[MeFi Site Update] February 2025 February 20, 2025 4:16 PM Subscribe
Hello and welcome to this month’s site update! Last month’s update can be found here
It's a relatively short update, as work continues on things behind the scenes.
Profit & Loss
You can find January’s Profit & Loss report here.
The previous P&L reports are at this link.
Admin
Taz will be taking some time off, goodnewsfortheinsane will be filling out some of her shifts. Loup is discussing coverage during EMEA hours with the board.
General News & Notes
Over in MetaTalk, we’re having several discussions about whether to fully ban ChatGPT, a proposed Moderator Code of Conduct, or whether to keep the MetaTalk queue. You’re welcome to join in!
New Site Status
The new site has been opened to mods and the board for alpha testing. We plan to have the new site ready for beta testing by members by the end of February.
Current Site
Static asset hosting migrated to a new server.
BIPOC Advisory Board
The next BIPOC board meeting is scheduled for Saturday, February 22nd.
If you have any questions or feedback not related to this particular update, please Contact Us instead. If you want to discuss a particular subject not covered here with the community, you’re welcome to open a separate MetaTalk thread for it.
It's a relatively short update, as work continues on things behind the scenes.
Profit & Loss
You can find January’s Profit & Loss report here.
The previous P&L reports are at this link.
Admin
Taz will be taking some time off, goodnewsfortheinsane will be filling out some of her shifts. Loup is discussing coverage during EMEA hours with the board.
General News & Notes
Over in MetaTalk, we’re having several discussions about whether to fully ban ChatGPT, a proposed Moderator Code of Conduct, or whether to keep the MetaTalk queue. You’re welcome to join in!
New Site Status
The new site has been opened to mods and the board for alpha testing. We plan to have the new site ready for beta testing by members by the end of February.
Current Site
Static asset hosting migrated to a new server.
BIPOC Advisory Board
The next BIPOC board meeting is scheduled for Saturday, February 22nd.
If you have any questions or feedback not related to this particular update, please Contact Us instead. If you want to discuss a particular subject not covered here with the community, you’re welcome to open a separate MetaTalk thread for it.
It is interesting that Metafilter’s “fiscal month” of January is Jan 1 to Feb 20. It seems there are (hopefully!!!) double hosting charges, but (oddly!) almost no contractor payments.
posted by snofoam at 4:45 PM on February 20 [2 favorites]
posted by snofoam at 4:45 PM on February 20 [2 favorites]
Also, it looks like monthly contributions are down by more than 50%? Personal opinion, but it might make sense to look at the P&L and comment on any really big changes when posting it.
posted by snofoam at 4:50 PM on February 20 [6 favorites]
posted by snofoam at 4:50 PM on February 20 [6 favorites]
In the P&L folder, why is there an updated one for December 2024 that shows contribution of $150k for that month instead of the $13k that was shown in the version posted last month?
posted by snofoam at 4:57 PM on February 20 [1 favorite]
posted by snofoam at 4:57 PM on February 20 [1 favorite]
... whether to keep the MetaTalk queue. You’re welcome to join in!
Keep in mind, though, that the moderators have already decided the MeTa queue will remain.
There are obvious weird things about the P&L that others have already mentioned, not the least of which is the unusual period it covers. These are so obvious that they should have been addressed in the update to avoid everything in the thread being about those glaring issues.
posted by dg at 5:15 PM on February 20 [5 favorites]
Keep in mind, though, that the moderators have already decided the MeTa queue will remain.
There are obvious weird things about the P&L that others have already mentioned, not the least of which is the unusual period it covers. These are so obvious that they should have been addressed in the update to avoid everything in the thread being about those glaring issues.
posted by dg at 5:15 PM on February 20 [5 favorites]
Loup will be back in the in about 12 hours and can deal with the P&L questions. But otherwise, staff was paid.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 5:29 PM on February 20 [1 favorite]
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 5:29 PM on February 20 [1 favorite]
These items from the December 2024 site update:
- The MeFi Cookbook is roughly at 80%, waiting on the final edits to be completed.
- Frimble is working on a simple moderation log for the current site
Thyme has finished edits to all pending board minutes. Pending minutes for meetings #23-27 will be finalized and approved for publishing this Saturday at the Board meeting. They should be posted within the next week or so once the request is sent over to frimble.
Any of those still happening?
