"DesignContest.net is a non profit community"

On the front page of your site, it states:
"DesignContest.net is a non profit community and your donations could greatly help in its development!" followed by a donation button.

I'm sorry, but when did DC become 'non-profit'?

Edit: Oh, darn! I think I posted in the wrong section... This should have gone in the 'About DC' thread. Could someone move it?

I have moved the thread.

As for your question, tet me ask you when DC did make any profit, because I don't remember that point so I can't really answer your question when it became non-profit.

I know that you might have been mislead by the google advertisings and administration fee. So since you brought it up (and you want to have this discussion in public too!), let me explain it to you. The truth which is not very obvious google adsense advertising brings me around $50 a month. It is hard to believe, but it is true. I spend several hours every single day working on DC. I live in France. (to five you an idea of how much life costs here - minimal wage is 7.5€/hour) If you think this money could be considered as "profit", I would strongly disagree with you. Besides I spend my own money into DC (hosting, t-shirts, advertising of DC) which brings my "profits" below zero.

As for the admin fees, look at them as a payment for work of the treasurer. The community hires her to help run the contests. And again, the payment cannot be compared to what she could earn doing a real job. So I consider it a ministry really.

This being said, I would like to point out that there are moderators and administrators who are doing a lot of work and they are not paid either. I don't know about you but I would like to see them get tips from the community. Kind of appreciation of their work.

I would like to see DC become profitable. There is now bigger pleasure than to do work you love that pays your living But it hasn't happened yet. And I don't see it happen in the nearest future.

If you have any more questions I would be glad to answer them.

grimsqueaker, I gave it some more thinking and I think you've got a point, I should turn DC into a hardcore business, a vicious cash machine

Hi Res, I didn't mean to make it sound like an attack of any sort! I just didn't want you misleading people who might consider donating to the site.

Where I live, a non-profit organization is an organization where the owner does not keep the profit. They are ususally charitable organizations. However, ever though DesignContest does NOT make a profit, it does not make this place a 'non-profit organization.' Many businesses, especially when they are first started out, do not make a profit. However they still exist as a commercial venture. DesignContest exists as a commercial venture.
To help illustrate my point - what if DC became suddenly VERY popular overnight, and you earned several thousand dollars? Would you keep that money? Or spend every single cent into DC? If you spend just a bit of it on yourself, DC is not a non-profit organization. By law, a non-profit organization has to invest ALL it's revenue into the venture, for the public good.

Wikipedia explains it well: An organization that is trying to make a profit, and failing, is called unprofitable and may go bankrupt - but this does not make it a non-profit. A non-profit may be profitable just as any business, but the profits are used to further the purpose, not to make the people who started it or who work there rich.
http://simple.wikipe...wiki/Non-profit

Edit: Also, I never said that you shouldn't ask for donations. However, putting 'non-profit' in front of the donation button is misleading.

grimsqueaker, you're right after all. Even though DC isn't quite a business, it's probably not a non-profit organization after all. Though I could not quite agree with everything you said (the managers of PETA and Greenpeace are very well paid, trust me), but it's probably best to change the wording of that phrase on DC frontpage.

I guess now it better conveys the message

LOL, yes, I think that's fine.

cool

By the way, thanks for the question. Really. It made me think about a lot of many important things...

It can't be totally un-profitable. When you hold contests you wouldn't do it for free, you must get some of the money e.g. The prize is $350 but the holder is actually willing to pay $400 meaning you shall get $50. Am I right?

sure but remember having a website costs money...and depending on your hosting and Php package (forums) it can cost a pretty penny ....

It can't be totally un-profitable. When you hold contests you wouldn't do it for free, you must get some of the money e.g. The prize is $350 but the holder is actually willing to pay $400 meaning you shall get $50. Am I right?

not exactly - the admin fee is $30 at this moment. I have already mentioned it though.