Hmmph. While I would gladly give whatever it takes to DropCash... I think asking for it in this manner would come across a little wrong. Maybe.

Well, at least the "suggesting a percentage" portion.

I mean... if its a DropCash Campaign for some dood who wants help buying a Ferrari... than it's appropriate.

However, if it is a campaign for Tsunami Aid or something completely selfless like that... I just think it would be a little stinky to ask for a cut of the total.

Granted, IMO, DropCash does tons to help boost the overall gains of any drive... but still... I just think it would be lacking a little tact.

Mostly just the asking for a specific number part. It's one thing to say "Do you want to donate to DropCash" ... it is another to say "Would you like to donate 2% of your proceeds intended to help the poor to DropCash?"

Why not just submit to the Googlezon and place a small AD on DC pages. They might actually end up being very relevent on campaigns with a lengthy/accurate description...

Just do one of those single block ads...

I don't think anyone would mind it, and quite frankly, you would probably make ALOT more off that than donations anyway.

... Alexa doesn't want to give up traffic rankings for DC... but I'd bet it's doing much better than they would suggest anyway. I'd guess, assuming google returned relevent ads, DC could do $50-100/day off of Google.

I dunno... just a suggestion... I agree that you should be able to make something off of it.

It just doesn't seem right to ask for a cut of donations. Especially when the money isn't really the campaign administrators to give. When you tell people you raised $4000 for Cancer... its poor taste to give only $3900. Even if you did give the other $100 to a worthy cause such as DropCash, it isn't yours to give.

Better yet... put a couple ads on your blog, dropload, etc... then rest easy at night knowing you are still donating DropCash to the world out of the goodness of your heart. :)

Also --

How many campaigns actually reach the goal?

I would have imagined that most campaigns set a lofty goal... as there is really no judging just how generous people can be.

So how many campaigns will actually reach their goal and see your message?

A campaign doesn't have to reach its goal to be successful.

The thing is they are running a charity, not me. If you want to plan a charity dinner you still have to buy the steaks, pay the cooks, rent the halls.

I'm not even requiring money up front, only suggesting on the back end that if they felt it necessary to send us 2% that would be nice. They didn't seem to have a problem with PayPal taking a cut, yet for the $100 they raised I'm suggesting $2 would be a nice way of thanking us.

Try and get a steak for that.

If you want to plan a charity dinner you still have to buy the steaks, pay the cooks, rent the halls.

Having put together a fundraiser or two, I can tell you that quite frequently these things are donated. But a better analogy might be that those charities are all paying for MS Word. Or, in fundrasing examples, many pay a hefty cut to an outsource call center to raise money for them.

Like Adam, I think you most certainly should be paid for Dropcash. But a nagmail with a suggested percentage would probably rub people the wrong way.

Anyway.

Have you thought of figuring out how much Dropcash costs you to operate, or how much you'd like to make from Dropcash, and leaving an operating expenses campaign on the front page? 2 percent of what has passed through DC so far would be in the neighborhood of $7,000. Maybe you could divide $7,000 by however many campaigns there have been to date. Multiply that times the number (plus some) of campaigns you expect in 2005, and leave a Dropcash Operating Expenses/Andre Torrez Fender Fund on the front page, and paste a link to it in any email, settings pages, etc.

Also, please buy me a new pair of skis.

Andre, you do have a point with that analogy. More so the PayPal %'age than the food/service one though ;)

However I still think that you would be able to generate more income through a tiny text ad which most people wouldn't mind or notice (and might actually appreciate if relevent) than you will asking for a cut of a donation.

Like I said... I'd love to see you find a way to get money out of this... and I'd damn sure contribute. I just think, and apparently Mat as well, that asking for a percentage of the campaign total... as innocent your intentions... would rub most people, and maybe even me apparently... the wrong way.

