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Most of you who've been here a while know that in the past we've done quarterly giveaways as a way to give thanks to our Supporting Members. Those of you who are Supporting Members have probably noticed that we haven't done one of these giveaways in quite a while. I want to take a moment to explain.

Back in March I posted this thread explaining our revenue situation and asking for help.

As much as I hate to write this message to our community members, I'm afraid it's necessary. I've always believed in being open and honest about what's going on at Northwest Firearms.

The revenue that we rely on to run Northwest Firearms comes from three sources; ad networks, support from local businesses via advertising, and member donations. We've been lucky in that for the past few years these sources have provided adequate funds to keep us afloat. I'm sorry to say that we're hitting rough waters now, and we could really use your help.

I know there are rumors floating around that I'm getting rich off of this (even though I've publicly posted my W2), but that simply isn't true. This site is a labor of love for me, and if it were paying me a decent salary I certainly wouldn't be working a part-time job. Despite our shoestring budget and me forgoing my last couple of paychecks, our accounts are nearing the bottom.

For better or worse, almost all websites rely on ad networks for their primary source of income (as do we). Historically headquartered in LA, New York, or London, the ad industry is overwhelmingly anti-gun. Most networks ban firearm-related content outright, leaving us with only a small handful of niche networks to work with. Like any business, these guys have their ups and downs too, and right now things are way down in the firearm sector (meaning our payments have fallen off).

Our second source of revenue is advertising from businesses who contact us directly (Supporting Vendors). There's a major catch 22 in banner advertising stemming from the fact that in order to do well banners should be updated frequently. Companies with the resources to keep their banners updated are usually big enough that they run large campaigns with the ad networks, and most small companies don't have the resources to keep their banners updated (so their success varies). Most businesses also reduce their advertising when sales are good, and from what I understand the gun shops are packed. At this time we have only eight Supporting Vendors.

Finally there's you guys, our members, and anyone who's been here a while knows how much I hate asking you for donations. In fact, in the ten years we've been here I've only done it a couple of times, and only when we really needed it. Thankfully in times of need your generosity has gotten us through.


The outpouring of support was astonishing - you guys came through in a huge way. We've been conservative with that money and it's got us through most of the year while we've worked to come up with a more sustainable solution. Sadly, part of making that fundraising money go as far as possible was putting our giveaways on pause. With the addition of several new Supporting Vendors and many of you donating monthly our revenue was beginning to stabilize. Unfortunately our ad network situation has gone from bad to worse with the acquisition of one of our partners and their reorganization at the end of this month. It's clear that we're going to have to continue looking for alternative ways of funding site operations.

I'm not sure how well this will work, but we're going to give this a shot. Starting with the first one this month, we're going to hold fundraisers (along with giveaways to accompany them) twice a year. My hope is that by switching to twice yearly we can offer bigger and better prizes, motivating more people to donate or upgrade and thanking our existing donors. I'll also feel better about not having to beg for money quite so often.

As always, a huge thanks to all of you who've donated, and to our Supporting Vendors for your advertising support and giveaway donations. Remember to support the businesses that support our community first, and let them know why! :)
 
Seems like a reasonable way to provide a self funded giveaway and generate funds to sustain this great website. Again, a heartfelt thanks to Joe Link and all the Moderators who keep this the best firearms forum on the inter webs...

Looking forward to what y'all come up with...
 
I donated because I appreciate what ya'll do here, and I know it costs. didn't see anything about prizes. If we needed prizes and free drinks, we'd be doing penny slots in Vegas. Keep doing what you're doing and we'll all appreciate it.

-Mike
 

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