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Post Info TOPIC: Board Moderators Needed and Donations for site funding.


Admin

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Board Moderators Needed and Donations for site funding.
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Hi everyone,

Dean would like to step down from his position as board moderator at this time, and therefore I am seeking out two strong AA members to volunteer for this position.

Board moderators just make sure the board stays AA focused, that there is no spam, phishing, advertisements, and that any post that tend to create or entice controversy or division among us is quelled immediately.  That means, if necessary the post is modified, removed and if that is not taking care of the problem or issue, it might be a person needs to be put off the board, until they can come in line with the traditions as a member here.  This is a position that does require you visit the board once or twice a day, more if at all possible, reply to the post by others, welcome visitors and new people as they intro themselves, and just help keep the board active for and with the rest of the group.

If you would be interested in being considered for this service work position, please send me a PM so we can communicate further in private.

**************************

This time of year is when everything comes due on the web sites annual expenses, so if you have the ability please consider making a 5-10 dollar donation to help offset the cost of this site.  It is important that the site remains self support through its member contributions, and the burden of expense is shared, not carried by only a few.

To make a financial contribution please point your browser to 

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=FRPSNADH9PT9Y

this will open the MIP AA Group Paypal page where a donation can be made using either a debit or credit card.  

Thank you for your help in this matter.

***************************

If you would like to write an email related to either of these points, please send me a Private Message and I will respond as soon as possible.

John

 



-- Edited by StPeteDean on Wednesday 27th of May 2015 12:33:37 AM

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MIP Old Timer

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Hello Ladies and Gents, I'm still around, just getting tied up with work and some other special projects. It was a privilege to serve the board for 7 years but it's time to allow some others to guide this ship. Thanks for the fellowship, love, and support.

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MIP Old Timer

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Thanks for your service to a very worthy cause Dean, ... I know many, including me, have been helped along the way to a happy destiny because of your efforts and dedication ... I trust you will continue to be a part of the family for a long time to come ...


Love ya brother and God Bless,
Pappy



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MIP Old Timer

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Thank you Dean!  You were here when I first arrived and I'm grateful for that.  You're E,S & H has helped me and many others.  I hope you check in now and then and say hello.



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MIP Old Timer

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John wrote:

Hi everyone,

...

**************************

This time of year is when everything comes due on the web sites annual expenses, so if you have the ability please consider making a 5-10 dollar donation to help offset the cost of this site.  It is important that the site remains self support through its member contributions, and the burden of expense is shared, not carried by only a few.

To make a financial contribution please point your browser to 

https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=FRPSNADH9PT9Y

this will open the MIP AA Group Paypal page where a donation can be made using either a debit or credit card.  

Thank you for your help in this matter.

***************************

If you would like to write an email related to either of these points, please send me a Private Message and I will respond as soon as possible.

John


 Best of luck to Dean. Hope you are OK.

 

On the matter of finances/costs of the AA site and the entire MIP site, here are a few important questions:

1. As someone over on the Alanon site suggested in a post yesterday, in connection with the current operational funds solicitation, each group (or site) is expected to be self-supporting. What is the operational cost for the aa.activeboard.com site? 

2. What is the total operational cost of the Miracles In Progress Step Recovery site? And are these costs separate from the AA site? I think you mentioned the costs when you made a solicitation 2 - 3 years ago. I vaguely recall a number of about $125/year. I could be wrong about that number. I don't remember if that was for the whole MIP site or not.

3. When I click on the link you provided above I get a PayPal screen for Affordable Pressure Washing. Who is Affordable Pressure Washing?

4. Would it be a good thing for you to furnish an accounting of total receipts in the interest of transparency, as any AA group treasurer would do?

 

Thank you very much.

 

 

 

 



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MIP Old Timer

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I nominate Jerry, Roger, and Tasha for moderators, the mod squad

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MIP Old Timer

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omg.gif     



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Senior Member

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I like those nominations too dean

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Senior Member

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I'd like to donate but I don't know if it's going to this site or Afordable Pressure Washing.

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MIP Old Timer

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Hey Db, ... It's one and the same ...

