SWDb Support, Funding and Fundraising

Here are a few remarks on the SWDb’s funding situation, my goals for 2016 and some suggestions and notes on how the SWDb can best be supported.

How is the SWDb structured?
It is no legal entity, but a personal (hobby) project by @Admin. That means for example that bigger donations are not tax-deductible, it also means it’s not a non-profit or foundation in the legal sense that could employ people, have bookkeeping and all that.

How is the SWDb currently financed?
Most costs are covered by an unsteady flow of commissions paid by Amazon. It works like this: if someone uses our Amazon links on the SWDb and then makes a purchase, we earn a commission fee. This sort of revenue is unpredictable, subject to ups and downs. It helps cover most of the regular cost, like hosting and domains. Since @Admin also runs Tarantino.info, the GCDb, and a few other sites on the same Amazon account, it’s not a precise science. The other major revenue would be donations. There is preciously little of them. All the work that goes into the SWDb, not just by Sebastian but all the other voluntary contributors is of course unpaid. Same goes for larger investments, upgrades, marketing, etc. which Sebastian pays out of pocket.

What about Sponsorship?
I have tried again and again to find companies willing to dish out a fixed sum for a logo placement or something, but most of the relevant companies just don’t do that kind of marketing spending for activities that don’t return a clear, measurable success. And the banners we currently have do not work so well either. It would still be very ideal, since it would introduce a kind of reliance and steadiness into our funding.

An example calculation for donations
Our Facebook page has a bit over 20.000 followers. If only 5% of them (that is 1000 people) donated just 1 Euro/Dollar, the SWDb would be comfortably financed for an entire year at least. If only 1% of them (that is 200 people) donated just 5 EUR, that would work just as well. So just in numbers, one would think it shouldn’t be so hard to make the SWDb more sustainable, but so far last year’s fundraising drive (early 2015) helped a lot, but there is not nearly a steady stream of small donations, which are far better than very few big ones.

Where do we stand?
Now, just to make it clear, I think the SWDb is good to go as it is right now, it’s just not a very “safe” or sustainable model in the long run, as it would always have to fall back on my personal finances to make up for any shortfalls. It would be so much better if we’d be set for at least a year ahead, that would also give us room for investments in infrastructure, design, outreach, new things, maybe travel funding, some marketing, prices for great reviews, I don’t know.

Other options
I’ve been considering a few things. Once would be to actually incorporate the SWDb as a non-profit corporation, or a non-profit association or even a foundation. But all of that would require a decent amount of people putting in committments and in the case of the corporation or foundation also money. It would come with costs attached (mostly legal fees and red tape) and would require untangling the SWDb from my other web endeavors, which to some degree might have covered shortfalls, so once we untangle, the financial unsustainability might become a lot clearer, and of course then the tax man would have a closer look.
Another option would be to turn to outside help and maybe hand the SWDb over, for example to something like a national cinema foundation (one in Italy, or something like the BFI in the UK, etc). That would mean loss of control over this project that is more our “child” than just a plain hobby.
Another option along these lines is to ask well-off individuals if they would be interested in becoming benefactors or maecenas. Tarantino, Frayling, living Spaghetti Western actors, directors or producers come to mind, etc.

How can non-financial support look like?
The best support has two faces: One, personal contributions on the SWDb (additions in text, pictures, links, videos etc) or activity in the forum. The SWDb just needs to get better, that support is worth a lot more than money. Two, spreading the word. The more people use the SWDb, the more famous it gets, the more it establishes itself, the better Amazon commission revenue will be, the more likely it is that fundraising drives work, and the more attractive it becomes for sponsors.

How can you donate?
You can visit the Donate page, linked on top of the SWDb Forum and main site, or just PayPal something directly to admin@spaghetti-western.net

So, I wrote these lines just to get some ideas out and maybe trigger a debate around other ideas that you might have, or maybe some of you weren’t really clear about how this looks like from my end. I have tons of ideas for 2016 and beyond, we’ve already accomplished so much!

2015 saw major redesigns and upgrades on a technical and visual level that have already made a huge step for us. I think there is more in it for this great community. I welcome your feedback, criticism, ideas, laudations, etc… :smile:

One thing I will spearhead is push an overhaul of the DVD etc subpages to those are more user friendly, and I’ve also put up some buttons at the top of the page to showcase some catalogs and list pages, and there’s a banner at the bottom of the pages now.

So there is one amazing SWDb fan who regularly donates quite a larger amount of money. I keep telling that person that I don’t know what to say, I am so humbled, and the project really needs it and how grateful we all should be.
I also tell that person how it would be a lot more sustainable, if instead, many many people would donate just tiny amounts of money. I am still trying to find a great solution to incentivise more people to chip in a bit, but I just don’t have the time to optimize all kinds of aspects for better click rates. I am open to ideas though.

Just to let you all know, across my websites the number of Google ads is being reduced (it’s just s shitty system)… at the same time Amazon referrals are still the best source of income for the sites. Especially more expensive books or box sets or new releases of course work best, as the commission is %-based. So whenever you intend to shop at Amazon, or friends or family intend to, click on one of our Amazon links first. It’s a small step for you, but a big step for the SWDb :slight_smile:

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Especially with the new EU privacy laws, keeping some of the Google Ads is hardly worth the trouble/risk. Considering how highly anticipated some spaghetti westerns are, the number of folks using our links to order them is still shockingly minuscule however :frowning:
So keep inviting people to the SWDb, keep sharing SWDb news/content on social media, etc… Thanks for all the support. We’re doing great/fine!

Hi Sebastian,
Can I place items in my basket and just use the link from this site for final payment?
Or do I have to go from this site to Amazon and make selections first before purchasing?

Not sure about the order. Best to click on one of our links, then proceed with shopping without closing your browser in between. Not sure if it works if all items have been in the cart already

You can now shop at DeepDiscount and (just like Amazon) the SWDb gets a commission…

Happy shopping, use this link: http://www.pjtra.com/t/TEFNSUVHQUVMSktFSkFFRERJSUY?website=291549&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.deepdiscount.com%2Fsearch%3Fmod%3DAV%26gn%3DWesterns-Classics

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Do you know if you all get commissions from Amazon if someone follows the link from the SWDB, adds it to a wish list, and buys it later?

It needs to be a purchase with the same browser session. So:

  • if you click a link on the SWDb to Amazon and buy, no matter what u buy, the SWDb gets a commission
  • if you click a link on the SWDb to Amazon, put stuff in the shopping cart, but then leave Amazon or close the browser and finish your shopping later that day or some other day, then the SWDb likely wont get a commission. To avoid that, re-use the SWDb link and continue the shopping…

Win a rare copy of DEATHRATTLE:
Every donation to the SWDb, (no matter the amount) from today until End of February will be entered into the raffle.
Click here donate and support us: Donate - The Spaghetti Western Database (if PayPal doesn’t suite you, feel free to get in touch with us for alternatives)

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The new PayPal donation module is much more convenient

But still not enough people donate smaller amounts. Every now and then I do get a donation in, but it would be much more sustainable if more people would donate small amounts than just a few people bigger amounts on an unregular basis. This is of course the problem any project like this faces :slight_smile:

So to those who can spare just a few bucks over christmas, feel free to send them the SWDb way (but only after you’ve donated to an actual charitable cause first, nobody at the SWDb is starving of death but many people around the world are, suffering from the effects of war, climate change or disease)

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