Home PageAbout MindatThe Mindat ManualHistory of MindatCopyright StatusWho We AreContact UsAdvertise on Mindat
Donate to MindatCorporate SponsorshipSponsor a PageSponsored PagesMindat AdvertisersAdvertise on Mindat
Learning CenterWhat is a mineral?The most common minerals on earthInformation for EducatorsMindat ArticlesThe ElementsThe Rock H. Currier Digital LibraryGeologic Time
Minerals by PropertiesMinerals by ChemistryAdvanced Locality SearchRandom MineralRandom LocalitySearch by minIDLocalities Near MeSearch ArticlesSearch GlossaryMore Search Options
The Mindat ManualAdd a New PhotoRate PhotosLocality Edit ReportCoordinate Completion ReportAdd Glossary Item
Mining CompaniesStatisticsUsersMineral MuseumsClubs & OrganizationsMineral Shows & EventsThe Mindat DirectoryDevice SettingsThe Mineral Quiz
Photo SearchPhoto GalleriesSearch by ColorNew Photos TodayNew Photos YesterdayMembers' Photo GalleriesPast Photo of the Day GalleryPhotography
╳Discussions
💬 Home🔎 Search📅 LatestGroups
EducationOpen discussion area.Fakes & FraudsOpen discussion area.Field CollectingOpen discussion area.FossilsOpen discussion area.Gems and GemologyOpen discussion area.GeneralOpen discussion area.How to ContributeOpen discussion area.Identity HelpOpen discussion area.Improving Mindat.orgOpen discussion area.LocalitiesOpen discussion area.Lost and Stolen SpecimensOpen discussion area.MarketplaceOpen discussion area.MeteoritesOpen discussion area.Mindat ProductsOpen discussion area.Mineral ExchangesOpen discussion area.Mineral PhotographyOpen discussion area.Mineral ShowsOpen discussion area.Mineralogical ClassificationOpen discussion area.Mineralogy CourseOpen discussion area.MineralsOpen discussion area.Minerals and MuseumsOpen discussion area.PhotosOpen discussion area.Techniques for CollectorsOpen discussion area.The Rock H. Currier Digital LibraryOpen discussion area.UV MineralsOpen discussion area.Recent Images in Discussions
GeneralSponsored Pages - Where are you all?
30th Aug 2014 16:00 UTCRoy Starkey 🌟 Manager
A couple of years ago, after the publication of my Mineralogical Record article on Herodsfoot mine I thought it would be fun to sponsor a Mindat page in celebration of finishing the project. Although the Herodsfoot locality page had already been taken, the mineral page for bournonite was available and so I opted for that.
Now, a couple of years on, and the sponsorship has expired, and since I have recently completed another project - a book on the minerals of the Cairngorms, which will be published in October, I thought it would be nice to sponsor a Cairngorms related page. I was surprised to find how few localities are represented from the area (job for me later I guess), but what really struck me (no, make that AMAZED) was the remarkably small number of pages which are actually sponsored.
I've done some crude analysis on this (I guess Jolyon could pull it out of the database much more elegantly), but for what it is worth I thought I'd "share it" with you.
There are roughly 100 mineral and 100 locality pages sponsored. “What ?” I hear you say, out of the 4938 currently valid species (on the July 2014 IMA listing), only 100 are sponsored by Mindat members? Of the 847,332 localities listed on Mindat (from 248,675 unique sites worldwide), only 100 or so of them are “adopted” either. What is going on?
Apathy is a common problem in getting people to “engage”, but surely Mindat deserves better than this. I’ve heard plenty of grumbles from people over the years about the accuracy, inconsistency, ethics or some other aspect of Mindat, and also the same folk citing "on Mindat this ..., that or the other, but only 200 hundred sponsored pages? Well, the number of folks responsible for the sponsorship is actually even smaller - about 120 people and organisations – that’s all. I've no idea how many members Mindat has, nor how many individual visitors the site has - perhaps Jolyon could elaborate on this point?
The purpose of this post is to stimulate some discussion on this. We all know that Jolyon launched a fund-raising drive a year ago, and we can see on the home page how that has slowly progressed. I wonder however what it would take to get a lot more people to adopt a page. Is $50 a year too high a threshold – could we get thousands of people to make a contribution if it was $10 or $20 a page – would that be better for Mindat?
Mindat is not perfect, and probably never will be, but its great value is as a forum for information, discussion and communication – there is a considerable sense of community, and it would be good to see it continue to go from strength to strength. The management team and their helpers clearly put in a huge amount of effort and we should all be grateful to them for that commitment. The first Mindat Symposium in the UK in November may perhaps provide a platform for local discussion of this topic.