John does business as Affordable Pressure Washing ... and he owns this site M.I.P. ... so when we donate to Aff. Prs. Wa., he is simply using his business account to pay for expenses to keep MIP up and running ... I have a sneaking suspicion that he's had to use money 'out of pocket' more often than not ...

I'm sure he appreciates any help he can get ... I know I do for those that have helped keep this site around for years ... I donate when he 'reminds me' that the coffers are low ... I shouldn't have to be reminded but that's just the kinda nitwit I am, LOL ... 

Hope this answers your question ... John can go into more detail for sure ...

 

God Bless,

Pappy

 



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MIP Old Timer

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I like Tanins questions. Hopefully we'll get some response.



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Thanks for everything.  Peace and Love on your journey.  



Senior Member

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Thanks Pappy, just wanted to make sure, and the selfish part of my was thinking about tax deduction.

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MIP Old Timer

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Here is some more information about funding solicitations and costs. It is offered here in the interest of helping members understand better how the cash is being solicited, received and spent. 

The most recent solicitations to the AA forum have been on:

Jan 20, 2015

http://aa.activeboard.com/t59446605/board-moderators-needed-and-donations-for-site-funding/

May 25, 2014

http://aa.activeboard.com/t57666700/mip-site-hosting-and-domain-needs-your-support/

Nov 17, 2013

http://aa.activeboard.com/t55605719/donationcontribution-sign-is-lite-again/

Aug 7, 2013

http://aa.activeboard.com/t54595905/donations-for-board-needed/

(Note: Solicitations were also made to the Al-Anon, ACOA and NA forums.)

As of May 27, 2014 we were advised that funding had been received  to cover 2 years for MIP (at $137.50 per year). There was an implication that the cost for the AA forum is separate from the $137.50 per year:

http://aa.activeboard.com/t57675367/mip-site-hosting-and-domain-reg-funding-met/

These solicitation threads raise some reasonable questions about the timing of actual billings by GoDaddy, the allocation of costs to the various forums/groups, and the comingling of contributions by separate forums/groups (Al-Anon, ACOA, AA, NA). I'll aadd a few of these questions to the abobe list:

5. Were any contributions received after May 27, 2014 and if so, how much?

6. Why are the contributions by different forums/groups (Al-Anon, ACOA, AA, NA) comingled into one commmercial business account?

7. Are the costs of the MIP site allocated to each forum/group equally? Is this equitable given that usage of the site differs significantly across forums/groups (e.g., Al-Anon has several online meetings, while AA has none. Al-Anon has 10 to 15 times the posting volume of AA and maybe 100 times the volume for NA).

8. Are there any costs for the virtually defunct Family Teens and Child Abuse Survivors boards and, if so, who pays for those?

 9. It seems as though there is some variation in advisement of when "the bills come due." What is the service anniversary date for GoDaddy hosting of MIP? I was told once that it was Dec 9. 

Perhaps, in the interests of transparency and accountability, John or someone else could address some or all of these questions. The financing/costs situation seems kind of muddled, even opaque. That may be due, at least partially, to the reality that MIP and the Al-Anon, ACOA, AA, NA forums/groups are 100% owned by John. As such, all of the money details and decisions are completely in his domain. 

 

Thank you very much.

 

 



-- Edited by Tanin on Saturday 31st of January 2015 07:41:12 PM

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MIP Old Timer

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John, can you please reply to the above questions? It's been 4 months now and they haven't been answered yet. There are some concerns about the financial status of the MIPS forums and the chat meeting services.

I understand there is a billing problem now regarding the chat meetings. It appears that no online meetings can be held right now. Will that problem be fixed soon?

If John is too busy, perhaps Dean can advise.



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MIP Old Timer

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Tanin, my responsibilities here are to remove spam, offensive posts, and members if need be. I've contributed a couple of times to the annual expenses of the site but have no dealings with or understanding of the actual funds collected or bills paid. It is predictable however, that with the infrequency that John has asked for help (didn't happen in the first 5 years I was a member of this board), that John has paid most of the bills for the creation and up keep of MIP out of his own pocket, not to mention the several recovery homes he funded and managed for years. Placing a magnifying glass on the accounting of this site is rather unnecessary trust me on this.



