear even if we have 50 active members - that all those members would want to contribute. DVP posted yesterday he was unable to contribute and I suspect there will be others. The only reasonably reliable membership figure who would also want to donate is under 20 - from what I can see. Gil I am sympathetic to your point. But I feel Kathy speaks for a number of members that restricting posting rights to donations conflicts with the spirit of John Simpkin. The present admin team took over to preserve John’s heritage and this would be a backward move.

Do as you wish Ty. Certainly some of that money needs to pay September's bill. Should this matter be resolved before the October payment I pledge to transfer what remains in the account to whoever holds the EF Paypal account.

Having the admin staf choose the Paypal owner - especially Kathy who has an excellent knowledge of members - seems a good way forward. Because of currency transfer I agree the Paypal account owner needs to be American. It would seem logical if the account is also linked to Invision.

That would work Sandy. I suspect linking the Paypal account to Invision might be more complex than it first seems. Also that Paypal account cannot be mine for the reasons you have stated. That said we have an immanent payment to make. Do we stay with the present system to make that payment? James

Sandy, I do not envisage my account as a permanent solution. I accept all you say about currency transfer. In 27 days we have a payment to make to Invision. If we are not to use my account - in the short term - then what is your proposal? James.

I should have added, that on its own that is more than sufficient for the September payment. James

I confirm $103 is presently in the Paypal account. James

Sandy, That Paypal account was setup for collection. I agree a PayPal account based in the US and payments made from it would be preferable. For that to happen someone else will need to make payments to Invision as well as set up their Paypal account with them. Though my account is not ideal it is a workable solution in the short time. James.

I understand Sandy. However the Paypal account is based in the UK. Contributions from the USA are usually in dollars and I have no alternative but to exchange the funds into pounds. James

I am not able to pick up the September payment but I can make the payment on your behalf. As yet I have not informed Invision I am no longer the payee. My bank account is still linked to Invision. I am certain the donation link still operates for Paypal contributions. So I can make the payments on your behalf and I am willing to do so, The present payment - because of currency conversion -is now £60. That means you need to collect $80 [ not $ 70 ] to allow for the $ 60 payment. That is roughly $6 if 15 members are contributing. Membership is our problem but there appears sufficient membership to meet the $80 threshold. In the long run the EF has a serious funding problem. But if we can donate $80 each month [ and I pledge to transfer that payment to Invision on your behalf ] then the EF is still alive for the short term. James

Two Points:- Point 1 Thanks Ty your response was helpful even though I am not sure I fully understood it. Point 2 I have heard back from Invision about creating an account in Paypal and making payments from that account. Paypal can be used for our Account Credit feature, yes. That option would be on the checkout page of the feature, starting here: https://invisioncommunity.com/clientarea/credit/ Once the credit is applied, monthly payments would be drawn from that credit balance automatically. The other option is to manually use Paypal each month to pay the invoice when the renewal is due. James

TY, I have not read the document you refer to, I am not sure who have. If might help all if you clarify what ideas would qualify and what ideas would not. That would really help everyone James

I should point out is that you have a problem with donations. They have to come later. There is a present system but it is linked to my bank account. Once someone has taken over then a new accounnt needs to be set up. James

The present admin tean I believe had just 2 weeks to take over. How we achieved that was I was the finnancial leader and I paid the subscription until we got ourselves settled. Donations are the way to go - but maybe that comes after someone has taken over. maybe for the first month or two that person funds the EF giving you time to organise donations. James

I am in the UK and it might have been easier for me. The issues you make Cory were never issues for me. Of course you can get in touch with Invision, but it might be easier if done through me. James

When you have an agreed a leader, that person should get in touch with me. I will introduce them to Invision. Kathy has reminded me that the leader will need two bank accounts.All payments to Invision needs to be in a separate bank account. You should not use your personal account. james

I would suggest that time is running out. I have made my last payment to Invision. Their next payment is due on September 4th. During that time you need a leader that is acceptable to the membership and remaining admin members. That person must have the agreement of Invision and able to demonstrate to Invision they can fund the EF. Invision will need the person’s bank details so that Invision can take their monthly subscription from that person's bank account. So there is a lot to get through and not a lot of time to complete it. James

Chris, There is no VAT applied. However since the Invoice is in $ there is a currency charge. James

Invision has gor back yo me. If your community does not need any custom applications/plugins, Custom SSO. API Access or full access to Page Builder (databases), then I'd say go for the Creator plan.Unfortunately we don't have any discounts available. Let me know what you think. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to ask. On its own it would cost £1068. With VAT which I am sure will be applied I believe that will cost £1282. I do not know how many active members we have, but if we have 50 members each member would contribute £26.00. Per year. If members are interested I can check there are no hidden costts and that having Creator plan is not in addition to our present subsciption. james.

Karl, We need to sort out the direction and cost of membership. Without prejudicing the final decision we cannot answer your question until we know what the final sum is to be divided. I have yet to hear back from Invision about whether the plans are of use to us and what they would cost us.I pointed out to Invision we had been with them for years and maybe that should be considered in pricing