Post by Mike Andrews on Mar 7, 2017 13:37:05 GMT -5
Dear Readers,
As we often mention, SoxProspects.com has been providing free content to Red Sox Nation since 2003. We earn a little bit of revenue from our ads, but that has declined in recent years as Google Ad revenue rates have decreased. Unfortunately, that revenue is generally not enough to cover our costs, which include travel expenses to scout games in New England, Virginia, South Carolina, and Florida, and technical expenses such as hardware, software, hosting fees, and subscriptions. We anticipate that our total costs could approach $20,000 in 2017. Over the course of 2017, we’re hoping to raise $10,000 to help cover these costs. We’ve come close to raising this amount in each of the the past couple years thanks to donations from our generous readers.
It’s worth noting that similar baseball prospect sites charge for content in the range of $35 to $70 per year. We'd like to think that we'd be worthy of comparable rates if we ever decided to go that route, but we’d prefer to operate on ad revenue and donations if we can. If you’re able donate, we thank you profusely - it's truly appreciated!
This year, we’re offering three options for readers to donate:
(1) GiveStep – GiveStep allows readers to support SoxProspects by making donations customized to certain Red Sox-centric metrics. For example, you could pledge to donate 50 cents for every Red Sox win in 2017. Or you could pledge $1 for every Mookie Betts home run, 50 cents for every Xander Bogaerts RBI, $2 for every Eduardo Rodriguez win, or 25 cents for every Andrew Benintendi base hit. You can customize the donation amounts, players, teams, and stats for any major league player. (Unfortunately, minor league stats are not supported yet). You also have the option to cap the amount. The donation isn't actually charged to your card until the end of the season, or you could choose to be charged once you hit your cap. Check out GiveStep’s FAQ for more information.
(2) Patreon – Patreon allows Podcast listeners to support the Podcast by donating on a per episode basis - $1, $2, or $5 per episode. We provide “rewards” for each donation level. For $1 per episode, supporters will get a private Podcast RSS and audio feed and the right to move their podcast questions to the front of the queue. For $2 per episode, donors will also get their name listed with other supporters on the Podcast page, as well as access to a quarterly exclusive chat with the SoxProspects brass. For $5 per episode, donors will also get a personal shout out at the end of each episode and the ability to be a call-in guest on the Podcast after hitting a certain threshold.
(3) Donation Drive – During June and early July, we’ll be running our annual Donation Drive where we accept donations via PayPal. We’ve had tremendous success with this drive in the past thanks to our generous readership. More details on the Donation Drive will follow in June.
As always, thanks to our supporters, readers, and listeners! We're headed down to Spring Training next week and we're excited to bring you some exclusive updates from minor league camp.
Sincerely,
The SoxProspects.com Team
As we often mention, SoxProspects.com has been providing free content to Red Sox Nation since 2003. We earn a little bit of revenue from our ads, but that has declined in recent years as Google Ad revenue rates have decreased. Unfortunately, that revenue is generally not enough to cover our costs, which include travel expenses to scout games in New England, Virginia, South Carolina, and Florida, and technical expenses such as hardware, software, hosting fees, and subscriptions. We anticipate that our total costs could approach $20,000 in 2017. Over the course of 2017, we’re hoping to raise $10,000 to help cover these costs. We’ve come close to raising this amount in each of the the past couple years thanks to donations from our generous readers.
It’s worth noting that similar baseball prospect sites charge for content in the range of $35 to $70 per year. We'd like to think that we'd be worthy of comparable rates if we ever decided to go that route, but we’d prefer to operate on ad revenue and donations if we can. If you’re able donate, we thank you profusely - it's truly appreciated!
This year, we’re offering three options for readers to donate:
(1) GiveStep – GiveStep allows readers to support SoxProspects by making donations customized to certain Red Sox-centric metrics. For example, you could pledge to donate 50 cents for every Red Sox win in 2017. Or you could pledge $1 for every Mookie Betts home run, 50 cents for every Xander Bogaerts RBI, $2 for every Eduardo Rodriguez win, or 25 cents for every Andrew Benintendi base hit. You can customize the donation amounts, players, teams, and stats for any major league player. (Unfortunately, minor league stats are not supported yet). You also have the option to cap the amount. The donation isn't actually charged to your card until the end of the season, or you could choose to be charged once you hit your cap. Check out GiveStep’s FAQ for more information.
(2) Patreon – Patreon allows Podcast listeners to support the Podcast by donating on a per episode basis - $1, $2, or $5 per episode. We provide “rewards” for each donation level. For $1 per episode, supporters will get a private Podcast RSS and audio feed and the right to move their podcast questions to the front of the queue. For $2 per episode, donors will also get their name listed with other supporters on the Podcast page, as well as access to a quarterly exclusive chat with the SoxProspects brass. For $5 per episode, donors will also get a personal shout out at the end of each episode and the ability to be a call-in guest on the Podcast after hitting a certain threshold.
(3) Donation Drive – During June and early July, we’ll be running our annual Donation Drive where we accept donations via PayPal. We’ve had tremendous success with this drive in the past thanks to our generous readership. More details on the Donation Drive will follow in June.
As always, thanks to our supporters, readers, and listeners! We're headed down to Spring Training next week and we're excited to bring you some exclusive updates from minor league camp.
Sincerely,
The SoxProspects.com Team