Meanwhile, perhaps Mindaters would like to share their views as to how we engage more people to sponsor a page and make a financial contribution to the site – lots of people use or look at the site every day, and it would be good to see more names on the sponsored pages listing (Oh, and mineral clubs, institutions and organisations too!)
30th Aug 2014 16:20 UTCDebbie Woolf Manager
One suggestion I had was I would be willing to put up forward some specimens for members to bid for with the funds going to sponsor a page. In principal it was agreed to but that was as far as we got with it. If Jolyon still agrees and there other members out there that are willing to do the same and members out there to buy the specimens it could be a nice route to take ?
30th Aug 2014 18:42 UTCDouglas Merson 🌟 Expert
30th Aug 2014 19:34 UTCMatt Neuzil Expert
31st Aug 2014 06:35 UTCRock Currier Expert
I don't pretend to know which system should be used for this purpose on Mindat but I think that we would be currently best served by a system that would bring in the most money to keep Mindat up and running and the greatest augmentation of a longevity fund.
I would hope that others will weigh in with other ideas.
31st Aug 2014 12:13 UTCDon Swenson
31st Aug 2014 12:29 UTCFrank Craig
I am new to this forum, but not to mindat (used it as a resource for years), but I was under the impression that sponsorship was for organizations or corporations and the such, not individuals. I do agree with the sentiment on volunteer orgs - I was a member of a historical society once which had over 100 members, but less than 10 did the actual "work". When asked why; "when I see some real results, I will start contributing"! Needless to say, today, that society exists in name only. The '10' have long since moved on. Some people/communities just don't get it, or aren't the 'type' I guess:-S
Now that I know, I will be looking into sponsoring a page (or two or three):-)
Frank
31st Aug 2014 13:24 UTCRoy Starkey 🌟 Manager
Regards
Roy
31st Aug 2014 14:25 UTCFrank Ruehlicke 🌟
Good post and I don't think it controversial at all. I think it is good for the community to be reminded of sponsorship from time to time.
I encourage everyone who uses Mindat to sponsor at least one page. Personally, I rationalized that I derive benefits and enjoyment from using Mindat at least equal to that of my subscriptions to the MinRecord and Rocks & Minerals and so I decided $50 a year to sponsor a page is worthwhile. I also approached my local mineral club and they agreed to sponsor a page as well. Oh and thanks to everyone who contributes content!
-Frank
31st Aug 2014 14:29 UTCJolyon Ralph Founder
Jolyon
31st Aug 2014 15:17 UTCJamison K. Brizendine 🌟 Expert
A. I think Don Swenson posted is an excellent idea about allowing co-sponsorships for mineral/mineral localities that are in higher demand than others. A collector who only focuses on minerals from Tsumeb or who one who only collects fluorite, I think would rather prefer to co-sponsor a page instead of settling on a page sponsorship on something that they don't collect.
B. I also agree with Don that a reduced page sponsorship on less popular minerals or mineral localities, based on "hits" may be an appealing incentive to sponsor a page. Some users may rather sponsor ten dollars on "Fedorite", rather than the fifty dollars it is now. I also think that some people, for example, wouldn't want to spend fifty dollars to sponsor "wendwilsonite", unless they're name is Wendell Wilson (this is just an example and wasn't meant to insult Wendell).
C. This point may open another can of worms by itself, but there is another "mineral-worthy" cause that is currently accepting donations here in the Midwestern United States. The only reason I bring this example up is that this particular cause is eligible for a tax deduction. If faced with donating money to a cause that gives you an tax deductible incentive than one that isn't, most people would rather choose the tax deductible cause.
D. Another idea is to offer an incentive on a reduced price for a mineral page sponsorship geared towards mineral dealers who advertise on Mindat's site. For example, if "Ugly Minerals LLC" purchased an advertisement on Mindat's website, than they could also purchase an additional page sponsorship at a reduced price.
E. Along those same lines, Mindat could offer a percent discount on page sponsorships for those who sponsor four or more pages. You might get more people who are willing to sponsor multiple pages, if they are given that choice as well.
31st Aug 2014 16:56 UTCRoy Starkey 🌟 Manager
My feelings pretty much align with those of Frank Ruehlicke. I, and many others have a quick look at Mindat most days, and I reckon it is worth about the same to me as a journal or club subscription. Plenty of people obviously use it as a (possibly their major) mineralogical reference source. I just thought that we should try and get the community to think about supporting it.