How about the Twitter redirect?
posted by Diskeater at 5:41 PM on February 20 [11 favorites]
- The MeFi Cookbook is roughly at 80%, waiting on the final edits to be completed.
- Frimble is working on a simple moderation log for the current site
Thyme has finished edits to all pending board minutes. Pending minutes for meetings #23-27 will be finalized and approved for publishing this Saturday at the Board meeting. They should be posted within the next week or so once the request is sent over to frimble.
Any of those still happening?
How about the Twitter redirect?
posted by Diskeater at 5:41 PM on February 20 [11 favorites]
Good questions overall, I'll keep bugging people about the very simple moderation log and I've tagged those who can answer questions about the other stuff. They'll chime in as soon as they can.
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 6:49 PM on February 20
posted by Brandon Blatcher (staff) at 6:49 PM on February 20
Did MeFi get a visit from DOGE or something? Contractor/consulting fees were cut by 93%, from $17,617 last year to $1,227 this year. That seems...unlikely.
posted by Bugbread at 8:19 PM on February 20 [1 favorite]
posted by Bugbread at 8:19 PM on February 20 [1 favorite]
December also had low contracting fees, with the apparent reason being those were being paid by the foundation. So it seems like we're missing part of the financials, we're only getting the LCC but we need the LLC and the foundation or something like that. Not entirely clear to me.
Having complete financials is important, as revenue appears to be dropping fairly quickly (down 38% year over year). If staff costs are at the same level as they were in 2024, then MetaFilter appears to be running a significant deficit currently.
Can we get a balance sheet also? It would be helpful as well to see the complete financials for just January rather than the weird Jan 1 - Feb 20 report.
posted by ssg at 8:51 PM on February 20 [6 favorites]
Having complete financials is important, as revenue appears to be dropping fairly quickly (down 38% year over year). If staff costs are at the same level as they were in 2024, then MetaFilter appears to be running a significant deficit currently.
Can we get a balance sheet also? It would be helpful as well to see the complete financials for just January rather than the weird Jan 1 - Feb 20 report.
posted by ssg at 8:51 PM on February 20 [6 favorites]
Yeah, this is just a reporting artifact, caused in part by switching banks after a comically terrible experience with the first one. It also doesn't reflect some significant AWS savings identified recently by Frayed Knot, with potentially more to come.
Frimble currently has several to-do's on their plate (the AWS changes, modlog, Twitter redirect, scripting updates, plus some bugfixes). They're available part-time each week, so it's a matter of prioritizing, but nothing's been dropped (apart from the comment-hiding experiment, temporarily, for accessibility reasons). The new site is designed to be more open to code contributions and more streamlined tinkering, which should improve things across the board. The demo site is already soft-launched and should be ready for more wider testing soon!
posted by Rhaomi at 9:14 PM on February 20
Frimble currently has several to-do's on their plate (the AWS changes, modlog, Twitter redirect, scripting updates, plus some bugfixes). They're available part-time each week, so it's a matter of prioritizing, but nothing's been dropped (apart from the comment-hiding experiment, temporarily, for accessibility reasons). The new site is designed to be more open to code contributions and more streamlined tinkering, which should improve things across the board. The demo site is already soft-launched and should be ready for more wider testing soon!
posted by Rhaomi at 9:14 PM on February 20
Posting incomplete financials reveals the mismanagement of site, but makes it impossible to infer anything about the financial state of the site, so it is of limited usefulness.
posted by snofoam at 12:07 AM on February 21 [11 favorites]
posted by snofoam at 12:07 AM on February 21 [11 favorites]
"the food here is terrible! and the portions are so small!"
posted by gorbichov at 6:10 AM on February 21 [2 favorites]
posted by gorbichov at 6:10 AM on February 21 [2 favorites]
"the food here is terrible! and the portions are so small!"
All my personal opinion:
The members are donating their money to the site to see the site survive. Twice the people running the site have come to the members to say basically "we're almost out of money, can you help?" and twice, the second time under the really incredible efforts of the Steering Committee, members have stepped up with their time and wallets to contribute.
In return some vocal members have asked for regular basic financial reports that are a normal part of businesses and non-profits. Monthly is a bit less regular for non-profits, but that is in my mind more tied to the fact that twice the site has almost run out of funds abruptly (and I was involved in that second one on the transition team that was trying to get financial information, and it was an interesting insight into the then-lack of fiscal planning) and is something that might normalize after some years of good stewardship.
