I'll post about Tribe of Judah's policies regarding servers and finances in a reply later today or early tomorrow.
Okay, as promised:
Tribe of Judah currently rents and manages several expenses:
- Team Fortress 2 server
- Call of Duty: World At War server
- Unreal Tournament 3 server
- Left 4 Dead server
- Ventrilo server
- Web hosting
- Domain registration
All of our game servers are listed under a single
GameServers account. Our web site and e-mail addresses are hosted by
GearHost. We rent a Ventrilo server from
HurricaneHost.
All of those accounts are managed by notashamed, Tribe of Judah's incredibly helpful Accounts Manager. All expenses are paid using member donations.
Tribe of Judah has two financial accounts: One Paypal account and one bank account.
It's a system we've established through trial and error over several years. It's a system that we've found to work very well.
Instead of members sending funds to a server rental company, they send funds to our Paypal address (donations AT toj DOT cc). Those funds are then applied toward our expenses. Members can specify what they want their money to go toward.
If a member finds himself or herself in a situation where they can not afford to continue donating on a monthly basis, they can easily cancel their subscription. Our Accounts Manager will be notified and, if the need is great enough, I can communicate the need for more funds to members.
Staff members (including Guild Leaders and Officers) still get the access they need to fulfill their responsibilities. For example, if a Chapter Leader requests space on the Tribe of Judah web site, the Lead Web Developer (or, since the position is currently vacant, the President
) will create an account for the Chapter Leader or the Chapter Web Developer to use to upload the chapter site and send that information to the appropriate staff.
Our current setup ensures that important resources stay online even if donating members suddenly face financial troubles and need to cancel their monthly donations. (Members can also make one-time donations; see the
Support ToJ page for more information.)
The only difference for a member wanting to help support Tribe of Judah financially is that they send the money to Tribe of Judah (where both the Accounts Manager and the President have access to funds, thus keeping both accountable) instead of to a hosting company. Important resources like game servers and our web site are still available to and funded by members.
Financial transparency is a key Tribe of Judah policy. Toward that end, Tribe of Judah's Accounts Manager maintains a financial accounts status thread, which you can view
here.
Tribe of Judah does not "rattle the tin cup" and I encourage members to donate only after paying their bills and tithing to their local church. While I wholeheartedly believe in Tribe of Judah, its mission, and its people, I would be out of line in asking people to send donations without advocating financial responsibility.
Tribe of Judah relies on member donations and we take financial prudence very seriously. Our aim in retaining management of Tribe of Judah resources is not to slight members, but rather to make sure those resources remain available and secure.
EDIT: And just to be clear: Suggestions and questions are welcome. Both imply that the members posting have a desire to improve Tribe of Judah and faith in its leadership to listen.