Note: you can avoid reading this appeal in at least three distinct ways:
I’m already convinced, let me donate now!
I really seriously am not at all interested in helping the Dance Gypsy,
take me to the menu bar
Ah, yes. It is that time again. Dance Gypsy Fund drive time. But this time, we try to keep it short and sweet — at least in length of the material to be read, and with luck in terms of how long the drive lasts. Just the simple request (send money) and a few statistics to justify the request.
The Request: The Dance Gypsy needs your support. It's that simple. Your kind donation will enable us to keep delivering the service that you and so many other dancers have come to depend on. So, please help.
What we provide: Well, since you are here, we assume you already know of the basic services — and that you like them or find them useful. (Otherwise, why would you be here?) But perhaps you do not realize how extensive these services are. So a quick summary of what we deliver:
The Dance Gypsy currently provides information about:
Ypp… that’s the long and short of it — over 6000 people have benefited from the information made possible by the 66 who have donated. You can change that statistic now! And it is important that you do: simply put: the Dance Gypsy needs your donation to keep bringing you the important dance data. Now pleaseget down to the task and keep the Dance Gypsy afloat. Thank you.
Seriously, You may contribute any amount you wish. In the past year, we have gratefully received donations from as little as $5 to over $200. The median for that year was about $25. For us it is far more important to get support from more users of the services than to get a small subset of them to contribute a lot.
Or perhaps you would like to know how much we need to keep delivering info. that is harder to answer. The bottom line is that in 7 of the last 10 years we have lost money. So simple answer is we need a lot more. Another way to look at that is that we desperately need new software. Our development software is now 6 years old — and becoming increasingly incompatible with newer operating systems and browsers. We have not replaced it because of the cost. So what? Development is slower because of the problems with old software — and every minute dealing with those problems is a minute taken from delivering the latest information to you. With greater support we can deliver more service.
(For those of you who, like me, never know exactly what is appropriate or common, I provide the following statistics: since the Dance Gypsy switched to voluntary contributions, the average individual donation has been $29.72 but some gave less than $5 (and, yes, those were gratefully received) and a few contributed over $100; donations from organizations were far less numerous, but averaged higher, $73, but obviously each of those those represents a group of dancers and it includes sponsoring organizations)
• Too busy right now?
Then simply Pledge (promise to pay later) with an Email. We will remind you periodically if you forget to follow it up with a check. Or you can even see me at a dance and make the arrangements in person. Or see the Supporters page for more info.