Balloon Juice went ad-free not quite a year ago. I think it’s fair to say that I am not the only one who is really happy we did that. At least I hope so!
Can we take a quick trip down memory lane, before I suggest some fine-tuning of the process?
2021
If you’re the guy whose name is on all the bills, ditching the ads and losing $1,000 a month would have to feel a bit like jumping off a cliff without a net.
So here’s what it will take for me to feel good about having asked John Cole to do just that:
– $6,000 in one-time donations now – that would sit in an account, unused, as a safety net, to take the uncertainty out of the equation for Cole.
– no subscriptions, just recurring donations every month from those who can afford it, to pay for hosting and subscriptions etc.
– we need about $1,000 in recurring donations every month for that.
Safety net
It turns out that having the safety net has already been helpful, as John got clobbered with a tax bill for most of the PayPal donations. And he surely will again this year.
So it would be super helpful if we could put some money back into the safety net, with one-time donations. Before you ask me exactly how much the tax bill was, I do not know the actual amount and Cole hates to talk about money, so I am not going to press him on that. So if anyone is in a position help build that back up to the original $6,000, that would be great.
You can donate to the safety net with Patreon, Venmo, Zelle, and paper check. And even PayPal if that’s your only option, but please mark it as personal / gift and not payment for services.
Fine tuning
Not everyone can afford even $5 or $10 a month, but this is a community and those of us who can afford that have been helping make the site better for everyone.
If you have signed up for a monthly donation but you’re in a different financial position than you were when you signed up, please feel free to cancel your monthly donation, with our thanks for having supported the site for nearly a year.
If you keep thinking you’ll set up a monthly donation, but haven’t gotten around to it, or if the timing is right for increasing your donation, this would be a great time to do it.
If you have a monthly donation set up through PayPal, please consider switching that to Patreon. Patreon takes taxes off the top before the funds go into John’s account, so there are no surprises at tax time.
If you want to support the site with a one-time check, send me an email message I will send you Cole’s address. (P.O.box)
Memory Lane
In case you want to relive the good times, here’s the post from me on Nov 3, 2021.
Followed by this post from John a couple hours later:
So I Guess We are Going Ad Free (With Venting and Explanation)
If you have any questions, let me know!
Update:
WaterGirl
I am here for questions!
Baud
@WaterGirl: I have enough questions. I need someone who can provide me answers.
Old School
I’m a bit surprised that Patreon donations are taxable.
Kelly
I am not a tax guy. However I’ve been handling the road maintenance money for our neighborhood for nearly 20 years. I keep all the road maintenance contributions in a separate checking account named road fund for our road. I write all the checks from that checking account and keep all the receipts and I’ve never reported it as income hopefully this won’t come back to bite me at some point.
AuntieBeak
Did I miss it or is there no link to make a donation?
Old School
@AuntieBeak:
It isn’t (currently) in the post, but the links are in the sidebar.
Patreon
Venmo, Zelle & PayPal
WaterGirl
@AuntieBeak:
This is always in the sidebar, so I didn’t think to include it.
🎈Keep Balloon Juice Ad Free
Become a Balloon Juice Patreon
Donate with Venmo, Zelle or PayPal
Major Major Major Major
Yeah probably worth looking into doing some tax shenanigans.
@Old School: I for one am glad that podcasters pulling in $100k+ per month get taxed on it.
different-church-lady
For the amount of mental health maintenance this joint provides, 10 a month is an absolute bargain.
WaterGirl
@different-church-lady: Cheaper than therapy!
cain
I tried to sign up on Patreon to start a monthly give and it turns out that I’m already doing that – haha
mrmoshpotato
@Baud:
Haha! Same here!
Ken
@Major Major Major Major: The thing is, people pulling in $100K+ per month aren’t committing “tax shenanigans”; they are taking advantage of all available opportunities to minimize their tax burden through use of applicable IRS code and rulings. “Shenanigans” is for nearly-top-10000 blogs that barely scrape in enough to pay for the hosting services.
WaterGirl
@mrmoshpotato: Wait, I can give you answers, too!
mrmoshpotato
@different-church-lady:
True.
Major Major Major Major
@Ken:
Right, they’re paying income tax on their income, which is good, is my point.
If on the other hand you run a free nonprofit service that takes donations in order to remain free, from which you don’t see a dime, you should structure it thusly.
mrmoshpotato
@WaterGirl: Feel free to email me tonight’s winning Powerball numbers. (We’ll split the jackpot.) 😁
randy khan
Done. I do think it would be helpful for people to have the payment links in the OP, not just in the sidebar or comments.
