All members please read. Very important question!

As you guys may or may not know, MuscleChemistry.com has been online since 1999. So we have been online for 12 to 13 years now making MuscleChemistry.com one of the first Bodybuilding forums ever to be online, and we are one of the oldest Bodybuilding forums online today as we have seen many many Sites like this come and go over the years. Many sites fell due to guys just opening up a site like this so they could get free gear and make money, while MuscleChemistry was started because we thought we could do it better then the others and cater to our members better then most.

So with all that being said, I wanted to ask what our members thought about MuscleChemistry.com asking for DONATIONS from our members. We have always been a FREE Site and we will always remain to be a FREE Site to the masses.

I will explain what the DONATIONS would be for, and I will explain what each member who DONATES would get in return for their DONATIONS.

DONATIONS would be to Help MuscleChemistry Sponsor More Athletes Every Year. As it is now we Sponsor About 5 Athletes per year, and we have done this for the past 8-9 years. And we do this out of our own pocket every year using the proceeds from our store and from our advertisers.

I would like for MuscleChemistry.com to be able to sponsor 5 more athletes each year. We pay each Sponsored Athlete $250-$500 cash per show depending on the athlete and what show they are doing and how much exposure we will get from said show. We also send our Sponsored Athletes FREE Products from our store. And Send them Free shirts for them and their familys to wear at the show, and we also sometimes get our Sponsored Athletes Special Made Cloths to wear to the show with our name and logo on the cloths. So long story short is we spend about $500-1k$ per Sponsored Athlete each year.

What would be the benefit for members to Donate Money to MuscleChemistry. Well for one you get that warm fuzzy feeling you get when you know you helped someone else,lmao. Not enough I know,lol.

Well I was going to offer each person who Donates access to a new Lottery forum For members who donated to MuscleChemistry. This New Lottery forum would have a WEEKLY LOTTERY with NO LESS then $250 in prizes each and every week from all of our different Sponsors. So one week would be $250 Sponsored by MCAS, or Cyber-Suppz, or from UncleZ, or from, Alin, or from Biogen ect....

And as you know our lottery system is set up so their is a Lottery winner each and every week. And I was going to make it so each member who Donates a certain amount of money will get a certain number of picks to play in each weeks lottery.

example
$50 allows you to choose 1 set of numbers to play in the New Lottery forum.

$100 Allows you to choose 2 sets of numbers to play in the lottery

$150 allows you to choose 3 sets of numbers to play in the lottery

$200 Allows you to choose 4 sets of numbers to play in the lottery

So something like this is my idea so that Those who DONATE would get a little something back and they would also make their money back with winning the lotterys as im sure their will not be alot of others to compete with as it will be a lottery forum for only those who donated!

Donaters would also get something under your name stating your a donater, and we may also offer all who donate a certain % off of store orders for the year.

And we may also grant access to our private forums for those who donate.


ANyhow thats about it.

I am just trying to figure out a way to help Sponsor More Athletes while at the same time make it worth it for the people DONATING.


GOOD IDEA OR BAD IDEA?

So, for a $50 yearly donation, you'd get 52 chances (1 per week) to win $250 in prizes?

Also, would those who donate get a vote on who gets sponsored?

Sounds reasonable and fair to me.

Ox 51 said:

So, for a $50 yearly donation, you'd get 52 chances (1 per week) to win $250 in prizes?

Click to expand...

lol, something like that, like isaid i havent ironed out the numbers, but i was just wanting to get an idea of everyone thought about donating to help Us Sponser More Athletes,

Sounds like a hell of a deal.

i dont like it, but if its what everyone is doing then i guess i would follow like a blind sheep....

The problem is we all have our own lives outside of this MC world. Some of us can afford to donate, and others can not. Although I am fairly new to this board and new to how all of this works, this idea scares me a little. Im just afraid that this may divide members. As far as i can tell everyone seems to be equal here and their opinions are all respected for the most part. Simply put, i just dont want this to change.

I read your paragraph about how long the board has been around, and i recognize that it is one of the most respected fitness boards on the web. I feel that the reason for this is because of the business model that you have used for the past decade plus...Obviously it has continued to grow from day one and I would expect it to continue.
So if it were me, and i realize its not, I would be patient. I'd be willing to bet that in a few years you'll be able to sponser more atheletes.

personally i would like to thank you for asking everyone's opinion prior to doing this, regardless of the outcome

I'm in

I would be in.

mickdoo said:

I think the the idea sucks. First off the website is your Business model and the increased sponsored athletes simply aids you in your advertisement which in turn gives you more business which generates more profits to you. If you want to sponsor more athletes so be it but don't expect me to aid you in your advertisement venture to increase your business. That's on you and your co owners. As far as the lottery goes I could care less about it. It sounds like a scam to me.

