John, I was thinking (that's usually a dangerous thing) about the ride in this year and what a great thing if all registered users of your site made at least a small donation. Maybe start promoting it early, send out emails etc. I think it would be a great testamonial to the people who participate in this sport if this could be pulled off. Just my thoughts. Have a great day.

That would be neat if we could get all registered users of the board to make a small contribution. With 7000 registered users, it would sure add up quickly!

However, I really like to keep the funds raised as a pure donation type of thing and not have to twist someones arm (too much!). Especially the way the economy is right now.

-John

John if every one registered could donate just five dollars that would be over 35,000 dollars. Snowmobiling is an expensive sport I think most of us can afford five dollars. Like you said it does not have to be mandetory . Maybe you could make a new topic out of it and and see what we can raise.
Eric

IM in tell me where to send the money!
keith

I say lets go for it. I'll twist the arms. Just kidding.

ill give to , try and set up something on this site that we can use our credit cards,make it simple and it will probably get a lot of money that u normally wouldnt

Here is a suggestion. Hotels, cabins, snowmobile dealerships and any others that wish to could put cans out on the counter marked John Dee's Make a Wish fund. Those that frequent this site would know what it is all about. As we enjoy our winter vacations in the UP we can drop in whatever we want to. At end of the season cans get pulled together and you have a pretty good piece of change to add to John's ride in.

pwolfy2003 I like your idea.

I like the idea and would donate as well.

The idea to be able to donate online has been addressed at another independent snowmobiling site I have frequented for years. That site is kept operating, and free, with the help of a specially dedicated PayPal Donation account. Donation button seems to be added to the site only when he needs a few bucks for operating expenses. Simple enough, click on the button, enter the amount of your donation and your PayPal info. All taken care of securely through your PayPal account. Of course if you don't have an account it lets you set one up.

NOTE: The site I'm referenceing is kept running on a shoestring by a great guy named Ray Booth. I hope John doesn't mind that I have listed a link at the end of my post. (I originally found JohnDee.com through a link on Ray's site.) He doesn't currently have the donation button on the site, but he may be able to answer any questions on how it was done.

Thanks for the great site John!

Ken



http://www.bigsnowpage.com/

The donation button is a good idea. Setting up via paypal is easy too. I have done it for non-profits before.

Just put it in the corner with a little blurb for what it is for. Then you are not twisting arms...just giving a little friendly nudge that Make A Wish is a great foundation.

John:

Do you know about the person that the money will be going towards?

yamahauler-

Not yet. The Make A Wish foundation will be trying to match us up with a child from the UP.

-John