This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --------------94C888EB0B3324B29A515FE4 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit --------------94C888EB0B3324B29A515FE4 Content-Type: message/rfc822 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Received: from bl-30.rootsweb.com (bl-30.rootsweb.com [207.113.245.30]) by franklin.lisco.net (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id MAA09975 for <njennings@lisco.net>; Sat, 26 Dec 1998 12:16:27 -0600 (CST) Received: (from slist@localhost) by bl-30.rootsweb.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) id KAA02143; Sat, 26 Dec 1998 10:13:31 -0800 (PST) Resent-Date: Sat, 26 Dec 1998 10:13:31 -0800 (PST) Message-Id: <199812261816.KAA13665@bl-5.rootsweb.com> Old-To: Carol C-H <cch@netdoor.com> Old-cc: TEAM-ROOTSWEB-L@rootsweb.com, "Dr. Brian Leverich" <leverich@rootsweb.com> Reply-to: "Dr. Brian Leverich" <leverich@rootsweb.com> Subject: Re: Income needed In-reply-to: Your message of Sat, 26 Dec 1998 09:29:37 CST. <199812261529.JAA20005@netdoor.com> Date: Sat, 26 Dec 1998 10:16:48 -0800 From: Brian Leverich <leverich@rootsweb.com> Resent-Message-ID: <"J80ytD.A.Sh.KdSh2"@bl-30.rootsweb.com> To: TEAM-ROOTSWEB-L@rootsweb.com Resent-From: TEAM-ROOTSWEB-L@rootsweb.com X-Mailing-List: <TEAM-ROOTSWEB-L@rootsweb.com> archive/latest/800 X-Loop: TEAM-ROOTSWEB-L@rootsweb.com Precedence: list Resent-Sender: TEAM-ROOTSWEB-L-request@rootsweb.com -- Your message was: (from "Carol C-H") > At 06:47 PM 12/25/98 -0800, Brian Leverich wrote: > > >Our primary goal is to build a great online public genealogical > >library. We plan to build clusters of resources around surnames and > >localities, including mailing lists, Websites, GenConnect Boards, > >link registries, search engines, primary data, and more. > > Brian - Georges post rang a bell for me. I have difficulty presenting > vague goals when asking for support, and could be much more effective with > specific ones. Is there any way that these goals you list in the paragraph > above could be attacked one at a time, with a specified amount to be > raised, with the option of designating contributions toward that goal? If > I recall correctly, that will be kind of a built-in feature of becoming a > non-profit, anyhow, and it would certainly make fund-raising much easier. > That, together with a membership drive on the lists (and hopefully > foundation money) for maintenance should make the goals more easily > attained, IMHO - ------------------ We probably can't do much better than fuzzy goals. Here's why. As much as RootsWeb depends on member contributions to buy the hardware and bandwidth, we also depend on volunteer system administrators to create the software and volunteers of many kinds to create the content. Volunteer availability, because it depends on the individual actions of a relatively small number of people, is essentially unpredictable. If you asked me a year ago to describe specifically where RootsWeb would be right now, one of the things I would have told you was that we'd definitely have HTMLized threaded mailing list archives. That didn't happen. Why? Marc Nozell, the admin responsible for the project, has had sick kids, sick wife, and a whole raft of other problems. It's not at all his fault, but he hasn't had time to worry the problem. On the other hand, a year ago I would have had no clue that we'd have the start of a vibrant UK Birth/Marriage/Death project going on. There was no way to predict Ben and Camilla were going to get excited and move out on that project. What I can tell you is that we'll grow in proportion to support, because at any given time we can *always* find some sysadmin and some group of volunteers ready to use the next server we bring online. RootsWeb has a three year track record of *always* finding a sysadmin and a group of volunteers ready for the next project. It's a serious problem that RootsWeb can't say to our members "donate $10,000 and we'll give you threaded HTMLized mailing list archives" but, while we're dependent on volunteer sysadmins and content providers, how we grow is pretty much going to be governed by which group of volunteers happens to be ready to use the next server we bring online ... 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 leverich@rootsweb.com --------------94C888EB0B3324B29A515FE4--