The lack of thought or narrative about it -- it almost seems like no one actually read the thing -- does not give me confidence in the mod team's ability to understand that:
- people ask because they care
- people ask because they want to know if they should donate or should advocate for others to donate
- people ask because they don't want MF to vanish into the void in a few months
- I asked because if staff were not being paid, that is an immediate issue for me (I don't believe the board would actually let this happen, but if you don't ask when you see a number like that, you are just not behaving responsibility in my opinion, on the off chance that something's gone horribly wrong)
- producing random reporting periods negates year-over-year and month-over-month analysis which is part of fiscal responsibility?
People don't want a PDF they can just confirm is there and walk away; they want to know if the site is financially okay. If there are big discrepancies on it it would be great to explain that; it would also be great to keep the months consistent which is literally selecting the right dates on the interface.
posted by warriorqueen at 6:26 AM on February 21 [40 favorites]
All my personal opinion:
The members are donating their money to the site to see the site survive. Twice the people running the site have come to the members to say basically "we're almost out of money, can you help?" and twice, the second time under the really incredible efforts of the Steering Committee, members have stepped up with their time and wallets to contribute.
In return some vocal members have asked for regular basic financial reports that are a normal part of businesses and non-profits. Monthly is a bit less regular for non-profits, but that is in my mind more tied to the fact that twice the site has almost run out of funds abruptly (and I was involved in that second one on the transition team that was trying to get financial information, and it was an interesting insight into the then-lack of fiscal planning) and is something that might normalize after some years of good stewardship.
The lack of thought or narrative about it -- it almost seems like no one actually read the thing -- does not give me confidence in the mod team's ability to understand that:
- people ask because they care
- people ask because they want to know if they should donate or should advocate for others to donate
- people ask because they don't want MF to vanish into the void in a few months
- I asked because if staff were not being paid, that is an immediate issue for me (I don't believe the board would actually let this happen, but if you don't ask when you see a number like that, you are just not behaving responsibility in my opinion, on the off chance that something's gone horribly wrong)
- producing random reporting periods negates year-over-year and month-over-month analysis which is part of fiscal responsibility?
People don't want a PDF they can just confirm is there and walk away; they want to know if the site is financially okay. If there are big discrepancies on it it would be great to explain that; it would also be great to keep the months consistent which is literally selecting the right dates on the interface.
posted by warriorqueen at 6:26 AM on February 21 [40 favorites]
Looking forward to BIPOC minutes…
posted by Vatnesine at 8:04 AM on February 21 [9 favorites]
posted by Vatnesine at 8:04 AM on February 21 [9 favorites]
Looking forward to BIPOC minutes
Since MiraK stepped down is the BIPOC board back to being 50% staff?
posted by phunniemee at 8:22 AM on February 21 [5 favorites]
Since MiraK stepped down is the BIPOC board back to being 50% staff?
posted by phunniemee at 8:22 AM on February 21 [5 favorites]
I assume that will be covered in the minutes!
posted by Vatnesine at 9:25 AM on February 21 [2 favorites]
posted by Vatnesine at 9:25 AM on February 21 [2 favorites]
Are we still in the window of loup being available to comment on the financials?
Who is supposed to update us on the BIPOC minutes and will they address MiraK's comments in the other thread about the board being a sham?
posted by donnagirl at 9:58 AM on February 21 [6 favorites]
Who is supposed to update us on the BIPOC minutes and will they address MiraK's comments in the other thread about the board being a sham?
posted by donnagirl at 9:58 AM on February 21 [6 favorites]
At this point, it seems like the best course of action for the BIPOC board would be to put it on hiatus until the elected MetaFilter board is in place and can look at revitalizing it or reconsider how to fill this need. If the board is unable to output even meeting minutes for an entire year, despite including multiple paid staff members, the board clearly is not able to take action in a concrete way (which MiraK has confirmed on exiting the board).
Sometimes if something clearly isn't working, calling it is the right thing to do so that something more functional can take its place in the future.
posted by ssg at 10:45 AM on February 21 [9 favorites]
Sometimes if something clearly isn't working, calling it is the right thing to do so that something more functional can take its place in the future.
posted by ssg at 10:45 AM on February 21 [9 favorites]
I was really hoping to work with the BIPOC committee on documenting moderation issues related to its work (and the need for that work) and seeking their advice, as well as providing support for issues and concerns they had identified, and MiraK's comment was very discouraging.
