Welcome everyone to TF2F's first ever $1 donation drive!  What is a donation drive?  It's similar to a telethon you may see on TV, but instead, the money collected will go straight to helping pay the costs of the website and subsequent community extras.  What we have here is a great thing.  Nobody expects anything out of any of us.  We aren't forced to register at the site for any benefit other than to post.  Our servers are free and open and filled with skilled, mature players.  We organize pick-up games on a nightly basis, host tournaments, and allow anyone to use our great services.  And please, don't think I'm boasting to get money out of you... I will see no benefit from any money earned.  I am not an administrator, and I too will be donating.  I'm proud of this community, and I want to help out.

And I hope you do too!  That's where this donation drive comes in play.  Many people have donated, but a much greater portion of the community doesn't even know the option is available.  Not to put too much pressure on people, there's a tiny button on the top right of each page.  Not very obvious, and somewhat hidden, it shows that the creators of this site aren't trying to beat it over your head.  So hopefully this will raise more awareness and get people feeling charitable.

Ok, so you feel up to donating $1.  What will it do?  Red Bull Rising is a great person.  He spent a lot of time and effort creating this website for the sheer joy of creating a community around a game he loved.  He doesn't get paid for updating the site--it isn't a full time job.  He administrates whenever he has free time.  When is the last time you saw him waste an entire afternoon in TF2?  RBR's a busy man, and time is money.  But there are other administrators who lend a helping hand as well.  There are hosting costs, game server costs, heck, even ventrillo costs to host.  The money raised will help eleviate the costs of constant maintanence.  And you better think that a website with over 9k users needs a lot of maintenance.

Here's a quick summary of some of the expenses your money will help go to:

- The web server for hosting the community website
- Reserve fund for future Game Servers and additions to #1, #2, #3, Nom Nom, Sarah, and Alice
- Subscribed Shoutbox
- Domain
- Daily maintanence
- Future upgrades to the website and game servers
- Possible prizes for community contests

As you can see, there's a lot to pay for, and that's not even all there is!  Remember, I have no monetary affiliation with the site or RBR.  I'm doing this becuase I feel it's the right thing to do.  You can help by donating at least $1.  The more people we get donating, the more money we accumulate!  The reason we are setting the bar at $1 is becuase many people cannot afford to pay $10 or $15, they have their own bills to pay for.  But who really can't part with a single dollar?  But please, feel free to donate more if you feel inclined.  Just remember, you're getting all the benefits of TF2F for free, without any pressure to do anything!

One other thing!  RBR is currently working on BIG updates for TF2F and is in the process of switching to a more reliable web host.  This also costs.