31st Aug 2014 17:18 UTCJolyon Ralph Founder
One area that I really think we could do better with - and mindat.org members can help with - is to encourage mining/exploration companies to sponsor their own locality pages.
Jolyon
31st Aug 2014 20:54 UTCJohn R. Montgomery 🌟 Expert
I have also become acquainted with other collectors at shows and symposiums because of my MINDAT connection. I hope this discussion will bring awareness to this need and ensure MINDAT'S survival. LONG LIVE MINDAT!
Thanks Jolyon et al
John
1st Sep 2014 00:29 UTCA. M.
Also, what happened to mindat auctions?
1st Sep 2014 01:15 UTCJolyon Ralph Founder
1st Sep 2014 02:41 UTCDoug Daniels
The other thing (excuse) to consider is, the friggin economy. I'd love to donate, but was downsized a few years ago, and at my age, can't get a real job in my profession (yes, they can figure out how old I am). So, even a few dollars a month can be a stretch with all the bills and the daughter in college and the cat meowing for food and..... As I always say, when I win the lottery.....
1st Sep 2014 14:43 UTCHenry Minot 🌟 Expert
Wasn't there some mention a while ago of getting tax exempt status (in the USA) for Mindat? What is the status of that now?
1st Sep 2014 17:11 UTCJolyon Ralph Founder
Obviously we'll have a big announcement here when we can.
Jolyon
1st Sep 2014 17:18 UTCDoug Daniels
1st Sep 2014 20:38 UTCJolyon Ralph Founder
2nd Sep 2014 09:54 UTCUlf Nyberg
Think it's not recommended to say: Where are you all or too many want something for nothing. I know you meant well, but it can even have a complicated reverse side too,
depending on ex. rules, peoples with less money, youths without a normal job, pensioners with poor economy etc..
From Finland we have a problem that the Bank charge 40 dollar for a payment to foreign countries, or a sponsor 50 dollar will in fact be 90 dollar payments.
How about a idea where a collectors descendants do not have any interest in minerals and the collector could bequeath the mineral collection to Mindat and Mindat can then
by an auction sell these into the highest bidder, (ex. mineral shops)?
Can Mindat seek some support from organizations, state or local government?
Ulf
2nd Sep 2014 10:49 UTCDon Swenson
Jolyon: Since there are more more sites than sponsors, why not offer a volume discount? 1 site for $25, 2 sites for $50, 3 sites for $70, 4 sites for 85, etc. The goal is to raise as much money as possible. Once again, I leave the details of the scale to you and the managers; feel free to alter mine.
2nd Sep 2014 13:33 UTCJyrki Autio Expert
Sponsoring a page is made easy for Paypal account. I didn't try other options.
Donating specimen or parts of collection would be even more appealing way to sponsor. For mostly self-collector specimens cost about the fuel used, but they could be seen worth real money to other collector. Now thinking about something in 100-1000 $ on perceived range. In any case something more than sponsor a page cost.
I don't know how donating minerals could be practically arranged, but if I could send a specimen to certain address and it wouldn't be much more work besides taking a half of a dozen photographs, I could do that and wouldn't mind paying the shipping costs. Remember people tend to be lazy.
Jyrki
2nd Sep 2014 14:51 UTCKelly Nash 🌟 Expert
3rd Sep 2014 12:52 UTCRoy Starkey 🌟 Manager
By the way - I've uploaded a few locality photos of Beinn a' Bhuird in case you were wondering what the place looks like - it is one of my favourite mountain areas, and classic Cairngorms terrain.
Roy
Mindat.org is an outreach project of the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy, a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.
Copyright © mindat.org and the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy 1993-2024, except where stated. Most political location boundaries are © OpenStreetMap contributors. Mindat.org relies on the contributions of thousands of members and supporters. Founded in 2000 by Jolyon Ralph.
Privacy Policy - Terms & Conditions - Contact Us / DMCA issues - Report a bug/vulnerability Current server date and time: April 20, 2024 00:30:18
Copyright © mindat.org and the Hudson Institute of Mineralogy 1993-2024, except where stated. Most political location boundaries are © OpenStreetMap contributors. Mindat.org relies on the contributions of thousands of members and supporters. Founded in 2000 by Jolyon Ralph.
Privacy Policy - Terms & Conditions - Contact Us / DMCA issues - Report a bug/vulnerability Current server date and time: April 20, 2024 00:30:18