I would probably have approached the moderation committee work differently, particularly in terms of recruiting, if I had been aware that was where things stood.
Which is to say I agree with ssg, even though it feels like the failure it is.
posted by warriorqueen at 11:16 AM on February 21 [6 favorites]
I would probably have approached the moderation committee work differently, particularly in terms of recruiting, if I had been aware that was where things stood.
Which is to say I agree with ssg, even though it feels like the failure it is.
posted by warriorqueen at 11:16 AM on February 21 [6 favorites]
Mod note: Is there a reason the P&L is Jan 1-Feb 20 instead of a month as per usual? It makes it hard to compare.
Also are staff not being paid?
As Rhaomi mentioned, switching bank accounts between December and January has affected reporting (as mentioned in the last update as well). I've rereviewed and adjusted the transactions that were categorized automatically and updated the last 2 P&L’s (December and January) so that they accurately show the Payroll expenses now that all the bank accounts are connected in the system. Please check them again here and let me know if you have any questions. This is still hard to parse through as the December payroll went out earlier and and the January one went out in the first days of February. I’m working with the board to solve these hiccups for the upcoming months.
- The MeFi Cookbook is roughly at 80%, waiting on the final edits to be completed.
Also, I spoke with the community member who is working on MeFi Cookbook a few weeks ago and they mentioned they were dealing with a lot IRL, so I’ve been avoiding putting extra pressure on them. Please be patient.
Since MiraK stepped down is the BIPOC board back to being 50% staff?
Only travelingthyme is currently attending the BIPOC board meetings (as the facilitator). I only join them when my presence is required.
posted by loup (staff) at 11:16 AM on February 21
Also are staff not being paid?
As Rhaomi mentioned, switching bank accounts between December and January has affected reporting (as mentioned in the last update as well). I've rereviewed and adjusted the transactions that were categorized automatically and updated the last 2 P&L’s (December and January) so that they accurately show the Payroll expenses now that all the bank accounts are connected in the system. Please check them again here and let me know if you have any questions. This is still hard to parse through as the December payroll went out earlier and and the January one went out in the first days of February. I’m working with the board to solve these hiccups for the upcoming months.
- The MeFi Cookbook is roughly at 80%, waiting on the final edits to be completed.
Also, I spoke with the community member who is working on MeFi Cookbook a few weeks ago and they mentioned they were dealing with a lot IRL, so I’ve been avoiding putting extra pressure on them. Please be patient.
Since MiraK stepped down is the BIPOC board back to being 50% staff?
Only travelingthyme is currently attending the BIPOC board meetings (as the facilitator). I only join them when my presence is required.
posted by loup (staff) at 11:16 AM on February 21
Loup, the updated December financials now show Contribution of roughly $148,000. Is that correct? What does this represent?
posted by ssg at 11:23 AM on February 21 [1 favorite]
posted by ssg at 11:23 AM on February 21 [1 favorite]
This includes all regular contributions plus a wire of $132,000.00 which is the donation of MeFi LLC's money to the Foundation.
posted by loup (staff) at 11:34 AM on February 21
posted by loup (staff) at 11:34 AM on February 21
Thanks loup, so are these financial reports for the Foundation, the LLC or both combined? They say MetaFilter LLC at the top, but if the transfer was from the LLC to the Foundation, it wouldn't show up as a positive amount on the LLC's report.
posted by ssg at 11:42 AM on February 21 [2 favorites]
posted by ssg at 11:42 AM on February 21 [2 favorites]
These are both combined (the Foundation now owns all of the LLC's assets). They were recorded as a transfer on the LLC's bank and as a donation for the Foundation. Thank you for pointing out that the headers still mention the LLC, I'll fix that.
posted by loup (staff) at 11:46 AM on February 21
posted by loup (staff) at 11:46 AM on February 21
A brief history of the BIPOC minutes update saga -
March 2024: “Meeting #23 editing is underway and will be reviewed at the next board meeting.”
April 2024: “Pending items need clarification before publishing #23. Meeting #24 editing is underway.”
May 2024: “#23, #24, and #25 are in the editing process. Everything should be up to date by the end of the month.”
