Talk about losing the spirit of volunteering (I'm not talking about Phyllis--just about the concept of soliciting funds). I've devoted countless hours to gathering and transcribing and researching free of charge. Would I love to be paid for it? Of course--and often I do, but not via the USGenWeb project. What I do for USGenWeb is strictly volunteer work. If I don't have the money to get something I want to provide for my users, I point them to the resource and warn them of whatever fees might be involved. My goal is simply to connect them to information they need in their hunt for their ancestors--and to do so free of charge. If I can't provide it myself free of charge, I CAN (free of charge) point them to a resource that they can choose to use or not. Likewise, if there are resources that are free of charge, but not transcribed or available online--I point them there as well. I've attempted to set up volunteer networks of locals willing to go to those places for lookups, but only successful in a few places. It's a volunteer project. If you need money to accomplish it, then go somewhere else. Am I missing something? --Heather Jones DeGeorge ----- Original Message ----- From: "Phyllis Rippee" <wchs@getgoin.net> Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2003 12:39:56 -0500 To: STATE-COORD-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [STATE-COORD] Soliciting Funds > TIC!!! > > Since ALL of the information on my county site has been placed there by the > Wright County Historical and Genealogical Society, or has been specifically > (in written documents signed, sealed and delivered by snail-mail) "loaned" > to the Society to be placed on line.....only as long as I do the > site........and since the WCH&GS is an incorporated non-profit > organization.............. > > Based on the theory behind Friends of IAGenWeb, would it be acceptable for > me to place a statement soliciting funds for WCH&GS on all of my pages, > except the main one which serves as an index to the others? > > When I first was given the site, I had to promise not to do so.....or > forfeit my first born and then my head. > > Is it now safe to assume that promise is nullified? > > "We hope this information is of help to you. We depend on donations to help > keep our door open and our lights on. We would appreciate any sum you can > send. Wright County Historical Society, P. O. Box 66, Hartville MO 65667" > > Phyllis Rippee > Wright County Historical Society > SW/SC CC Representative USGen Web Project Advisory Board > -- __________________________________________________________ Sign-up for your own personalized E-mail at Mail.com http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup CareerBuilder.com has over 400,000 jobs. Be smarter about your job search http://corp.mail.com/careers

Just by coincidence, I was interviewed today by a reporter from a Florida TV station about The Tombstone Project and USGenWeb. She was very impressed with what we do on the whole, though her primary interest was sparked by the TP. She actually went to a cemetery with a couple who do transcriptions for us in Florida and decided to a special interest report. Now, this certainly isn't the first time I have been interviewed for a news article or program concerning the TP, but this reporter asked me a question that I had never been asked before. She said, "All this is totally free to anyone, anywhere?" I told her that it was and would always remain so and that if that ever changed, I would take my ball and go home! She asked why I felt it was so important that it be free and I explained to her that genealogists are on the whole a very generous group who enjoy sharing their research and efforts with others. We also feel that public domain records should be entirely free to all. We are just striving to make those records more easily accessible by placing them on the Web. We were all helped in the beginning and what we do as USGW volunteers helps to pay it back by "paying it forward." The spirit of the entire USGenWeb Project would be destroyed if we charged for services or asked for donations. As I said before, we were all helped by some generous researchers when we first got started and are now "paying it forward" by doing what we do as USGW volunteers. Pam -----Original Message----- From: Heather DeGeorge [mailto:heatherdegeorge@writeme.com] Sent: Wednesday, August 20, 2003 4:23 PM To: STATE-COORD-L@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [STATE-COORD] Soliciting Funds Talk about losing the spirit of volunteering (I'm not talking about Phyllis--just about the concept of soliciting funds). I've devoted countless hours to gathering and transcribing and researching free of charge. Would I love to be paid for it? Of course--and often I do, but not via the USGenWeb project. What I do for USGenWeb is strictly volunteer work. If I don't have the money to get something I want to provide for my users, I point them to the resource and warn them of whatever fees might be involved. My goal is simply to connect them to information they need in their hunt for their ancestors--and to do so free of charge. If I can't provide it myself free of charge, I CAN (free of charge) point them to a resource that they can choose to use or not. Likewise, if there are resources that are free of charge, but not transcribed or available online--I point them there as well. I've attempted to set up volunteer networks of locals willing to go to those places for lookups, but only successful in a few places. It's a volunteer project. If you need money to accomplish it, then go somewhere else. Am I missing something? --Heather Jones DeGeorge ----- Original Message ----- From: "Phyllis Rippee" <wchs@getgoin.net> Date: Wed, 20 Aug 2003 12:39:56 -0500 To: STATE-COORD-L@rootsweb.com Subject: [STATE-COORD] Soliciting Funds > TIC!!! > > Since ALL of the information on my county site has been placed there by the > Wright County Historical and Genealogical Society, or has been specifically > (in written documents signed, sealed and delivered by snail-mail) "loaned" > to the Society to be placed on line.....only as long as I do the > site........and since the WCH&GS is an incorporated non-profit > organization.............. > > Based on the theory behind Friends of IAGenWeb, would it be acceptable for > me to place a statement soliciting funds for WCH&GS on all of my pages, > except the main one which serves as an index to the others? > > When I first was given the site, I had to promise not to do so.....or > forfeit my first born and then my head. > > Is it now safe to assume that promise is nullified? > > "We hope this information is of help to you. We depend on donations to help > keep our door open and our lights on. We would appreciate any sum you can > send. Wright County Historical Society, P. O. Box 66, Hartville MO 65667" > > Phyllis Rippee > Wright County Historical Society > SW/SC CC Representative USGen Web Project Advisory Board > -- __________________________________________________________ Sign-up for your own personalized E-mail at Mail.com http://www.mail.com/?sr=signup CareerBuilder.com has over 400,000 jobs. Be smarter about your job search http://corp.mail.com/careers