Introducing a way to support NoFap's expenses (basically a plea for help)

There might be something else, but I would get permission from people (it would be something you have to opt-in for) if anything more "permanent" should happen that wouldn't allow you to remove it at will. Regarding subscriber names, emails, etc - that stuff will never see the light of day. It will be held highly confidential, just like our membership. User data privacy in general is one of my top concerns.

We're currently at 19 subscriptions total. (20 dollar subscriptions count as 2, I think I should call it the "sponsor a Fapstronaut" membership or something like that, carrying the weight of somebody who can't afford 10 a month). Thank you so much to the Fapstronauts who have stepped up so far.

Thank you for the outpouring of support. I honestly did not know what to expect and had trouble sleeping because of it. It is 7 AM now so I am going to go back to bed for a little bit. This means so much to me, I'll be resting easier knowing that NoFap has a more positive future.

The time I posted all of this, Saturday night, is NoFap's lowest-traffic day. So I really hope that Sunday is a successful day for this initiative.

Again, every subscription counts. It isn't a drop in the bucket. You have the power to directly change the world. By giving NoFap a hand, NoFap will go on to help countless people, including yourself, your accountability partner, and every Fapstronaut out there. How many Bill Gates, Elon Musks, Neil D. Tysons, Buzz Aldrins, Larry Pages, and other remarkable people are out there right now being repressed by porn addiction? What if one of these young people who were addicted to porn found NoFap, signed up, and turned their lives around? I love thinking about this and it is what keeps me working on NoFap so hard. As we help each other up, one by one, we are cumulatively "leveling up" humanity.

10 dollars to change the world? Yes, I absolutely believe that your 10 dollars will change the world. It is impossible to predict the true implications of this website and your support of it. But all I know is that the results are overwhelmingly positive. From the United States to the United Kingdom, from Australia to even Antartica (yes, seriously we have 1 known Fapstronaut there), lives are being positively impacted around the world. We are the Fapstronauts and we are changing the world.

 

Thank you so much! I'll look into that since that's the second time I've heard this requested.

Edit: There is now an anonymous option on the page. If you would like I can refund your purchase and you can order the non-flair option?

Our PayPal account address is [email protected]. Thank you!

 

Thank you for the kind words. And thanks for the question.

First off, I have a question for you. What do you mean doing something that truly makes us a part of your organization? Does that mean giving stock in exchange for support? Or if you are referencing public statistics about NoFap's traffic and spending? As for projected growth, I don't really have anything on that and feel rather unprepared here. Also, what direction is the "right" direction and what direction is the "wrong" direction? Why do you feel that it isn't the case that NoFap is headed in the right direction?

Right now I can tell you that NoFap is headed into the direction of unsustainability, and that needs to change. It cannot continue to operate unmonetized - it has grown far too large to continue being my passion project that I dump all of my money into. It just isn't sustainable - for both my finances (I simply cannot afford it anymore I don't make as much money as I used to) or well-being (I cannot afford the help that I need so I sacrifice my sleep and health for NoFap).

The point I can immediately address is the 1000-1500 we need to operate right now. I think this is a no-brainer and I can rely on my track record of honesty for it, since I haven't really kept very good records of all of the money I spend on the site (I am still in the process of gathering up receipts and what-not for tax purposes). In the future, I'll be figuring out responsible ways to disclose information about our finances, and I think I've been transparent every step of the way. I don't really intend on publishing detailed information until that information becomes available.

At this point, right now, all I have to go on is my track record. I mean, the fact that this NoFap has existed for so long without any real advertising on it is a miracle. I would suggest to just think about the situation. NoFap is relatively well known at this point. You've seen the servers crashing - and then myself paying for more of them. NoFap is pretty much unmonetized, aside from a few smaller initiatives that don't bring in much money at all. 1000-1500 a month is not an insane amount of money to ask for, especially given our size and popularity.

I am not asking for any more than that, and based on the subscription #s so far, I am not sure if we'll even get close to that. Despite me being frugal, NoFap is expensive. We have our website servers. We have servers for our emergency tool which is used millions of times per year. We have contractors that we pay occasionally for technical help, graphic work, etc. CloudFlare, something I really want some time soon, costs a whopping 200 per month to protect us from DDOS attacks.

I cannot really afford the time to be ultra-frugal anymore, as well. I need managed servers because my life is being significantly impacted spending hours and hours trying to tweak server settings. This is just one example, but I would love to be able to comfortably shop around to find a good managed solution so I don't have to pull all-nighters fixing servers again.

I've had venture capitalist types approach me before with "we'll help you to take NoFap to the next level". Although intriguing at first, it quickly became clear that they were more interested in profits than helping people. Uncomfortably more interested. The thing is, if you introduce the wrong venture capitalist into NoFap, that brings forth a dynamic to the company that I am uncomfortable working with, at least for something in this field. They'll always be pressuring you to put profits over people. I'm not comfortable with that at all.

One reason why I decided to stick with relatively low cost monthly subscriptions rather than ask for larger donations is because I want to be held accountable over a long period of time. If you see something you don't like, you are always welcome to cancel your support from that point onward.

 

• I agree that 10 dollars a month is a lot to ask for. I completely completely get that. It is expensive, but I tried to find a sweet shot between "people will pay this" and "will create a big enough dent in the monthly expenses of NoFap". If we charged 5 a month, we would need a whopping 300 people to sign up. 2.50? 600 people. I just didn't see that many people signing up. Thoughts?
• I agree that the premium badges are a bit obnoxious. But clearly they are popular, despite the "no badge" option being available, people are still opting for the badge. I think people are proud to show their support. Regardless, I can't afford a designer to make them less intrusive right now. In the future I think it would be better if they were discreet to avoid the problems you brought up. People like perks, and I don't know if we would get close to as many sign-ups without any incentive.
• I looked into a "choose your payment" plugin but there just wasn't anything in existence. A choose-your-own plugin existed that wasn't integrated with the forum, posted about, etc on nofap.com/donate, but we've gotten about one donation per month. Getting that would cost money paying a xenForo developer. Also it would take time - at least a few weeks but likely a couple of months for them to get around to it, which would further the deficit that NoFap is operating on. This still might be something we explore in the future, once we can afford a plugin like this to be created.
• I am well-aware that NoFap is one of the most supportive communities on the internet, and I'm so thankful for that.
• I am asking for 1,500 per month, not 4,000. 150 subscriptions for 10 dollars each. Everybody who donates 20 per month counts as two subscribers out of our goal of 150.

I see this as the lesser of two evils, this or obnoxious advertising everywhere - while the ideal forum would operate in a vacuum independent of the world we live it, it just isn't possible. I wish no money was involved, but it has to be. We're operating in the reality of "we need to survive". While badges are annoying, without them, I don't think enough people would contribute to pay our expenses. We can be idealistic all that we want but at the end of the day NoFap needs to survive and thrive, which ultimately will benefit more people.

 

We've had a donation button on nofap.com/donate for a while now. But it doesn't get used very often at all, I'd say less than once per month. We did have an awesome 90 dollar donation this month though! However, I've also heard some people have been having trouble with the button on that page. Still trying to fix it.