July 2024: “We’ll resume meetings and catch up on outstanding notes as soon as possible.”
September 2024: “We’ll report back on a plan to get back on track.”
October 2024: Same sentence as September.
November 2024: “We’re back to a regular cadence and have added placeholders for the missing minutes.”
December 2024: “Minutes #23-27 are finished. They should be posted within the next week or so.”
January 2025: “All pending minutes were updated but still need board approval. More to come!”
I don't care about the meeting minutes. I care that the staff doesn't care.
Same with the cookbook. I don't care that it's late. I care that the staff doesn't care.
Same with the simple moderation log. I kind of care that there isn't one. I do care that the staff doesn't care.
posted by Diskeater at 11:54 AM on February 21 [27 favorites]
March 2024: “Meeting #23 editing is underway and will be reviewed at the next board meeting.”
April 2024: “Pending items need clarification before publishing #23. Meeting #24 editing is underway.”
May 2024: “#23, #24, and #25 are in the editing process. Everything should be up to date by the end of the month.”
July 2024: “We’ll resume meetings and catch up on outstanding notes as soon as possible.”
September 2024: “We’ll report back on a plan to get back on track.”
October 2024: Same sentence as September.
November 2024: “We’re back to a regular cadence and have added placeholders for the missing minutes.”
December 2024: “Minutes #23-27 are finished. They should be posted within the next week or so.”
January 2025: “All pending minutes were updated but still need board approval. More to come!”
I don't care about the meeting minutes. I care that the staff doesn't care.
Same with the cookbook. I don't care that it's late. I care that the staff doesn't care.
Same with the simple moderation log. I kind of care that there isn't one. I do care that the staff doesn't care.
posted by Diskeater at 11:54 AM on February 21 [27 favorites]
So if the financials are combined, that $132k should not be recorded as net income, because it was just an internal transfer. So December's net income of $122k was in fact a net loss of $10k, if I understand correctly.
Does the $6k one-time contribution in January represent a real donation or is that also a transfer of assets?
posted by ssg at 11:54 AM on February 21 [5 favorites]
Does the $6k one-time contribution in January represent a real donation or is that also a transfer of assets?
posted by ssg at 11:54 AM on February 21 [5 favorites]
And has anyone done an analysis of how long MetaFilter can continue financially as things stand currently? Is so, can it be shared? If not, can we get a balance sheet (or just an bank balance if that's not available) so we can do some back of the envelope math here?
posted by ssg at 11:57 AM on February 21 [4 favorites]
posted by ssg at 11:57 AM on February 21 [4 favorites]
Does the $6k one-time contribution in January represent a real donation or is that also a transfer of assets?
Yes, its 100% one time contributions, but most of it comes from last year's GoFundMe campaign.
And has anyone done an analysis of how long MetaFilter can continue financially as things stand currently? Is so, can it be shared? If not, can we get a balance sheet (or just an bank balance if that's not available) so we can do some back of the envelope math here?
Yes, at least for the LLC, Jessamyn and would look at expenses vs revenue each month since before the LLC was created and I have had different operating models in case we can't sustain the site with the current operating costs. I'll pull and share the balance sheet on Monday and share it.
posted by loup (staff) at 12:32 PM on February 21
Yes, its 100% one time contributions, but most of it comes from last year's GoFundMe campaign.
And has anyone done an analysis of how long MetaFilter can continue financially as things stand currently? Is so, can it be shared? If not, can we get a balance sheet (or just an bank balance if that's not available) so we can do some back of the envelope math here?
Yes, at least for the LLC, Jessamyn and would look at expenses vs revenue each month since before the LLC was created and I have had different operating models in case we can't sustain the site with the current operating costs. I'll pull and share the balance sheet on Monday and share it.
posted by loup (staff) at 12:32 PM on February 21
My back of envelope math says payroll alone will burn thru those funds in less than six months
posted by donnagirl at 12:33 PM on February 21 [3 favorites]
posted by donnagirl at 12:33 PM on February 21 [3 favorites]
So much financial shenanigans! I have never done a gofundme, but it seems odd that those donations would be arriving 4-6 months after the donations were made. Maybe so they could be transferred directly to the nonprofit? Maybe someone knows.
Anyhow, if the new versions of the P&L are correct, then the monthly donations have dropped by half from Jan 2024 to Jan 2025. This seems significant and worrisome.
