Announcement ScapeCrunch Community Transparency

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Art

Art

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My friends and fellow ScapeCrunchers,

I recently became aware of issues with lack of transparency associated with other sites. It seems that this resulted in an erosion of trust with the site and how it has been run. To me, trust is difficult enough in person but it is certainly more difficult to earn online. As an online community is built on shared trust, this is a very important thing for us here at ScapeCrunch.

I want each of you to feel comfortable here and to trust that ScapeCrunch is being operated in good faith with the social good in mind. Therefore, I have decided to be as transparent as I can be with everyone by sharing a high level view of our finances. After all, we all generate the content here so I think you should know where things stand. We're all in it together and have some shared responsibility.

ScapeCrunch Finances as of post date
Annual expenses 2024 (annualized)$1,547
Sponsor income 2024$17
Donations 2024$0
Supporting Members (annualized) ** THANK YOU SUPPORTING MEMBERS ** ❤️$280
Total 2024 as of post date($1,250)

In addition to being a member such as yourselves, I do all of the administrative IT related matters. My friend, @GreggZ, is the only other moderator and he assists the community by helping me ensure we keep a tidy, spam-free and friendly forum.

I typically spend a couple of hours a week on admin matters, minor updates, spam-cleaning and server backups. When the site needs a large upgrade, I will take the time necessary but usually that can be 40 - 60 hours depending on what needs to be done and, when things don't work as expected, many more hours are needed. Usually, this is once a year or two.

For example, our forum software is about to be upgraded by the Xenforo. This will require testing of the base software, add-ons, themes and customizations. Careful testing of backups is also required. I may need the help of coders to bring things in line or prevent them from breaking. This expense is not considered above.

ScapeCrunch is built on Xenforo and has stock and customized add-ons. It also uses a theme that has been tweaked from PixelExit.

I trust the above provides you with transparency into our site and how we are doing as a growing community. I am and have been more than happy to bear the financial shortfall. If you have any questions, please ask me.

If you like our mission and what we are building here, please consider supporting the effort by becoming a Supporting Member or making a Donation. Your caring means the world to all of us.

Thanks for taking the time to read and for being part of our growing community!

With ❤️,

Art
 
Art said:
I want each of you to feel comfortable here and to trust that ScapeCrunch is being operated in good faith with the social good in mind
Click to expand...
I'll echo what others already said and liked, thank you @Art and @GreggZ for creating ScapeCrunch. When I was nearly at the point giving up on any social media presence, or even entirely giving up on the hobby, your both encouragement made a big difference for me.

What we see currently unfolding on the other forum is very sad, because it hurts several committed hobbyists, including their mod/admin team, and risks the future of a source of information and support that has been the best for many years. The other observation is that what happens on the other side of the pond is really not an isolated incident, but rather a for me (and probably others) expected crisis as part of pattern that was likely to lead to this. Finance is a part of it, I hinted even here on ScapeCrunch twice that the finance on the other forum does not smell good, and here we are. But it is also how moderation is done, and the governance of the forum in general. We can learn from this for the benefit of ScapeCrunch, and learning will be easier when we are still in the early phase with less vested interests.

I am a supporting member, but will donate some more now that I see we are still net negative. I hope and expect I am not the only one. I also have no problem if ScapeCrunch makes some money, as long as it is reasonable and transparent. It is really up to you @Art and the founding team how you want to run the site, and members will decide if they want to be part of it.

I applaud your transparency in this post @Art . I hope it is the start of a transparent governance structure for ScapeCrunch that builds on the vision that you and the founders have and demonstrate so consistently with your encouragement and actions. Avoid falling in the same traps as the other forum, especially while ScapeCrunch continues to grow. I am a firm believer we need ScapeCrunch, even more when I see recent events and how they are addressed, or not addressed.

Finally, I do have concrete ideas but rather than posting here I trust @Art vision how to involve members in the process.
 
Hi everyone! I trust you’ve recovered from the food coma brought on by eating this past week.

I will be updating our financial status next week. In the meantime, I’d like to announce an important moment for me, and I think, also for the ScapeCrunch community.

Today, I officially filed for the creation of the ScapeCrunch Foundation, Inc., a Delaware Not-For-Profit corporation. The stated purpose is to:
  • Promote the planted aquarium hobby in the United States and throughout the world;
  • Promote the study and research of aquatic plants in the aquarium and in their natural habitats; and
  • To own and manage ScapeCrunch.com as a not-for-profit venture to achieve the previously mentioned objectives.
My thanks to @Koan for agreeing to be a fellow director of the charity. Anyone (US citizen) that would like to assist by becoming a director, please send me a private message.

I will be applying for tax-exempt status as soon as I get the official paperwork back from Delaware. This means that any future Supporting Members will be able to get a tax deduction for their support (USA only).

More importantly, I transferred the ownership of ScapeCrunch to the ScapeCrunch Foundation, Inc effective the day it is incorporated. This means that the future of ScapeCrunch is assured and is guaranteed to be for the public benefit. I realize this wasn’t an issue for most but I hope this puts to bed any doubt about my intentions to sell ScapeCrunch or otherwise profit from it.

I will continue to fund ScapeCrunch’s expenses going forward as it is my dream to build an online community that is open, honest and well-run, supporting the expansion of the planted aquarium hobby. Of course, I am truly grateful to any of you that would like to support the cause by becoming Supporting Members. Sharing the operating expense is very much appreciated.

I look forward to continuing to build ScapeCrunch into a community that is meaningful to you and the planted aquarium hobby. We are now truly in it together.

All my best,

Art
 
@Art, can I please ask (purely out of curiosity) what all is hidden in that annual expenditure of $1,547 and how much of that is the Xenforo subscription itself?
 
Hi @Marcel G, I will be putting together the budget for 2025 this week. It should have all the details on the expenses.

Typical expenses include Xenforo renewal license fees, domain name renewal, hosting expense and purchase/renewals of any add-ons we may be using. Occasionally there will be expenses for custom work like when we created the logo etc. So a mix of one-time and fixed expenses.
 
@Art that’s a significant move and is a measure of your integrity and commitment to this community and hobby. I sincerely wish you, Greggz, koan, and other members of the team and ScapeCrunch all the best moving forward.
 
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