GEN-NYS-L Archives

Archiver > GEN-NYS > 1997-09 > 0873172660


From: Brian Leverich <>
Subject: Re: FWD: RootsWeb Funding
Date: Mon, 1 Sep 1997 20:57:40 -0700
In-Reply-To: Your message of Mon, 01 Sep 1997 22:42:31 CDT. <340B8B27.F1A@waun.tdsnet.com>


-- Your message was: (from "Randy Sahr")
> Brian,
> Thank you! Nope never did run one of those, and don't want to either
> <G>.
>
> You have helped considerably in enlightening me. Was asking out of total
> ignorance, but didn't want to remain ignorant. Now that I understand,
> I'll shut up :) Thank you for sharing this information with me.
>
> I really appreciate the work that you and Karen do for all of us. Being
> a disabled member of the working poor, my gratitude knows no bounds.
> Will try to contribute as I can, because I'd hate to lose you guys as
> one of the best resources on the net. I sure can understand why
> genealogy is growing so rapidly and is so popular!
>
> I apologize for the tone which came with my post. It is hard to relay a
> thought in type without it coming out sounding rude, which was not my
> intention. Aren't there any volunteers who could handle the filing for
> the 501(c)(3) status thing? Bet if you asked, someone experienced in
> such matters would be more than glad to help. Whaddaya think? I hope so!
> best,

------------------

No apology needed -- a year ago *I* had no clue how much it would
cost to operate a RootsWeb (or I might not have started it at all
(-8 ).

The scary thing is what it may cost in the future. I ran out the
numbers on what it would cost us to support the USGenWeb Census
project and bring the Census through 1880 online, and even with
volunteer labor that's probably going to cost more than $200,000.

But there are more than 100,000 online genealogists, so $2 apiece to
have the Census online really is a huge bargain.

Re 501(c)(3), both USIGS and IIGS are organizing as nonprofits --
they have the labor to burn on that. Given what those groups are
doing, I sorta think it might be a good idea to deliberately leave
RootsWeb for-profit -- there are a few things for-profits can do that
501(c)(3)s can't, so there's an advantage to having a mix of non- and
for-profits working for the community.

But we may rethink that. Things change fast these days. Cheers, B.

--
Dr. Brian Leverich Co-moderator, soc.genealogy.methods/GENMTD-L
RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative http://www.rootsweb.com/
P.O. Box 6798, Frazier Park, CA 93222-6798

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