Click to expand...

Does not sound like a scam to me but just helping out the guys that need help. I would be all for it without any type of lottery. If you think about it, all the money would be going to someone on this board that would need the help. Those people come here and share there knowledge with everyone for free. The least we could do is help them compete.

If the person is really needing and showing 100% interest in the events and not just for a pump and pose then it sounds like a great idea. May need to do some kind of a check on whether person really needs the money or just a supplement whore.

This is fucking nuts because I just offered to give a donation in the other thread and now I read this, great minds think alike

I think it is a cool idea.. And you would be helping some guys out to reach thier dreams.. So all in all I would like to give a little..

After reading through everything, here's my feelings on this. I have only been here for about a year and a half. I understand that some people have the funds and some don't. I can see where certain people would think this is a scam. So if you don't have the money or think it's a scam, simply don't send any funds. There's no hard feelings for those who don't want to donate. That's why it's a donation, you have that choice. No one is going to black ball you here if you decide to not donate. I for one am all for giving a donation and this is why...

Like I've said, I've been here for a year and a half. I've been to many other websites similar to this and this is the only one I frequent now. The reason being is because there's no bullshit that goes on here. We don't have members bashing each other over their views or opinions like many other boards. Everyone here can speak openly and not getting blasted for it. I know I've had my disagreements with some people on here (isn't that right crg914 lol) and it never got escalated, we just had 2 different views and that was it. On other websites you'll see someone throw their opinion out there and get into a shouting match because some arrogant or ignorant asshole doesn't agree with them. Which in turns gets others involved and it turns into a big mess and will cause members to not return, that simply isn't the case here.

Everyone around here contributes and there's plenty of knowledge here from numerous members that give out numerous hours of their own time to help answer questions or guide new members to how to follow or setup a diet plan, AAS cycle or whatever it is. These are the members that are always competing and will be the members that ask to be considered for sponsorship. So those are the people that I'd love to help back. If I can give just a little bit of money to repay them and help them out with their quest to become a professional in the sport that we all love, that's something I'm willing to do. Some may not feel the same way and won't donate and those people won't be chastised for it and that's why this is the longest running, most successful and only bodybuilding website I'll ever consider this for.

So to each his own, if you want to great, if you don't, no hard feelings and this is why Presser has decided to post this up so he has an idea of what kind of response this is going to get.

And to finish things off, I can also tell you that you're not "lining" Presser, mine, or any other Site Rep's pocket by donating. Those who have been sponsored in the past can tell you (if they want) whether or not they've gotten everything that Presser has listed above from MuscleChemistry when they were sponsored. So it's not like you're giving directly to him and helping build his legacy.

big n wv said:

After reading through everything, here's my feelings on this. I have only been here for about a year and a half. I understand that some people have the funds and some don't. I can see where certain people would think this is a scam. So if you don't have the money or think it's a scam, simply don't send any funds. There's no hard feelings for those who don't want to donate. That's why it's a donation, you have that choice. No one is going to black ball you here if you decide to not donate. I for one am all for giving a donation and this is why...

Like I've said, I've been here for a year and a half. I've been to many other websites similar to this and this is the only one I frequent now. The reason being is because there's no bullshit that goes on here. We don't have members bashing each other over their views or opinions like many other boards. Everyone here can speak openly and not getting blasted for it. I know I've had my disagreements with some people on here (isn't that right crg914 lol) and it never got escalated, we just had 2 different views and that was it. On other websites you'll see someone throw their opinion out there and get into a shouting match because some arrogant or ignorant asshole doesn't agree with them. Which in turns gets others involved and it turns into a big mess and will cause members to not return, that simply isn't the case here.

Everyone around here contributes and there's plenty of knowledge here from numerous members that give out numerous hours of their own time to help answer questions or guide new members to how to follow or setup a diet plan, AAS cycle or whatever it is. These are the members that are always competing and will be the members that ask to be considered for sponsorship. So those are the people that I'd love to help back. If I can give just a little bit of money to repay them and help them out with their quest to become a professional in the sport that we all love, that's something I'm willing to do. Some may not feel the same way and won't donate and those people won't be chastised for it and that's why this is the longest running, most successful and only bodybuilding website I'll ever consider this for.

