I've been trying to brainstorm alternate ways to fund CathInfo without having to resort to ǵооģⅼе ads.

Several members have expressed an interest in making a donation (small, large or in-between) if it will help. A couple have even done so.

There are a lot of unknowns, which have kept me in a state of analysis paralysis for the past few weeks. But since "the perfect is the enemy of the good", I decided to do SOMETHING for right now, today. So I programmed in the ability to turn off ads on a per-user basis.

I figured it would be a great token of gratitude, and I'm most happy to do it. It's a good starting point to see if enough money can be raised without advertising.
As a token of my gratitude, CI members who have made any kind of gift or donation in the last 12 months will have ads turned off.

Since it's done at the website level, that means you can log in to your CathInfo account on any PC, tablet, or phone anywhere in the world and the ads won't appear. So there's that.

I'm not planning to nickle-and-dime members either. What I mean by that: A) I don't care how much the donation is. The gift/cash could be any amount and I'd be grateful. B) I'm not going to quickly re-enable ads on the 366th day after you donated, because "You haven't donated in a year". I'm not like that. I keep the big picture in mind always -- including what % of members have never donated a penny, despite heavy use and benefit from the forum. In other words, a man who donated $5 over 18 months ago would still be in the top 1/2 of 1% of members, as far as support goes!

I have already turned off ads for all recent donors (last 12 months) -- at least those I have CathInfo member names for. If I missed you, please let me know!

Likewise, if you bought an Amazon gift off my wishlist and sent it as "Anonymous" over the past year, please send me your information by PM so I can turn off your ads. Either send an e-mail to matthew at cathinfo dot com, with your username and what you sent me, or a PM with details on what you sent. I appreciate that some people want to be anonymous -- but unfortunately I can't give any concrete token of thanks (such as turning off ads) when I don't have your information.


WAYS TO DONATE:
1. Paypal. matthew@chantcd.com (note: you might want to send it "Friends and Family" to avoid the 2% fee.)
2. Snail mail. My mailing address is actually posted on my Amazon wishlist. You can easily grab it from there.
3. Venmo https://www.venmo.com/u/cathinfo
4. Zelle (contact me for the phone number/name to use)
And of course there's my Amazon wishlist.

I'm open to other means; just contact me (e-mail or PM) to make arrangements.


Thank you,

Matthew

P.S. I completely understand looking forward to my "token thank-you" upon donating. If it were me, I'd make some donation and send a PM telling them "the check is in the mail", "your gift is en route" etc. so I could get my ads turned off a couple days sooner. So I won't hold it against anyone if they're like me in that regard. hahaha

I decided to go back 12 months, instead of just "2023". 

It was literally just 3 more users, although there were also a few more anonymous or not-anonymous-enough users. What is that? A user that I have their Christian and/or full name for, but not their CathInfo member name.

Thanks Matthew! Out of curiosity, is it normal to see an Amazon ad at the bottom of the screen? It’s not bothering me, but I wanted you to know just in case it wasn’t supposed to be there.

Thanks Matthew! Out of curiosity, is it normal to see an Amazon ad at the bottom of the screen? It’s not bothering me, but I wanted you to know just in case it wasn’t supposed to be there.

I modified the code to remove that ad as well, as appropriate. For one thing, Amazon said they're doing away with "banner ads" in a couple months anyhow. One must use only text links from now on for the Affiliate program.

Gold Club, Supporter, CI Patron, Patron, Benefactor, something like that. Any suggestions?

CathInfo Warrior!
😄

How about Platinum member or Diamond member?

I for one would prefer to keep my donation amounts anonymous, as various individuals have claimed that the reason I haven't been banned is because of donations I've made, and I can similar allegations being hurled at others who contributed.

In any case, I really like the "Hero Member" thing, so I'd prefer to keep that too

I thought of that -- but what is someone really going to say, in the heat of an argument?

"I disagree with you and on that account I think you should be banned. But I know why you're not banned -- because you have donated to CathInfo in the past, which I, for one, refuse to do for various reasons."

What a (fill in the blank)! Who would take such a one seriously?

But I'm not distinguishing how MUCH was donated -- and I'm hoping it will be a big enough group, that it won't be an issue. What I mean by that: if you start calling every Supporter a "sellout" or some such -- then you'll be calling an increasing % of CathInfo that name. "When everyone is racist, no one is racist" and all that.

I just want to point out that I have followed the site for years now, and I can't think of a single time someone hurled that accusation at Ladislaus in particular. While it is certainly possible and probable (given the site), Ladislaus has more to worry about with the content and style of his arguments than being accused of being a :::shock::: donator. Whether or not he's Matthew's buddy wouldn't be the same thing, either. I don't remember if I ever did it myself, but don't worry Lad --- the odds are so low that you should be able to safely climb down from your soap box.

I think it has happened on more than one occasion, just not by you.

What's funny is that sometimes you have "Sean Johnson" vs "Ladislaus" -- both of whom have donated in the past. So there's that...

I don't agree with Lad on absolutely everything, but on "most" things. He's a fellow ex-seminarian and a good source of knowledge/advice for Traditional Catholics. As such, he is an asset to the forum and I'd be a fool not to recognize that fact. I should point out: the same could be said about Sean Johnson. I would like to see the two get along.