I’m working with the board to solve these hiccups for the upcoming months.
Have you tried drinking a glass of water upside down?
posted by snofoam at 1:31 PM on February 21 [4 favorites]
Anyhow, if the new versions of the P&L are correct, then the monthly donations have dropped by half from Jan 2024 to Jan 2025. This seems significant and worrisome.
I’m working with the board to solve these hiccups for the upcoming months.
Have you tried drinking a glass of water upside down?
posted by snofoam at 1:31 PM on February 21 [4 favorites]
A big concern is that regular contributions are dropping month to month as well:
Jan 2025: 10,722.74
Dec 2024: 13,783.07
Nov 2024: 16,167.87
Oct 2024: 17,050.77
posted by warriorqueen at 1:33 PM on February 21 [6 favorites]
Jan 2025: 10,722.74
Dec 2024: 13,783.07
Nov 2024: 16,167.87
Oct 2024: 17,050.77
posted by warriorqueen at 1:33 PM on February 21 [6 favorites]
A big concern is that regular contributions are dropping month to month as well
They're just hiccuping down.
posted by snofoam at 1:37 PM on February 21 [2 favorites]
They're just hiccuping down.
posted by snofoam at 1:37 PM on February 21 [2 favorites]
I have done a quick analysis of the financial situation looking forward, based on the data we have available in the P&L reports for the last six months and assuming MetaFilter started 2025 with $132,000 in the bank based on the discussion here.
If we assume that the downward trends in advertising revenue and monthly donations continue, while one-time donations, contractor costs, hosting and other costs remain at average levels, then we will have spent our entire $132,000 just over one year from today.
Here is a spreadsheet. Welcome feedback on this, I may well have missed something or not understood the financials.
Some factors that might change this calculation is if staff costs change (maybe web development costs will go down once the new site is up) and of course if trends in donations or advertising revenue change. I understand hosting costs may go down somewhat in the future, but that's a relatively small factor.
Fundamentally, we are looking at a loss of about $10,000 per month on average over the next year. That's not sustainable. I think we need some significant changes — and sooner rather than later, so we can retain a significant reserve in the bank to make sure MetaFilter is able to weather future storms. We either need to increase revenue by about $10,000 per month or decrease costs by about $10,000 per month or some combination of the two.
posted by ssg at 2:13 PM on February 21 [7 favorites]
If we assume that the downward trends in advertising revenue and monthly donations continue, while one-time donations, contractor costs, hosting and other costs remain at average levels, then we will have spent our entire $132,000 just over one year from today.
Here is a spreadsheet. Welcome feedback on this, I may well have missed something or not understood the financials.
Some factors that might change this calculation is if staff costs change (maybe web development costs will go down once the new site is up) and of course if trends in donations or advertising revenue change. I understand hosting costs may go down somewhat in the future, but that's a relatively small factor.
Fundamentally, we are looking at a loss of about $10,000 per month on average over the next year. That's not sustainable. I think we need some significant changes — and sooner rather than later, so we can retain a significant reserve in the bank to make sure MetaFilter is able to weather future storms. We either need to increase revenue by about $10,000 per month or decrease costs by about $10,000 per month or some combination of the two.
posted by ssg at 2:13 PM on February 21 [7 favorites]
Loup, can you confirm if it is correct that monthly contributions have dropped to just $10,773 in January? That's a drastic drop if it is real.
posted by ssg at 2:15 PM on February 21 [3 favorites]
posted by ssg at 2:15 PM on February 21 [3 favorites]
Given how these threads go, with people looking closely at any information shared, I am astonished that the staff decided to release such a sloppy and inscrutable report. And now they are asking the community to wait for clarification of each point. If I did this at my job, I would be mortified-- once. I would never do it again because I would be afraid to look like I didn't care or didn't know what I was doing.
posted by CtrlAltD at 2:23 PM on February 21 [16 favorites]
posted by CtrlAltD at 2:23 PM on February 21 [16 favorites]
Second time in 5 minutes I'll be making a joke about selling feet pics to keep Metafilter afloat.
posted by phunniemee at 2:24 PM on February 21 [6 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 2:24 PM on February 21 [6 favorites]
site's closed for the weekend, everyone. come back on monday.
posted by glonous keming at 2:51 PM on February 21 [3 favorites]
posted by glonous keming at 2:51 PM on February 21 [3 favorites]
Second time in 5 minutes I'll be making a joke about selling feet pics to keep Metafilter afloat.