It would be one thing to simply ask for a donation... but I think asking for a specific number, especially a specific percentage, just comes off the wrong way. I know your argument is it is not a required thing... but generally... it's just poor taste to ask for a specific amount in regards to a donation... and in this case... even worse taste when your asking for a percentage of other peoples donations.

Which makes me think actually...

The steak dinner analogy.

USUALLY... it is the organizers who pay that fee. And/or they ask/tell contributers to pay an entry fee... or give some indication that part of the donation will be used to pay for the dinner/whatever.

In this case though... the people donating to DropCash drives assume (rightly so) that every cent they've donated will go to, and only to, the cause they intended.

It would be wrong of me to give you X% of a campaign simply because it is not mine to give.

Anyway...

It doesn't really matter much to me... and I'll be sure to give you a cut of my next campaign if your asking for it (or even if you don't)

So far I've tried to "thank DropCash" by contributing to others campaigns which you have posted here.. or I've seen elsewhere. Or I've tried to encourage clients to run campaigns of their own.

As much as I love DropCash I think I would probably be less willing to donate to random campaigns if I knew I'd already given $xxx.xx to DC directly as a donation.

Granted, that would probably be BETTER for you short term... but in the long run... I think it hurts the community/social aspect of Dropcash.

I'm just letting you know up front that I think asking for a cut, no matter how you spin it, is going to come across a bit wrong to people when it all the sudden appears after they've achieved their goal.

I think (know) there are other ways for you to make a buck or two off this without giving people the willy's

... just trying to help. I'll support ya whatever ya do though :)

Oh, and Mat's idea is a good one too.

I think it's basically inline with what you are thinking, but without the asking for a number part.

... and quite honestly... when you DON'T specify how much you want... I think you'll find that people are far more generous than you'd assume.

If you don't want to go the text ad route, just setup your own campaign... and put links to it on the front page and in the footer.

You'll reach more people that way and I think in the end you'll get more out of it.

I know first hand that there are alot of people who contribute to dropcash campaigns but don't run their own who would be happy to kick in a $20 or a $50 now and then.

... that and like i said earlier... how many campaigns actually reach their goal? (It's almost silly, in some cases, to set an attainable goal)

About one fundraiser closes every week. Sometimes more, sometimes less. The average is about $650. Today one closed for $4,200 and the person raising the money sent us $100.

If the people who are raising money complain I'd consider trying something else—since they're the only ones who are receiving the emails—but for now I'm happy with the results.

That's cool.

I'm just saying... I am one of the people raising money. Quite a bit of it.

If there were a DropCash - DropCash Campaign... I'd of donated by now.

Just letting you know though that asking for a piece just comes across kinda sketchy.

If it works it works. Still, I think there are better, more respectable ways.

Nevertheless... it won't change my outlook. DropCash is great and I respect you for keeping it in shape with little reward. I'll tip my hat in next time I raise some funds... I'll just make sure I let everyone donating know that I'm gonna give 1-2% of each donation to DropCash.

I still think it would be dishonest for a fund raiser to allocate proceeds to DropCash without informing the donors.

You're right, you did raise quite a bit of money. Here's your chance:

http://www.dropcash.com/campaign/torrez/support_dropcash/

Also, if you take money out of what you're rasing to tip us, you're being dishonest. You should do it out of your own pocket.

Thanks, Andre... cash sent :) Thanks for DropCash... it has helped thousands!

And yes, you're right... it WOULD be a bit odd to give DC money out of the fund. That was kind of my point.

You made the it sound like that's what you were asking for ... "a link suggesting a small donation based on a percentage of your goal". Then you gave the "PayPal gets a cut" analogy. So I only assumed ... ?

Also, giving a donation box at the end of the campaign goal does sort of insinuate that you may be asking for donations because the goal was reach... which would seem like your asking for a cut of the campaign.

I'm not trying to say that was your intention and in no way am I suggesting that you are dishonest. Not at all.

I'm simply trying to help you gauge what quite likely will be the average perception... at least if it functions the way you phrased it.

:)