Consider donating to this website

[ApeAttack]

Howdy folks. Over the past few years, this website has helped me make decisions that likely will add many tens of thousands of dollars to my portfolio by the time I retire. I've made it a habit to donate to this website during the holidays as a way of saying thanks. If you get value from participating in this community, I hope you will consider donating as well.

[GMCZ71]

To make is easy here is a link, some may not see the links at the top of page

support-this-site

Online via PayPal (using credit card or PayPal account)

Donate to bogleheads.org via PayPal - The button will take you to a PayPal donation page. You can use a credit card for payment, you do not need a PayPal account.

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Bogleheads.org is an Amazon Associate and may earn from qualifying purchases made through links like this:

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[jaMichael]

Done. Thanks for the reminder.

[YeahBuddy]

Not a bad idea. This site has helped us immensely with all aspects of our financial lives.

[Onlineid3089]

Oh, nice that it can be done through PayPal. 5% cash back category for Chase this quarter

[bad1bill]

Thanks for the reminder...just donated

[PersonalFinanceJam]

Consider supporting the wider mission through donations to the Bogle center. Based on what the board members have said before it helps support the site as well as all the other great content.

[Tortuga]

Consider supporting the wider mission through donations to the Bogle center. Based on what the board members have said before it helps support the site as well as all the other great content.

Done, via our DAF.

Tortuga

[Sandwich]

Consider supporting the wider mission through donations to the Bogle center. Based on what the board members have said before it helps support the site as well as all the other great content.

Was easy to donate !

[Rob5TCP]

Need a reminder from time to time (2x a year)

[Orange44]

Donated. I appreciate the hard work.

[Stinky]

Yes, I’ve donated too.

Just a reminder - here’s the link.

support-this-site

[Parkinglotracer]

I donated $100. I know that is chump change compared to the hours and thousands folks have spent on bogleheads.org

Maybe we can start a trend and the little donations will add up.

[Harry Livermore]

Done, thanks for the reminder. This week's ddos attacks and the subsequent decision by the admins to engage with an outside vendor to help adds to the costs. Hopefully we can all give as we see fit.
Cheers

[Gd_Enf_56]

Donated. Glad to help.
Usually send a donation in Dec. Looks like some help is needed now.
Thanks, Bogleheads for all you do. Without your collective knowledge, wisdom, and caring, I would be a lot poorer and may still be in the financial wilderness.

[Rajsx]

I cannot find the ‘Bogleheads’ to donate on the Fidelity Charitable DAF search.

[HighLonesome]

I donated this year. The information I have learned is invaluable.

[Rajsx]

A repeat

[smitcat]

I cannot find the ‘Bogleheads’ to donate on the Fidelity Charitable DAF search.

On the top of this screen there is a 'button' that says - "support this site"

[stan1]

The site and the Bogle Center are two different entities (and people). Bogle Center is a charitable organization. Site is not a charity and is two guys running a website with a lot of help from LadyGeek.

Bogle Center hosts the conferences and podcasts. It gives the two site owners $5,000 each per year per its 2023 annual report.

Larry and Alex have kept the site independent, high quality, and no cost for 18 years (24 years if you go back to the alternate viewing site from Morningstar).

Donations to the site are not tax deductible and are through the Paypal link (support this site) and Amazon affiliate.

Maybe the Bogle Center could consider a no-strings, higher payment in light of the need to protect the site with Cloudflare if they can keep it in line with their charitable mission. I expect they get a lot of donations from people who think they provide more support to the site than they do.

[stan1]

I cannot find the ‘Bogleheads’ to donate on the Fidelity Charitable DAF search.

Bogle Center is the charity that hosts the conferences and podcasts. They don't own the site.

The site itself is separate, and is not a charity.

Click "support the site" and there is a Paypal link, an address to send a paper check, and information about the Amazon affiliate.

[Rajsx]

Thankyou for your replies

[samsoes]

I cannot find the ‘Bogleheads’ to donate on the Fidelity Charitable DAF search.

Bogle Center is the charity that hosts the conferences and podcasts. They don't own the site.

The site itself is separate, and is not a charity.

Click "support the site" and there is a Paypal link, an address to send a paper check, and information about the Amazon affiliate.

I'm not a lawyer, but what would it take to make the site an actual 501(c)(3) charity? A local bookstore did so in my town about a decade ago in order to promote literacy. That was just two owners, some volunteer staff and a volunteer business manager.

I'd imagine the donation/QCD/DAF floodgates would then open wide.

[Valuethinker]

Bogle Center is the charity that hosts the conferences and podcasts. They don't own the site.

The site itself is separate, and is not a charity.

Click "support the site" and there is a Paypal link, an address to send a paper check, and information about the Amazon affiliate.

