Spring Fund Drive Now Happening!

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

Okay folks, it is that time of year again... We have kicked off our spring fund drive. What's that you ask? Simple. An easy and convenient way to show your support of AVSIM and a means for you to contribute to keeping our doors open contributing to the expansion of our services (read the front page today about our latest server acquisition as an example).Providing growing bandwidth and expanding services to the flight simulation community is not cheap (as anyone who runs a web site of any size can tell you). Bandwidth is not cheap, and replacing machines to keep up with demand is expensive too (figure $3,500 to $4,000 each time we buy a server - these are not your normal desktop PC's by the way... :) ). Add to that software that we occasionally buy (like the latest forum beta that we tried to bring online), and you can see that things add up very quickly. In fact, we spend considerably over $30,000 a year keeping AVSIM up and running, as well as adding services for yours and the community's use.Our "model" is very simple; we rely upon advertisers, commissions from store sales, revenue from our conferences and exhibitions, and most importantly, your support via contributions to pay that annual bill. Your support gives us the ability to acquire new hardware like the server we have just announced. Your support allows us to expand our features and services. Your support contributes to making AVSIM the premier flight simulation resource that it is, and you can rest assured that every penny you donate goes to the betterment of the system and services provided to our community.Finally, your support allows us to provide equal service to all of our community members.So, if you enjoy your community here, please help us to continue to provide these services. Contribute today! You can do so here:Contribute to the AVSIM Sprind Fund drive today!

[Guest jonpoint]

Hey Tom!Thanks for the reminder - it's been a while since I 'put my 2 bob in the pot' so to speak.Glad to help, anytime. I get better value from this site than any other I know...:-) :-) :-)Jon Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************

[Guest jonpoint]

Well, I WAS...Tried to do a simple cc payment but got redirected to 'PayPal' who want to sign me up, take no resposibility whatsoever and CHARGE me for the honour. Then the connection locked up and wanted me to start over again :-( Come on!Please email your banking details so I can just transfer the money from my account over the 'net. It wasn't this hard last time!Jon 'I hates signin' fer anything' Point*************************(effyouthree@hotmail.com)*************************

[Tom Allensworth 1,532]

Jon, we have now put up an alternate method; paying directly by check or money order. You can do so by sending your donation to:AVSIM Inc.8049 Main StreetMidletown, Virginia 22645USA Make your check out to AVSIM Inc. and annotate it as being sent as a DONATION TO AVSIMThanks for thinking of us and your support!

[Christopher Low 5,337]

Jon,eBay's acquisition of PayPal annoys me somewhat. In the past, anyone could just pay for an item with their credit card through BillPoint. The money was then transferred directly into the seller's bank account. Simple and easy.Now, BillPoint is being phased out this year, to be replaced by PayPal. This seems to be some kind of online bank account, and is not the same thing. What annoys me about this is that none of this money is transferred to your own personal bank account until it is "withdrawn" from this PayPal account. What's more, you have to withdraw at least