Dear Etherbun Community,

As you know, due to negative changes at Yahoo Groups we moved Etherbun to the new platform, Groups.io.
After a year of experience with it, most if not all of us agree that Groups.io is superior to Yahoo in both features and performance.
We don't regret the move at all.

Unfortunately, for a group the size of Etherbun (over 4,400 members as of today), Groups.io is not free.
It is a full-time job for one or more people to write the software, rent and manage the servers, and deal with issues.
This costs money.

Last year, We The Moderators shelled out to make the move possible.
The cost was $110.00 for the group.

Going forward, we think it's fair to ask those who are financially able to help share the cost.
Given the number of active members, it would take relatively few small donations.
Eleven members donating $10 apiece would fund the group for a year.

We realize that some members may not be able to afford to help.
Especially given the events of 2020 - the political turmoil, an unprecedented pandemic and the resulting recession, we know that many people are struggling to pay for things like rent, food, and veterinary care for their buns.
We are not asking, and do not expect, members in such a situation to donate - please do not if it would cause you financial pain.
But if you are able, and use the group on a regular basis, please consider it.
The Moderators will be chipping in.

Our goal this year is the cost of the past year and the coming year's fees - $220.00 in total.

We will run the donation process as follows:

• The PayPal account of Dana Krempels' (the owner and co-creator of Etherbun) HARE (Houserabbit Adoption Rescue and Education) group will be used to collect the donations, which will then reimburse the moderator who paid the group fee. HARE is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
  
• For the near future (next few... weeks? months?) we will be sending out periodic ADMIN reminder messages.
  
• If we reach our goal, we will say so and stop bugging you.
• Any excess funds for a given year will be saved for the next year.
• We will inform the group of the results -  the amount raised, how it was used, and amount remaining.
• Note that due to PayPal fees ($0.30 + 2.2% of the donation), the net amount raised will be slightly less than the amount donated.
  

To donate:

• Browse to the HARE donation link, http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/donate.html
• Click the "PayPal - Donate now" button.
• You may donate with either your PayPal account, or if you do not have one, a credit card. Enter a dollar amount and click the appropriate button.
  
• Delete the text that says "Add special instructions to the seller" and replace it with "Etherbun" (no quotes) so that Dana's accounting minions know what the donation is for.
• Fill in the rest of the required information.
  

In the future, we will either repeat this process yearly, or set the group up to automatically send periodic (monthly ? quarterly?) ADMIN messages with reminders about things like the group guidelines, and include a small note asking for donations. We haven't decided yet, but it will depend on our results this year and member's preferences.

If you have any questions, please direct them to Etherbun management, at: main+owner@etherbun.groups.io.
.
Thanks to all the members for being a part of the group.
And of course, the bunnies thank you.

-mark for EBAC