|
|
Since I have been asked many times about how this ministry is supported, I’ll try to give you a brief answer. As I mentioned in a previous chapter, this website started out as a small personal ministry. It didn’t take long, however, for it to take on a life of its own. It now has over 28,000 new visitors a month (from over 130 countries). Over 200,000 chapters are accessed a month.
Although this website has an international impact, it actually has a low operating expense. I have a secular job so all of my website work is voluntary. I have no buildings to maintain so I don’t have those expenses either. I am very fortunate to have a ministry that doesn’t have a large operating overhead.
I do, of course, have some expenses, but these are paid for out of my pocket. Basically, the only substantial expense I have is "keyword" advertising. The basic premise of keyword advertising is you register certain words with various search engines. When a person does a search and uses one of my keywords, an advertisement to my website appears. For example, if a person is doing a search on the word "Hell," a link to my chapter Is Hell Eternal? will appear. I have registered about 250 keywords.
I am charged 5 cents every time someone clicks on my advertisement. As a result, $100 will bring in 2,000 new visitors. Obviously, not everyone who visits my website stays around and reads other chapters. While some people may visit only one chapter, other people may visit all 220 chapters. On average, however, I have found five chapters are visited for every new visitor. Therefore, $100 will bring exposure to about 10,000 chapters. Currently, I am personally paying over $1,300 a month for keyword advertising.
Although it would be great to have more money to register other keywords, I don’t want money to be distractive of the website’s main message. I don’t want people thinking the purpose of this website is to raise money. Therefore, I have decided not to seek financial support for this website. If you would like to support this ministry, you might want to consider becoming one of its prayer warriors.
Donation Update Over the past few years I have received many requests from people asking how they could donate money to this ministry. Up until now, I have asked them to simply pray for the ministry. Today, I received a unique email from a visitor. I was gently and politely rebuked for not allowing others to help in a tangible way. At first, I was rather surprised and taken back by this rebuke. However, after thinking about it for a while, I realized they were correct. I appreciated the fact they were willing to approach me about this. Although it will still be my policy not to ask for money, I do want others to be able to join the ministry in a tangible way. I would be honored and grateful for this help. Therefore, people can now make donations through the secure service of PayPal. Keep in mind that these donations are currently not tax-deductible.
If you would rather write a check, email me (below) for instructions. Attention AOL users: For some reason their SPAM blocker has been blocking some of my responses to people's emails. If you email me at the link below, you should receive an automated response within a couple of seconds (with donation instructions). If you do not, my email is being blocked. If this happens and you still want to donate, send me another email with your mailing address and I will mail you the instructions through the U.S. Mail. (Sorry for any inconvenience this may cause you.)
|