I will post feet pics until someone pays me enough to stop, let's see who raises more money
posted by ginger.beef at 5:29 PM on February 21 [3 favorites]
I will post feet pics until someone pays me enough to stop, let's see who raises more money
posted by ginger.beef at 5:29 PM on February 21 [3 favorites]
I don't have a fancy accounting degree, but recurring contributions being at 62% of what they were four months prior seems bad.
posted by tivalasvegas at 5:36 PM on February 21 [2 favorites]
posted by tivalasvegas at 5:36 PM on February 21 [2 favorites]
ssg: "Fundamentally, we are looking at a loss of about $10,000 per month on average over the next year."
I ran this by our treasurer (1adam12) and this figure is not accurate at all. I'd wait on him or loup fill in the particulars, but the site is *not* bleeding $10k a month, and in addition to not seeing a significant loss of income, we've actually realized a large reduction in monthly costs (which is not yet reflected in this report). What you're seeing are temporary reporting mismatches due to a combination of payment timings around the holidays and our having to change banks recently. Our new provider is much easier to work with, and these reports should be more straightforward in the future as a result.
posted by Rhaomi at 6:35 PM on February 21 [1 favorite]
I ran this by our treasurer (1adam12) and this figure is not accurate at all. I'd wait on him or loup fill in the particulars, but the site is *not* bleeding $10k a month, and in addition to not seeing a significant loss of income, we've actually realized a large reduction in monthly costs (which is not yet reflected in this report). What you're seeing are temporary reporting mismatches due to a combination of payment timings around the holidays and our having to change banks recently. Our new provider is much easier to work with, and these reports should be more straightforward in the future as a result.
posted by Rhaomi at 6:35 PM on February 21 [1 favorite]
Thanks for your note.
Could you provide some particulars about the "large reduction in monthly costs"?
posted by Violet Blue at 6:53 PM on February 21
Could you provide some particulars about the "large reduction in monthly costs"?
posted by Violet Blue at 6:53 PM on February 21
There was an overzealous backup setting in AWS that was backing up too frequently and storing it in a suboptimal storage tier for too long. The site might be all text (apart from MeFi Music and other miscellaneous assets), but multiply that by hundreds of thousands of threads and millions of comments across 25+ years and it adds up, to the tune of several thousand dollars per month. (Special thanks again to Frayed Knot for helping to flag this issue!)
posted by Rhaomi at 7:06 PM on February 21 [1 favorite]
posted by Rhaomi at 7:06 PM on February 21 [1 favorite]
Ssg made a forward-looking spreadsheet, so I've made a backward-looking spreadsheet. I've put all the P/L stuff in a single spreadsheet for anyone who's interested. Here's the link.
There are six sheets:
* Raw: The raw data
* Rollin' 2: Because there have been a few cases of "We paid X one month ahead of time" or "We paid X one month late," I made a two-month rolling average to smooth those bumps out
* Rollin' 3: Three month rolling average for even greater smoooothness
* Raw Chart: Chart of monthly net income from Raw sheet
* Rollin' 2 Chart: Chart of two-month rolling average net income from the Rollin' 2 sheet
* Rollin' 3 Chart: Chart of three-month rolling average net income from the Rollin' 2 sheet
The only thing I tweaked is that I removed the $132,000 transfer from the LLC to the Foundation, because I don't think any of us would really consider that "income," just moving savings already in the bank from one part of MeFi to another part of MeFi.
posted by Bugbread at 7:13 PM on February 21 [8 favorites]
There are six sheets:
* Raw: The raw data
* Rollin' 2: Because there have been a few cases of "We paid X one month ahead of time" or "We paid X one month late," I made a two-month rolling average to smooth those bumps out
* Rollin' 3: Three month rolling average for even greater smoooothness
* Raw Chart: Chart of monthly net income from Raw sheet
* Rollin' 2 Chart: Chart of two-month rolling average net income from the Rollin' 2 sheet
* Rollin' 3 Chart: Chart of three-month rolling average net income from the Rollin' 2 sheet
The only thing I tweaked is that I removed the $132,000 transfer from the LLC to the Foundation, because I don't think any of us would really consider that "income," just moving savings already in the bank from one part of MeFi to another part of MeFi.
posted by Bugbread at 7:13 PM on February 21 [8 favorites]
I'd wait on him or loup fill in the particulars, but the site is *not* bleeding $10k a month, and in addition to not seeing a significant loss of income, we've actually realized a large reduction in monthly costs (which is not yet reflected in this report).