So to each his own, if you want to great, if you don't, no hard feelings and this is why Presser has decided to post this up so he has an idea of what kind of response this is going to get.

And to finish things off, I can also tell you that you're not "lining" Presser, mine, or any other Site Rep's pocket by donating. Those who have been sponsored in the past can tell you (if they want) whether or not they've gotten everything that Presser has listed above from MuscleChemistry when they were sponsored. So it's not like you're giving directly to him and helping build his legacy.

Click to expand...

:thumbsup: Hey, even the best friends don't agree on everything, it's all in handling it respectfully

That was a great post though. I agree with all of it. While I personally would be unlikely to make a donation, I have no problem with this plan as long as it remains optional.

Jpotch said:

i dont like it, but if its what everyone is doing then i guess i would follow like a blind sheep....

The problem is we all have our own lives outside of this MC world. Some of us can afford to donate, and others can not. Although I am fairly new to this board and new to how all of this works, this idea scares me a little. Im just afraid that this may divide members. As far as i can tell everyone seems to be equal here and their opinions are all respected for the most part. Simply put, i just dont want this to change.

I read your paragraph about how long the board has been around, and i recognize that it is one of the most respected fitness boards on the web. I feel that the reason for this is because of the business model that you have used for the past decade plus...Obviously it has continued to grow from day one and I would expect it to continue.
So if it were me, and i realize its not, I would be patient. I'd be willing to bet that in a few years you'll be able to sponser more atheletes.

personally i would like to thank you for asking everyone's opinion prior to doing this, regardless of the outcome

Click to expand...

I see exactly where you're coming from bro. The only arguments I would make is most likely we will have no idea who has donated and in what amounts. If Presser decides to do the "Donation" title under their username I could see that being a possible issue. Also, I would hope that the same courtesy and respect that members here have for one another wouldn't be tainted by something as trivial as donations to sponsored athletes. I can only speak for myself here, but after reading and interacting with the regular posters here, I know all the guys here have knowledge and experience, and, as big n wv said, although I may not agree with everyone on everything, I do respect everyone. Whether or not they donate does not change that.

Now a new member may be influenced by a "Donation" title under someone's name if they haven't been around long enough, but hopefully not. Maybe just eliminating the donation title and keeping it as anonymous as possible would be a good solution to try and prevent member dissent.

I'll be honest, I will be donating, but I could care less whether I'm known as one or not. I can see where some people may want to be known as a contributor and some won't. Maybe that can be optional. I know some people like others to know that they gave money. It's like donating to a certain organization and how they have those like Bronze, Silver and Gold contributors. Some people like to be known as a "Bronze, Silver or Gold" contributor where some don't want to be as a contributor at all.

And I'm sure this will always be optional if/when it ever takes effect. And if not, I'll personally go punch Presser square in the nuts lol, but I know he'd never charge people to come here

mickdoo said:

I think the the idea sucks. First off the website is your Business model and the increased sponsored athletes simply aids you in your advertisement which in turn gives you more business which generates more profits to you. If you want to sponsor more athletes so be it but don't expect me to aid you in your advertisement venture to increase your business. That's on you and your co owners. As far as the lottery goes I could care less about it. It sounds like a scam to me.

Click to expand...

lol, well you sound like a fucking jerk off, it was a simple yes or no, if members here wanted to help out other members cuase i feel bad at how many members want sponsorships as oppsed to howmany we can afford to do and i could give a fuck less how many posts you have here and how long you been here, the simple fact that you would call ME a scammer, cause thats essentialy what your saying give me no choice but to get rid of your dick head ass!

banned!

And yes guys I could open a private forum here and charge a few bucks for members to have access to "privlidged info" so to speak and I would make a fortune undoubtedly, and I could have just used that money to help sponsor other athletes, I just thought maybe other members would want to help others out and do it publicly

And Im all for getting told "NO" and being given valid reason for for this. But it burns me the fuck up to have some dickwad call me a scammer accompanied by "The Idea Suck" comment. Wheres the fucking respect! And yes most of the members who would be getting helped by this are the very members who are answering the same questions day in and day out with out hesitation.

Im literally dumbfounded that some asshole would call me a scammer over this, i put out thousands of dollars a year out of my own pocket, so if i wanted to steal Donations, or needed the money, then I simply wouldnt sponsor the guys we do now each year and Voila I have more money in my pocket!

Fucking jerkoff!