I'm not a lawyer, but what would it take to make the site an actual 501(c)(3) charity? A local bookstore did so in my town about a decade ago in order to promote literacy. That was just two owners, some volunteer staff and a volunteer business manager.

I'd imagine the donation/QCD/DAF floodgates would then open wide.

Perhaps the legal restrictions are then onerous?

I personally doubt it would make a big difference to donations.

As per a post in another thread:

- most Americans (by number) make small donations to religious-related charities, and do not claim a tax deduction

- wealthy Americans make very large contributions, with a pronounced tilt towards cultural activities (also political? Not sure how that works)

UK the restrictions in charitable activities are much, much tighter.

[Sleeper]

Maybe the Bogle Center could consider a no-strings, higher payment in light of the need to protect the site with Cloudflare if they can keep it in line with their charitable mission. I expect they get a lot of donations from people who think they provide more support to the site than they do.

According to this post, viewtopic.php?p=6429613#p6429613, "The Bogle Center Board is 100% committed to covering all legitimate reported operating costs of this site so it is not a financial burden on the owners." It seems like any added expense of DDoS protection would be reasonable and transparent for the Bogle Center to cover.

That said, I founded and self-hosted my own forum for 15 years. The actual hosting costs (including system upgrades) were, for most of that time, less than my net proceeds from banner advertising. I did not feel guilty keeping the difference, even though the moderators and annual meeting organizers were volunteers. Why? Because of all the "on-call" responsibility I carried to keep things online 24/7, alongside my day job. While I was personally passionate about the forum's subject matter, after so many years the administrative and tech burden felt like a part-time job and it helped to keep me motivated to maintain it.

Because money is a touchy subject, I was generally quiet about the economics of running the site and didn't want the moderators or members thinking I was making money off their backs for their participation. At the same time, it was hard to place a dollar value on my "on-call" support. I suspect the owners of this site contend with some of these same issues, between accepting donations, accepting/justifying cost reimbursements from the Bogle Center, and keeping both themselves and moderators motivated.

[8foot7]

According to this post, viewtopic.php?p=6429613#p6429613, "The Bogle Center Board is 100% committed to covering all legitimate reported operating costs of this site so it is not a financial burden on the owners." It seems like any added expense of DDoS protection would be reasonable and transparent for the Bogle Center to cover.

That said, I founded and self-hosted my own forum for 15 years. The actual hosting costs (including system upgrades) were, for most of that time, less than my net proceeds from banner advertising. I did not feel guilty keeping the difference, even though the moderators and annual meeting organizers were volunteers. Why? Because of all the "on-call" responsibility I carried to keep things online 24/7, alongside my day job. While I was personally passionate about the forum's subject matter, after so many years the administrative and tech burden felt like a part-time job and it helped to keep me motivated to maintain it.

Because money is a touchy subject, I was generally quiet about the economics of running the site and didn't want the moderators or members thinking I was making money off their backs for their participation. At the same time, it was hard to place a dollar value on my "on-call" support. I suspect the owners of this site contend with some of these same issues, between accepting donations, accepting/justifying cost reimbursements from the Bogle Center, and keeping both themselves and moderators motivated.

I would encourage the site owners, who are two private individuals, to seek reimbursement or proactive funding for DDoS protection from the Bogle Center since the "Board is 100% committed to covering all legitimate reported operating costs of this site so it is not a financial burden on the owners."

I would happily donate to the Bogle Center as a 501c3 nonprofit. I personally am completely uninterested in giving money to private individuals at my own expense who have the costs of their hobby covered by another entity with tax-free funds. See: viewtopic.php?p=6429742#p6429742

I will note that three years after that post, the page on this site soliciting contributions still makes absolutely no reference to the fact that all operating costs of the site are paid by the Bogle Center. It continues to give a very strong impression the entire effort is a volunteer activity from two people, and those two are funding the entire thing out of their own pocket:
"Since [we] created this site in 2001, we have put in thousands of hours and thousands of dollars providing programming, hardware, bandwidth and management. We have done this gladly, directly inspired by the examples of Jack Bogle and Taylor Larimore, without asking for recompense of any kind. However, the increasing popularity of the site has led to ever-increasing demands on our time and pocketbooks. As we prefer to keep the site commercial-free and are opposed to membership fees, we have decided to see if our members can provide ongoing support through donations. ... If you would like to donate directly to the maintenance and management of the site..."

I see absolutely no reference to the fact that the Bogle Center covers "all legitimate reported operating costs of this site" - and as I posted in 2022, I don't begrudge the site owners from soliciting money. I do think they should do so with complete transparency that their actual out of pocket cost is already covered. Donors deserve an honest and clear representation of what they're funding.

[PeninsulaPerson]

Donated. I appreciate the hard work.

Me too, just now.

