It’s been a long road since I founded The Geek Initiative back in May of 2013. I was still making a living writing for various citizen journalism and pay-by-pageview sites, learning about SEO copywriting and how to make shareable content. Since then, I’ve decided to fully commit time and resources to TGI while also finding full-time work in content marketing and freelance work as an editor of fiction and a LARP marketer.
Here at TGI, we don’t have a huge budget. What we do have comes out of my personal investment into the site – and it’s time for us to grow.
TGI and Crowdfunding: A Successful History
We’ve had two successful crowdfunding campaigns in the past via Indiegogo: one to level up our website and another to save the site from a malicious attack last year. These campaigns have supported the maintenance and repair of the site as well as my ability to pay writers from time to time.
Patreon: A Sustainable Future
We’ve decided to go ahead with Patreon as a means of sustaining and growing the site. It isn’t always in my budget to maintain TGI and pay writers, and the community is also poised to grow. I need to direct my own investment into getting TGI LLC status so we can run events (like LARPs!) with insurance and into producing more types of content.
Patreon, which runs on a subscription model, provides you with some awesome rewards – and gives us a rolling income to maintain the site.
About Our Upgrades and Costs
We currently operate with the following costs:
- CoSchedule – social media scheduling tool: $30
- Entrecloud hosing with SSL – $47
- URL: $1.20
Ideally, we’d also have at $300+ to distribute to editors and contributors. I’d like to pay everyone. Right now, I pay in review copies, expert level mentoring in copywriting and editing, and anything I can spare. However, it does put a strain on my personal finances, and I also owe it to myself to pay for stuff like healthcare. Which means I need your help to keep TGI afloat!
About Our Patreon Rewards
We’re all about content, and with your support, we’ll be able to create more – plus, you can influence it. That’s the idea behind all of our rewards. Check them out!
Would You Rather Make a One Time Contribution?
I understand that lots of people aren’t interested in making a monthly commitment. That’s why we still have our tip jar up, so you can make a secure one-time donation via credit card or PayPal. Just check out the link on the right sidebar.
Thank you so much for your contribution, friends! 🙂