Kristine
I for one appreciate the lack of those extremely loopy ads. Do people actually click on those other than by accident?
WaterGirl
@Major Major Major Major: If you’re suggesting non-profit status, there are a lot of hoops to jump through, attorneys to hire, tax forms to fill out, etc.
I don’t see how that gets us ahead in any way.
But if there are any tax peeps out there who have one neat trick for us, that would actually work, send me an email message.
WaterGirl
@randy khan: Done!
Plus, I moved that up in the sidebar. thanks.
WaterGirl
@Kristine: I get twitchy just thinking about the ads. shudder.
So glad they are gone!
realbtl
WG I sent you an email. Paypal and I are disagreeing at the moment.
WaterGirl
@realbtl: I just sent you the info you asked for.
I have always hated PayPal, and now I hate them even more.
Joy in FL
I did not know the advantage about Patreon donations regarding taxes. I had been donating by PayPal. I just cancelled that and added Balloon Juice to my many Patreon donations; almost all of those are for animal rescues, so BJ fits right in : )
Thanks for the information, WG.
WaterGirl
@Joy in FL: Thanks for doing that!
Major Major Major Major
@WaterGirl: I’m not a tax peep, but I’ve incorporated nonprofits in California with some basic LegalZoom paperwork before. I’m sure a reader would be willing to help pro bono.
randy khan
Also: No ads is really good.
randy khan
@Major Major Major Major:
As someone who’s involved in several non-profits (and served two of them as treasurer), there’s a bunch of bureaucracy involved in non-profit status. It’s not so bad for a relatively small organization (that is, in dollar terms), but you still have to convince the IRS you qualify and, among other things, I think the political fundraising here probably makes it not a realistic option.
Major Major Major Major
@randy khan: Hmm, that makes sense!
Fair Economist
Why not incorporate as a for-profit? It won’t have any profits and if it did it would probably be in a lower tax bracket anyway. There’s also incorporating as an S corp which would allow writing off the hosting fees and such.
SiubhanDuinne
@WaterGirl:
Why so can I, or so can any man.
SiubhanDuinne
@randy khan:
Are you saying you don’t actually miss three-breasted Pamela Anderson?
Elizabelle
I really appreciate the no ads. We are called on to give our attention to so much. Not every advertiser deserves our captive eyeballs. Enough.
Also, very OT; not sure if this has been mentioned on earlier threads. For once, it’s not us with a deadly school shooting. It’s Russia. Tragic, all the same.
The Guardian:
Did not realize Russia was taking up the slack. Don’t recall the 2018 Crimean college attack. I think we in the US of cray cray are still #1 in school and mass shootings. (Leaving out the war in Ukraine, of course. Peace be to the Ukrainians.)
And, per Google maps: Izhevsk is “known for the Kalashnikov Museum and Exhibition Complex of Small Arms, which displays weapons and documents the Russian arms trade.”
Refreshing that the school attacker did not have a Kalashnikov. Pistols can do enough carnage.
Izhevsk appears to be almost at the midpoint between Moscow (to its west) and Yekaterinburg (to its east).
Elizabelle
I can move that Russian school shooting item to another thread. But which one? Did not want to insert into the previous Biden one …
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@SiubhanDuinne:
Please tell me that wasn’t real. I don’t think my sanity could withstand that
HumboldtBlue
Excellent thread on the Italy election.
West of the Rockies
How would I make out a check? What would be the mailing address? I could also do credit card.
Goku (aka Amerikan Baka)
@Elizabelle:
Wow, had no idea Russia was having school shootings
WaterGirl
@Elizabelle: this one says open thread, as does the one before this.
WaterGirl
@West of the Rockies: If you send me an email message, I can send you the mailing address.
If it’s recurring, Patreon with your credit card is probably good. One time? Not worth setting and then un-setting up, in my opinion.
Gin & Tonic
@Joy in FL: Patreon is still doing business as usual in russia, if that matters to you.
oldster
Yup, I started making monthly Patreon contributions back at the start of this experiment.
I’m glad to hear that it’s penciling out, more or less.
