This is the Starmen.Net Donation FAQ. If you have just one question, chances are that its answered below. If you like, however, the document can be read straight through.

Where does the money go?
Starmen.Net always has and always will be a non-profit site. When Tomato and I started this site, our goal was to create a center for EarthBound fans on the internet. Never did we think that it would become something this huge, nor this expensive. Everyone who works on this site is a volunteer and gets no monetary payment or compensation for their work, nor has anyone ever been paid in the past. All of the money goes to paying for the server bills, software, registration fees, and miscellaneous other costs related to running the website such as printing costs and prizes and the shipping costs associated with them.
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How much does it cost to run Starmen.Net?
Averaged out, Starmen.Net's bills run around $110 per month; this money goes mostly towards hosting, with the rest going to payments for the domain name and software for the website (the UBB forum).
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Why don't you try something besides donations?
We have tried (and continue to try) many things to raise money; a few years ago we had banner ads, and those did well enough. However, some of our long-time regulars will recall that the ads were up during what some refer to as the 'golden age' of the internet. Appropriately, our ads lasted roughly as long as the 'dot com' boom and crashed just as quickly. Another reason we stopped using ads was because it required me to start a bank account for the website and file for an EID/IRS tax identification number, which was a HUGE pain. I doubt that many people here understand how tedious/annoying it is to deal with taxes and bookkeeping, but those who do can sympathize with me. Since then we've put up the Starmen.Net Store, which, thanks to Meeellla, has been successful beyond my best expectations. With more new merchandise coming, the store will only get better, but our profit margin is fairly meager. It is for this reason that donations have been and always will be our biggest and best source of money for the website.
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Why are checks made out to Reid Young instead of Starmen.Net?
Because of the huge pain associated with having a separate bank account and tax numbers for the website, I decided to close the account and combine it with my own personal bank account. This is the reason that checks/money orders are made out to me, Reid Young, instead of Starmen.Net. I cannot legally accept checks or money orders made out to Starmen.Net since (without its own separate bank account) it no longer is recognized as an institution. On this point people just have to trust me that the money goes to Starmen.Net I guess. Anyone who has been coming here for a long time knows that I'm not a scam artist, I'm just a college student. If you need people to vouch for me or my honesty, then feel free to ask around on the Forum.
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Do I have to donate to Starmen.Net?
No one is obligated to donate to Starmen.Net. As we said, it is a non-profit site, so it would be somewhat crooked to charge people money for access to certain parts of the site. As long as I run this website, it will never become a subscription website or force anyone to pay money for anything. Not everyone is financially able to pay, but those who use or visit our website very frequently and are able to donate are encouraged to. Lots of work goes into this website, and if you're not working for it or helping to create content for it, another great way of helping is to donate.
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How much do people normally donate, and is there a limit?
The largest majority of donations to Starmen.Net are from $10 to $20. People have in the past, however, donated as little as 2 cents (thanks Aquas) and as much as $3,000+ (for more information on that particular donation, check out the Giovanni section :) We do not encourage donating huge sums of money to this website, because we can never repay that except by being exceptionally kind to you and giving you whatever we can, within our own power. There is no upper or lower limit to donations, though.
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What methods can I use to donate money?
You can donate with about any method you please - Paypal account, credit card (via PayPal), check, cash, or money order. If you would like to donate via Paypal, click on the cool Paypal donation button below. If you would like to send a check, cash, or money order, send it to the following address:

Snail Mail: (current as of April 4, 2005)
Reid Young
1873 Shoshone Dr
Apt #13
Lafayette, IN 47909

Paypal:

All checks and money orders need to be made out to Reid Young. Here is an explanation if you're wondering why checks to go me instead of being made out to Starmen.Net.
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Can you take non-American money?
I can't accept any non-American currency; no Canadian dollars or yen or anything else. The nearest money exchange place is an hour and fifteen minutes from my house, and even then it costs money to make the exchange. So, if you're Canadian (or anything else) then you should head to a bank and ask about obtaining a money order or getting your cash changed into American currency.
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What do I get for donating?
Now for the good stuff; making a donation isn't an entirely thankless process, trust me. We at Starmen.Net can't do a whole lot with just a website, but we'll do our best to thank you in any way possible. Here is what you can get for your donation:

Email Forum Badge Forum Rank Forum Avatar Web space $5-$10 Forwarder $10-$30 POP/Forward Yes $30-$50 POP/Forward Yes Redirect $50-$100 POP/Forward Yes Yes 25 megs $100+ POP/Forward Yes Yes 50 megs

Also, Jonk is notorious for doing great and wonderful things for the Starmen.Net donors, such as sending them copies of his ambitious music CDs, namely PSI Rockin' and a new one called Rock Candy. However, these are entirely under Jonk's jurisdiction, and thus we won't make any promises. Please note that if you're eligible for a CD, Jonk will contact you, so don't bug him :)
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Drawbacks to donating?
Crazy as it sounds, yes, there can be drawbacks to donating (with the obvious exception that you lose a chunk of money ;) Please note that I said there COULD be drawbacks; it depends entirely on your attitude.

Sometimes people will try to use their status as Starmen.Net donors to sort of give themselves a high status on the forum or in the community. This is a bad thing, because it will only make people dislike you. If you flaunt your badge and constantly make allusions to how much money you spend on the site, people are really going to get sick of you. Please keep this in mind, because being a donor doesn't guarantee that people are going to love you. Acceptance isn't something you can buy, but its not that hard to earn here. Just a friendly word of warning to be yourself and to avoid trying to artificially inflate your status in the community. Be helpful, be concise, use grammar and spelling, and most importantly of all, be friendly. THESE things will gain you acceptance and friendship.

Also, please note that being a donor doesn't give you any special privileges beyond the cool stuff that you get. I won't hire you as a staffer. I won't make you a moderator on the forum. I won't necessarily use your ideas (although I will listen more carefully because people who donate often care much more about the site than normal visitors). Please keep this in mind, and don't try to use donations to bend rules; you're under the same rules as everyone else.
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