Our donations and support keep ROOTSWEB going. Remember, at Ancestry and other genealogical websites you have to PAY for the good stuff. At Rootsweb, whether you are a supporter or not, it's free. Here is some information from Tim Pierce regarding User Statistics, " . . .more than 90% of our sponsors subscribe to our mailing lists and read the RootsWeb Review. This makes sense if you think about it: the RWR is one of the biggest ways that new members find out how to support RootsWeb. But it also means that we haven't been able to bring in almost *any* of our Web users. Getting the message to those folks is especially hard because we have no consistent way of reaching them or knowing how to get their attention. If we could reach just a *tiny fraction* of these people, it would mean a real surge of new memberships and income to add features. So that's one of our big unsolved problems: how do we get the message about supporting RootsWeb out to the Web-surfing public? One idea I had: hack the search engine software to include a tagline at the bottom of every message it retrieves. Something like, "Did this archive search help you in your quest? Show your thanks by supporting RootsWeb!" With a link to the subscription page. Any other ideas? What other really popular RootsWeb Websites should we be using to educate the users?" Regards, Tim Pierce RootsWeb Genealogical Data Cooperative system obfuscator and hack-of-all-trades For those of you who are interested in more information here are some very important url's to read at your leisure: Member Services: http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/members/ Most of the services RootsWeb provides are open to anyone with Internet access, but providing those services costs real dollars. For those who have opted to help keep this site available, there are a few additional services that we provide, which are summarized on this page. We're adding the Member and Sponsor services as fast as we can. Please be patient with us, though, because we also are busy helping USGenWeb and other folks upload new data for the community. You can become a RootsWeb Member or Sponsor by following the directions here. http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html How to Join by Mail: http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html#mail How to Join by Credit Card, over the Net or by Fax: http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html#credit For the History of Rootsweb, please click this url: http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/history.html PLEASE JOIN: RootsWeb could be hosting many more Websites, lists, and databases if only we had the resources! http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/how-to-subscribe.html#about ROOTSWEB AND USGENWEB: WORKING TOGETHER FOR GENEALOGY ON THE INTERNET http://www.rootsweb.com/rootsweb/history.html#karen --------------- I'm supporting Rootsweb by sending in a $24 yearly fee. That's the suggested $12 per list (Kunkel-L & Kunkel-D) that I try to maintain. Rootsweb tries to filter spam from our lists, too, and that's pretty terrific, I think. If you have time to do web research, Rootsweb will be one of the most helpful resources available. Send what you can, to the Rootsweb Genealogical Data Collective, PO Box 6798, Frazier Park CA 93222 They really need the money to keep the equipment working properly! Thanks! Janet