-- Edited by StPeteDean on Wednesday 27th of May 2015 12:31:26 AM

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Admin

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Tanin,

I spent a good amount of time replying to you earlier but hit the subscribe button instead of post reply and lost my writing. Which might be a God thing.

First I am going to say that it appears to me that your questions are more about my integrity than about the financial well being of this site. Secondly, I am going to say that as a person who shows absolutely no record of having made a contribution to the sites finances whatsoever in its 16 years of existence, I feel much the same about your questions as I do about someone who complains about a political administration that never goes to the polls to cast a vote, or someone who complains about never beng lucky enough to win the lottery who never buys a lottery ticket.

Next, I will simply point out a few things and this is all I am going to say to address your issue from this point forward. When you put a dollar in the basket at a community facility that holds meetings for a variety of groups, the administration of that facility (me in this case) is not obligated to provide you with information as to how much each group in their facility paid towards their agreed rental expense, nor are they obligated to disclose to you how they choose to utilized those funds for the common good of their facility. In short, if asked you'd likely be told they don't divulge anonymous group financial records to the general public nor do they believe its your business what they utilize those funds for related to their facility expenses.

Next, I covered the expenses of this site, in full without any help whatsoever for its first ten (10) years. When I elected to give others a opportunity to make a voluntary contribution, by making a means available on the site and sending out periodic reminders, it was simply because I had found in the previous ten years that unless asked for the help no one was going to offer it. This site will stand with or without your donation. I will be personally responsible to ensure that to all the people who visit and utilize this site. I built this site from scratch, paid all its start up cost, maintained its expenses and over see its ongoing functionality as a site. The domain and all that is related to it, is in my name and billed to my personal checking account by automatic deduction each month as needed, bi-annually as needed and yearly as needed. So, yes it is my personal domain, and all that it entails is really my own personal endeavor, which I am not going to make or allow to be made a public issue because of someone's own personal issues that really have no bearing on me, this site or its continued funding.

Now, let me give you a meager peek at some transparency. From May 1st - May 31st (today), three {3} donations have been made to MIP via the site donation button. Everyone one of them are from members of the Al-Anon group. So, in short your monthly expense for the AA board you are utilizing and viewing at this moment in time, is being paid for by someone else's contributions in the absence and lack of your own. There is currently $11.36 in the paypal account related to MIP donations as a whole. Not enough to cover the monthly expenses of any of the forums being used on the site. Yet, when it gets pulled from my checking account, it is paid... in full by me.

I work and I work hard for a living. With 25 years of continuous sobriety and 18 years of being in business for myself, I don't need to play any games with people. I make a honest living. If you'd like to know more about what I do, you are welcome to go to www.propertygroomers.com and watch a 6 minute intro video, or go to wilmington.craigslist.org and do a search on 4554 or 3452 (the last four digits of my two phone lines), and you will get a view of some of my marketing there (100's of graphic ads). You can join me on facebook and get a first hand view of that I do pretty much on a daily basis, or visit my business page on facebook - www.facebook.com/WilmingtonPW, and of course there are lots of videos to watch of work I do, both before and after. Then you will see how 70% of this sites expenses get paid...by me.

I own Miracles In Progress 12 Step Recovery Forums and I own Affordable Pressure Washing and Painting. I only ask that people make fully voluntary donations in the amount they can afford and are completely comfortable with. If you make one, great, its valued and appreciated, if you don't, not to worry, the site's existence is not based on your donation, and I think everyone should at least be thankful and have gratitude for that very transparent piece of information that has held true for 16 years.

I really like what someone on this forum stated to me this afternoon. Your post does not become the measurement of my personal integrity, but my reply could become the measurement of yours. I hope this isn't the case.

John

I have responded with all I will and I will not allow this to become a point of focus on this board when literally 100's of new people visit this board each day that are looking for meaningful help and support. This post is now closed.



-- Edited by John on Sunday 31st of May 2015 05:48:54 PM



-- Edited by John on Sunday 31st of May 2015 05:51:05 PM

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