Just to be clear, I have not suggested the site is currently bleeding $10k per month. What I've said is if the trends over the last six months with declining revenue from donations and advertising continue, while costs stay the same, we can expect to lose about $10k per month on average over the next year. Predicting future trends is of course very difficult and all I've done is a quick estimate based on the last six months. I think if I were to include a different time range, the results would be somewhat different, but still negative.
Looking not just at the last six months, but also the data that Bugbread has helpfully compiled, I do see a significant downward trend in revenue (at least since the big fundraiser in 2023).
Reducing costs for AWS backups certainly helps! I've always wondered why it cost such an incredibly large amount to host something as relatively simple as MetaFilter.
Once MetaFilter becomes a 501(c)(3), we should also be able to get $1000 per year in AWS credits for non-profits, as well as Google Workspace for free (not much, but it's more than nothing).
What you're seeing are temporary reporting mismatches due to a combination of payment timings around the holidays and our having to change banks recently. Our new provider is much easier to work with, and these reports should be more straightforward in the future as a result.
I'm glad to hear the banking situation is improving, but I'm confused as to how changing banks prevents MetaFilter from accurately accounting for spending and revenue. Usually, bookkeeping is based on spending and revenue directly, which is then reconciled against bank statements. You shouldn't even need to look at your bank account at all to know where you stand!
But it sounds like MetaFilter is doing something quite different. I wonder if that might be the fundamental reason the monthly P&L reports have been kind of all over the place and often needing revisions.
posted by ssg at 8:06 PM on February 21 [3 favorites]
Just to be clear, I have not suggested the site is currently bleeding $10k per month. What I've said is if the trends over the last six months with declining revenue from donations and advertising continue, while costs stay the same, we can expect to lose about $10k per month on average over the next year. Predicting future trends is of course very difficult and all I've done is a quick estimate based on the last six months. I think if I were to include a different time range, the results would be somewhat different, but still negative.
Looking not just at the last six months, but also the data that Bugbread has helpfully compiled, I do see a significant downward trend in revenue (at least since the big fundraiser in 2023).
Reducing costs for AWS backups certainly helps! I've always wondered why it cost such an incredibly large amount to host something as relatively simple as MetaFilter.
Once MetaFilter becomes a 501(c)(3), we should also be able to get $1000 per year in AWS credits for non-profits, as well as Google Workspace for free (not much, but it's more than nothing).
What you're seeing are temporary reporting mismatches due to a combination of payment timings around the holidays and our having to change banks recently. Our new provider is much easier to work with, and these reports should be more straightforward in the future as a result.
I'm glad to hear the banking situation is improving, but I'm confused as to how changing banks prevents MetaFilter from accurately accounting for spending and revenue. Usually, bookkeeping is based on spending and revenue directly, which is then reconciled against bank statements. You shouldn't even need to look at your bank account at all to know where you stand!
But it sounds like MetaFilter is doing something quite different. I wonder if that might be the fundamental reason the monthly P&L reports have been kind of all over the place and often needing revisions.
posted by ssg at 8:06 PM on February 21 [3 favorites]
(Late typo correction: "Rollin' 3 Chart: Chart of three-month rolling average net income from the Rollin' 2 sheet" should be "Rollin' 3 Chart: Chart of three-month rolling average net income from the Rollin' 3 sheet")
posted by Bugbread at 9:16 PM on February 21 [1 favorite]
posted by Bugbread at 9:16 PM on February 21 [1 favorite]
I spoke with the community member who is working on MeFi Cookbook a few weeks ago and they mentioned they were dealing with a lot IRL, so I’ve been avoiding putting extra pressure on them. Please be patient
happy to be patient &, also, if i can help out please feel free to memail me :)
posted by HearHere at 10:43 PM on February 21
happy to be patient &, also, if i can help out please feel free to memail me :)
posted by HearHere at 10:43 PM on February 21
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Also are staff not being paid?
posted by warriorqueen at 4:44 PM on February 20 [4 favorites]