April 16, 2006--This page now works again!
You should be able to donate now. If you have any problems doing so, please
let me know.
After eight years and several requests to do so, I'm finally putting up a donations page. If you've ever felt the urge to drop a few coins in the bucket here, now it's possible.
Donations are not required. There's no need to even feel guilty if you don't donate-- I'm glad you're making use of the site whether you donate or not. This is just an option for people who've benefitted from the site and would like to help support it-- the more money I get in donations, the more time I'm able to devote to improving the various resources here. Many people have told me over the years that this site has saved them the expense of buying a book, or provided software or services that would have cost a lot elsewhere, or even gotten them a job. If this site has saved or earned money for so many people, then it seems cost-effective to pay a little to keep improving it. I've gotten several offers of advertising, but it's important to me to keep this site ad-free-- in today's ad-saturated world, a place free of ads is a thing of beauty.
If there are favorite parts of the site that you'd like me to spend time on, or new things you'd like me to add, you can direct your donations to be applied to those parts. I'll try to spend more time on the projects that get a lot of donations to their credit. Note that I can't guarantee results based on this-- some projects may become more urgent than others, new ideas you request may be impractical for me, and so forth. Ultimately, I decide where to spend the time, but I'll make a good-faith effort to work on the projects that bring in the most donations. (If you need a guarantee of certain work done for a certain amount of money, we can always arrange a contract for me to do what you want.)
Again, there's no pressure to donate if it's not something you want to do. (If you can't afford it right now, you have my full sympathy and well wishes.) Use the site freely. I guess I would ask that you use the powers you get here for good, and not for evil. Make the world a better place. Improve people's lives and reduce suffering. Strengthen compassion in this world. Promote tolerance. Work for peace. That kind of thing.
You can donate either with a credit card, or from a PayPal account. (Actually, it's all with PayPal, but they let you donate with a credit card even if you don't have an account.) Note that I'm not endorsing PayPal; they just seem to do what I need for cheaper than other services. If you know of better ways to take donations, please let me know.
Note that the PayPal account is swmiii@yahoo.com, not my own email address. This is correct.
If you'd rather send a check, then please email me for details.
Whatever amount you give, I truly appreciate your contribution! Thank you very much! You are helping beneficiaries of this site all over the world.
So, without further ado:
Last updated: April 16, 2006