One of my rules of life is: you always pay for your pleasures, one way or another. It’s usually better to pay for them up front, in cash. The other ways are generally a *lot* more expensive in the long run.
middlelee
I just cancelled PayPal and signed up with Patreon. In the past I’ve had discussions with Patreon that caused me to hate it but am thinking positive about this go round.
thruppence
Okay, delurking to set up my modest monthly donation through Patreon. First time I’ve ever used it; seems painless. May many of my fellow lurkers do the same!
trollhattan
@Elizabelle: Horrid. I’ll add one important detail, which I’ll recommend the moar guns solves guns crowd ponder.
WaterGirl
Thank you to all who are ditching PayPal for Patreon, or setting up Patreon, or writing to ask for John’s address.
Leslie
@cain: Same.
sab
@Leslie: Also same.
I assume Cole knows tax advice he is getting here is not the best
sab
I assume Cole knows tax advice he is getting here is not the best
@WaterGirl: PayPal (Peter Thiel) is bad? Who knew?
randy khan
@WaterGirl: Thanks!
randy khan
@SiubhanDuinne:
LOL. I could find that elsewhere if I wanted it.
sab
@Gin & Tonic: Actually it doesn’t so much. Wish it wasn’t but other considerations. Don’t shoot your foot in spite and all that.
Lumpy
Patreon’d
The default ask is $5/month, so that’s what I did.
la caterina
I think I just set up a Patreon for $5 per month. It was not fun. I hate tech!
SiubhanDuinne
@Goku (aka Amerikan Baka):
No offence in the world, and I certainly don’t mean this to sound patronising, but I sometimes forget how young you are. By which I mean, those ads ran a number of years ago and probably had their heyday before you were a Juicer.
Others may, if they care to, provide links and descriptions.
BruceFromOhio
Pleased to kick in $50 one-time to Cole via Venmo. A site without ads is so very pleasant. Not fond of recurring, my fortunes come and go and I’ve been bitten by it, sorry.
Ruckus
@sab:
“PayPal (Peter Thiel) is bad? Who knew?”
When it started it wasn’t bad. But, and it’s big, round, smelly but, Peter seems to have screwed it up, damaged it by being within 1/2 a million miles of it, and unworthy of having anything to do with, which your sentence clearly states.
Percysowner
Well, now I feel good about switching from PayPal to Patreon way back when. I had set up a recurring donation through PayPal, but use Patreon for every other content producer that I use regularly. When I did it I felt bad because I knew there would be a Patreon fee and that they would take taxes. I thought the PayPal money would get taxed. Turns out I did the right thing. I’ll Zelle $15 for the rainy day fund.
Percysowner
Well shoot. Zelle is getting pissy about your email. I made what I thought were the proper changes, but it keeps saying
This is not a valid value
I’ll up my Patreon for a few months to cover it.
Ruckus
@WaterGirl:
My life has changed after I retired over a year ago, after I turned 72 yrs old. And now that I’m 73 and have seen living with a restricted SS income for over a year, I find that making any excess payments is not really in the cards. After January my VA status will change, given my wonderful retirement income level. I may be able to do something then, but I really have to be watchful of spending more than necessary, you know food and such. With gas here in SoCal back up to around $5.40$5.50 per gallon (or more) for cash/regular, just going to the store for groceries (also up about 20%) is how should I say it, almost out of range
Getting old is so much fun. I recommend it for everyone just for the surprises.
WaterGirl
@la caterina: Go you!
WaterGirl
@BruceFromOhio: No apologies! That’s about like doing $5 a month for a year!
WaterGirl
@Percysowner: Thanks for plodding through the annoyance.
WaterGirl
@Ruckus: Don’t even think twice about it. I still remember the year in college when I mostly ate tomatoes all summer that the lady next door grew and gave to me. Discretionary spending fluctuates for many of us over time.
No one should feel obligated to donate! I don’t even donate. I figure I donate enough of my time that I don’t need to donate money, too. :-)
Ruckus
@WaterGirl:
Your time is likely more valuable than mine is currently.
The best part of retirement is that I’m here to barely enjoy it.
sab
@Ruckus: Yikes! You fave fangirls on thidps blog.
sab
@WaterGirl: Bitchy tonight. Why are nyms with emojis allowed to bypass the pie filters? They insert themselves into every thread, whether on point or not.
Uncle Cosmo
@sab: There’s a simple solution: Disallow any nym with emojis. Or any other “special character” that bulletproofs it against the pie filter. Don’t even permit anyone to register such a nym. Give current posters with emoji-laden nyms a week to switch to an unoffending nym, then kill the old nym.
tybee
@WaterGirl:
I don’t see a way to send you an email…