(I hope the owners/mods will be more willing to do occasional fundraisers if having the $$$ would make life easier for them! People will step up if asked ... and reminded!)

Many people probably get $1000s worth of good advice here every year - just hearing about other BHers' experiences. It doesn't have to be a listed charity to be happy to find a way to say, "Thank you!" to the folks making it happen!

50 people giving $100 apiece is $5000. The owners/mods aren't buying in Nantucket on that kind of money but it could still be quite welcome to them in being able to pay up for better site software or part-time web monitors or whatever they might need!)

[Sleeper]

private individuals at my own expense who have the costs of their hobby covered by another entity

While I agree the donation page is factually inaccurate, in that it omits the recent years of Bogle Center reimbursements, I think the "costs of their hobby" is a nuanced concept. If the forum were founded as its own for-profit business, paying market rate for all its services including IT labor and moderator labor, I bet it would run at a loss. It's uncomfortable to place a value on the efforts of people who you see as community peers. Should their time be valued at a discount because it's a hobby? Is minimum wage the right figure? If the owners want to resign or retire, would a future host do it at break-even with labor donated free, or would those individuals seek a real (higher) salary from the Bogle Center? Not defending but just posing the complex questions that come out of these types of arrangements. It's hard to find people who will do this and stick with it for the long term, and their time is almost always valued less than market rate by those who benefit for free. (It's why I never sought donations or subscriptions - people will give $5 and then expect $100 in value for it) In addition, it's easy for many to comment on the quality of a moderator's judgment but rarely do the same people raise their hand to sign up and do a better job over a sustained time period.

[LadyGeek]

I removed several posts and replies regarding forum moderation. As a reminder, see: Member Rights in a Dispute

Notifying the Advisory Board via PM or e-mail is the only acceptable outlet for complaints regarding Moderator action. Members do not have the right to take their appeal to the rest of the forum or to complain publicly about Moderator actions (or inaction). If you believe that a moderator failed to act on a topic, use the report button and explain what's wrong.

This thread is now in the Forum Issues and Administration forum (forum issue).

[yankees60]

I'm not a lawyer, but what would it take to make the site an actual 501(c)(3) charity? A local bookstore did so in my town about a decade ago in order to promote literacy. That was just two owners, some volunteer staff and a volunteer business manager.

I'd imagine the donation/QCD/DAF floodgates would then open wide.

Perhaps the legal restrictions are then onerous?

I personally doubt it would make a big difference to donations.

As per a post in another thread:

- most Americans (by number) make small donations to religious-related charities, and do not claim a tax deduction

- wealthy Americans make very large contributions, with a pronounced tilt towards cultural activities (also political? Not sure how that works)

UK the restrictions in charitable activities are much, much tighter.

Don't know which state it would be located in as a non-profit but if it is located here in Massachusetts ...it does not require all that many revenues to have not so expensive outside accountant prepared reports. Understandable but the limits seem way too low and those accounting fees can be a not insignificant percentage of total revenues.

[Rajsx]

I do not know or try to understand the responsibilities/work involved to form & run this site as a tax deductible 501.C or such venture.

I for one get/have been getting lot of actionable help & insights from this site.

Ability to donate from a Donor Advised Fund / Tax Deductible donation would make it easier for me & I suspect for many others on the Forum.

Donated to John C Bogle Center for Financial Literacy via DAF - For the insights gained from Bogleheads.org

[Brewman]

I donated this year. The information I have learned is invaluable.

Done - Thank you for the reminder! Probably the best return I ever got on an investment!

[InvisibleAerobar]

Done, and I'll make it an annual thing as long as I have my current job (as a career federal civil servant intending to stay with the same agency until retirement).

I have benefited much from the collective wisdom of this place, and it the donation goes to keep this place protected from the bad actors, all the better.

[techbud]

I would encourage the site owners, who are two private individuals, to seek reimbursement or proactive funding for DDoS protection from the Bogle Center since the "Board is 100% committed to covering all legitimate reported operating costs of this site so it is not a financial burden on the owners."

There is a discussion in another thread where the Bogle Center has said they would indeed cover any legitimate costs incurred including the new Cloudflare costs. However, from reading through the entire thread, I've learned that there are differing points of view between the Bogle Center and the bogleheads.org site owners regarding expense reporting, etc, that have made these discussions a bit "touchy". Further comments on this topic should probably be moved to that thread.

I would happily donate to the Bogle Center as a 501c3 nonprofit. I personally am completely uninterested in giving money to private individuals at my own expense who have the costs of their hobby covered by another entity with tax-free funds. See: viewtopic.php?p=6429742#p6429742
[...] I don't begrudge the site owners from soliciting money. I do think they should do so with complete transparency that their actual out of pocket cost is already covered. Donors deserve an honest and clear representation of what they're funding.

I don't disagree with these thoughts.