I have a few free minutes and motivation to do this, so ...
Again, costs of server lease: $224/mo. Hosting for [rocksmyfaceoff.info] runs $8/mo. Add to that domain renewals at ~$10/yr. for caedmonscall.net, derekwebb.net, rmfo.net, rmfo-pics.net, rmfo-blogs.com, rocksmyfaceoff.com, and rocksmyfaceoff.net, add it all up, and we're talking ... $2,854.00 a year in expenses, roughly.
We bring in about $100/mo. in hosting fees, after PayPal takes their cut, each month. That's $1,200 a year in income.
So, we're looking at $1,654.00 left over every year.
In the last calendar year [from today, 19 Sep 2005], Charter Members have graciously donated $560. This is about average in any given year in the two-plus years since we've been doing this thing.
So, we're looking at still >$1,000/yr. in deficits between what we bring in and what I pay out. And I have to tell you: our server fees don't get cheaper as the years go by.
Who pays the difference?
does.
Now, I do so willingly and, most days, cheerfully. It's like I said on the staff backchannel when we first started talking about this---"I don't have a mortgage, a car note, or a wife." However, as most of you know, I've bought a house since then [and stopped keeping roommates, who always subletted from me and, essentially, paid the server fees with their rent]. I've driven my truck for nine years today, and it has the ~180,000 miles to show for it. It's still reliable, but the chances of it remaining so with no cash outlays on it are slim. And, well, I'm still single ... but I won't be single forever. [I hope.]
So, uh ... yeah.
Now, I'm very much willing to "charge" myself hosting fees and still donate all my administrative time for free. I'm a volunteer---this is my biggest hobby, and I really do enjoy it. But charging myself those fees still doesn't bring us close to $1,000/yr.
My next topic here will explain a plan to bridge this gap.
GFM
