2012 Fund Raiser NOT NEEDED

[Gerard Zwaan]

Two years ago the ning stopped being a free service and began charging for its services. We determined that we would require a Pro sized ning, given our popularity and membership, for $499.95 USD, and ran a 2010 Fund Raiser.
https://poleshift.ning.com/profiles/blogs/annual-fund-drive-ning-fees
At the time, there was the possibility of needing additional funding for excess bandwidth, so we collected for that possibility at the same time. We also collected funds to cover a small administrative ning for the moderators. The funds flowed in so quickly that we could hardly put on the brakes fast enough. No bandwidth fees were required for the 2010 year, which spanned from July, 2010 to the following July.

When the 2011 invoice for $838 USD was due, we found we still had an excess $775 that had been collected for bandwidth, so ran a 2011 Fund Raiser.

https://poleshift.ning.com/profiles/blogs/2011-ning-fund-drive-goal...
Once again we could only run the Fund Raiser for a few hours as $1,553 was collected so quickly. Before we could put on the brakes, we had collected enough to cover the $838 ning invoices, enough to cover a similar invoice in 2012, plus bandwidth funds should they be needed - $2328 USD total. Once again, despite a huge increase in membership and readership, no excess bandwidth charges were accrued.

Thus, in anticipation of the July, 2012 invoice, we find we have $1,490, enough to cover the anticipated $838 USD required, we also have ample funds of $652 to cover excess bandwidth fees.