Greetings FOTMD friends!   

This is a gentle reminder about the cost of keeping this site up and running for over fifteen years now.

There have been very few donations during this past year.  I'm sure it's because folks were busy traveling during the Summer and Fall, or just rising prices of all things creating issues for everyone...    But I must continue paying server and hosting fees every month regardless, and the dwindling rate of donations is often not enough to pay the site bills.

Please read the below posts on various ways you can help, and thank you for finding it in your heart to help keep our site running.  

A BIG hug and much gratitude to the members who help support this site with their kind donations, both large and small.

But did you know that most of the folks who donate are much the same people, over and over?  It'd be great to see a few new/different people step up occasionally. It costs me about $70 per month out of pocket to maintain Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer.  I and our 6 Moderators all freely volunteer our time and effort as a labor of love.  Member donations and for sale ad sponsors 'usually' provide enough to cover our monthly server and software fees... but not always.  

This month, FOTMD celebrates its TENTH Birthday!!!!!! 
THANK YOU to those few members whose donations help cover the continuing costs of keeping FOTMD up and running!    

If anyone else who has never before donated cares to chip in , even as little as $10 every year or two- it helps, believe me!  

Just use the Paypal button on our site's Home page.  (Remember that if you donate $35 or more, your Profile page will show a "Patron" banner designation under your profile page member photo for a year.)

The fact that this site is funded almost entirely from member donations speaks so highly of all the folks who are part of the FOTMD family.    

Thank you thank you thank you  !!

Duh! 

@annie-deeley Look for the emoticon on the second line of strip at the top of the box in which you make replies.  

Can't say enough about what FOTMD has meant to me in the last 2 1/2 years...but, um, where do we keep those smileys, so I can give y'all a hug?

FOTMD is my online mountain dulcimer club. :)

Folks, I am one of the newest members here and this forum has already been invaluable in helping me learn about both building and playing a dulcimer.  Let's ALL chip in so Strumelia doesn't have to support this website out her own pocket; it's valuable to all members in so many ways. 

Do you enjoy being a member of Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer?  

Does this site benefit you in some way?   

There is much required effort and various ongoing costs involved in maintaining and growing a large multi-media site such as Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer.  Software and server/hosting costs continue monthly.  I myself probably spend hours per week or more in site maintenance, code updates and troubleshooting, assisting members with their various site issues, etc.  Our amazing and dedicated site Moderators volunteer their time daily as well.  It's a labor of love for all of us.

All donations, even the most modest, are applied entirely to paying for the upkeep of FOTMD- no profits are kept from donations. So far this system has managed to work for eight years in keeping even with monthly site expenses and fees.  Our site remains as it always has been- completely FREE to join and enjoy.  There are no membership dues or member 'access fees'.  

But donations have been slowly lessening over time.  Spontaneous donations are down almost to 1/2 what they were two years ago.  The same few generous folks tend to make occasional donations while others never think to do so. 

I'm sure one reason for all of this is the state of today's economy in general.
However, FOTMD has been receiving less in donations than the amount needed each month to cover basic site costs.

Our site is as active and fun as always.  There are so many members here who have been enjoying and contributing to our site for years, plus a steady number of new friends joining us....which is exactly what FOTMD is about!

I'd like to ask all members, and especially those who have never made a donation, to consider what FOTMD means for them, and to consider supporting Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer so that it remains practical to maintain.  
How can you support the site?  Well, I'm glad you asked.... 

There are THREE different ways and levels in which YOU can help support Friends of the Mountain Dulcimer:

1) Make a simple random occasional donation in any amount at any time-

Just click on our Paypal Donate button on the Main Page and make a simple donation to FOTMD for $10, $25, or whatever you feel you can afford.  (you don't need to have a paypal account to make a paypal donation- you can just use your credit card on paypal if you like- it's secure).  Please consider making a little donation once in a while when it occurs to you that FOTMD is adding some joy to your life.

2) Become a Patron Member of FOTMD!   

Our NEW REVISED  Patron Member system is this: When you make a single donation of only  $35 or more , the period of one YEAR afterwards you will then have a "PATRON" banner proudly displayed underneath your member picture on your Profile Page, like this (and thank you, Gordon!) :

 
(note: most prior Patron member statuses from 2021 and earlier have since expired , so if you were previously a Patron do check your profile page to see if you still have your banner indicating an active Patron status. If not, you can make a new donation of $35 or more and become a Patron again for a brand new year-long term!)   Patrons are our 'Super Supporters'!

3) When you sell something via our For Sale Forum , make the requested donation-

Though it's totally FREE to list something for sale there, we do ask that if you successfully sell any merchandise of more than $100 that you advertised in our forum, that you then please FOLLOW THROUGH and make at least a small $5 site donation (or more if you like).  We are hoping to avoid  charging everyone a fee for placing every ad, especially if their item does not sell.  Instead, our very reasonable donation request is described HERE , and such donations are run on the "Honor System".   We'd like to remind folks to please honor that request, because not everyone is doing so.  Just a few of these each month makes a big difference in FOTMD's bottom line.

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That's it!  THREE easy-peazy ways that YOU can help support our mountain dulcimer community!

Thank you so much for considering how YOU can give back in some way and keep FOTMD running.     

-Strumelia