Are you guys goin to have NPR/PBS style annual/semi-annual/monthly donation drives?

It's cool if you do, you gotta make some money, even as a non-profit. I'm just curious.

Question: How much do we have to donate to get a stylish blue Consumer Union lab coat, since Meg doesn't want to wear it? Bearing in mind certain people wouldn't mind starring in promotional pictures wearing said lab coat for Consumerist b/c they don't mind being on camera. :D

@GitEmSteveDave: We'll be looking at premiums for the next drive. The peoples' requests for lab coats have not gone unnoticed.

I sort of figured the most asked question was regarding Meg's disappearance from the video's?

@WiglyWorm: We're thinking Spring/Fall drives. This one was kind of a test-run/proof-of-concept. So far it seems to be working.

@pb5000: Meg is in a bunch more videos. Just you wait!

I like this part:

I don't like reading posts about the tip jar.

Whoever says that is kind of sad. If you don't like reading it, don't read it? Thought that was the whole idea of a subject title...

@Ben Popken: I thank you Ben. I will now cease to ask the question, much to everyone's relief. BTW, I was/am serious about being available for promo material wearing it, or anything else, if need be...

190K to 300K a year to run the site?

Nice, I really liked the last one. How many people are bothered by the tip jar posts?

Re: premiums

I would donate if I could get either en edit button for my own comments or a 'mute' button for other commenters.

@tc4b: A mute button would be ideal.

@ShadowFalls: I don't like this comment, ShadowFalls, so I'm logging in and taking the time to comment about how I don't like it instead of just moving on.

@Ben Popken: May I add a request for coffee mugs?

@Crabby Cakes: Whoever invents the web board killfile will be my candidate for the Nobel Peace Price.

Re: Midwestkel
"190K to 300K a year to run the site?"

That's $190 (as in one hundred and ninety dollars) to $300k (as in three-hundred thousand dollars) per year.

Reading is fundamental!

@Ben Popken: I would totally wear a lab coat as a kitchen apron. Because a regular apron simply does not protect me from my inherent level of clumsy, particularly when flour is involved.

@WiglyWorm: I was just thinking this!

@Eyebrows McGee (on Twitter: LPetelle): Ha! I'm with you. Aprons do provide my clothing the level of protection I need. Case in point- I splashed beet water all over myself while dumping the just-boiled beets into the colander. Super hot water+beet dye= not a fun way to spend the evening.

Can you tell us why you can't be specific about what it costs to run the site? The fact that you can't be specific makes me curious. :) It's like, "Don't think about purple elephants!"

Also, can I write on my Consumer Reports renewal that Consumerist is part of my decision to renew? Or draw a smashed spider on the memo line of the check as a secret code for same? I'd like to make clear to CU that while I have subscribed to Consumer Reports on and off in the past on its own merits, my current loyalty is partly predicated on its ownership of Consumerist (and it allowing the site to continue to run in the same snarky way).

@Eyebrows McGee (on Twitter: LPetelle): I bought a "fire hose" bib apron from Duluth Trading Co that I proudly and geekily wear when cooking.

I'm concerned that Consumers Union is getting money from websites from referrals for sales (Morning Deals on Consumerist.com). When it was a Gawker site that was fine.

Consumers Union has long had a policy against accepting advertising and I believe this violates the spirit of that policy if not the words of it and is harmful to Consumers Union.

@midwestkel: Salaries, server costs, petty cash, cat oatmeal, travel, equipment, litter, 401k's, insurance, sardines/lasagna, etc.... That's pretty cheap, honestly.

@tc4b: There is a "greasemonkey" script out there that lets you disemvowel other commentors and completely ignore them. Not sure where to find it though.

@Radi0logy: I took it to mean that the site operates between -117F and ~80F. I think that's why they were the labcoats. -117F is cold!

I didn't like reading posts about the tip jar because of their frequency and tone.

I have no problems with the tip jar existing, or even a post to mark it's inception and maybe some more to track the donation progress.

The post that said "You guys just didn't donate enough" rubbed me the wrong way, even if it wasn't meant that way.

So hate me if you will, fellow commenters, but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Although as it was explained to me once, now that you guys were bought out you're funded 100%, so I'm a little confused about the "your tips are paying our salaries" claim.

@WiglyWorm: I would SO donate for a consumerist t-shirt.

@Ben Popken: how much do we have to donate for our very own tax cat? or at least a tax cat replica.

@Wombatish Same here... I do like this site, but if I have spare money to donate, I kind of want it to go towards causes that need it more.

I guess I don't understand the point of funding a site that is fully funded already?

@Ben Popken: Oh, I have my own lab coats, thank you. I just like watching you guys wearing them.

Perhaps when the comment errors are fixed for good, I'll donate. ;)

@Crabby Cakes: Fortunately, beet dye is temporary. Really. I know it doesn't seem like it, but you cannot even find a mordant to MAKE it colorfast. Wash your apron.

@Wombatish: That was a facetious set-up for a silly joke about a fictional product called Mangurt. We're thrilled with how generous everyone is being.

@OprahBlackbird: We don't get any money from Morning Deals. As it states at the bottom of every Morning Deals post, "Morning Deals are purely an informational service for the readers. Consumerist receives nothing in exchange for their posting."

@Pink Box: @Wombatish: I would love for us to get to the point where we're 100% reader-funded. Why be a cost-center on the books of your benevolent overlords when you can be self-sustaining?

Are we in desperate need? Nope. If you read some of our posts about personal finance budgeting, we're all about getting yourself set up so that you're debt free, can save at least 10% every month, never bounce checks, etc. This is a similar kind of thing. Better to set up a tip jar now instead of waiting for a crisis.

@Ben Popken: Then why are there referral codes in the links to DealNews? Normally those types of links are for associates or affiliates who receive a percentage of sales.

@OprahBlackbird: The daily deals are awesome and it says Consumerist receives nothing in regards to the posting. If you think that this is clever language used to mask the fact that the site earning money for the sale- not the posting- then you really need to think about the message and role of the website itself.

I don't like reading posts about the tip jar.

This really isn't a question....but kudos for saying a little something about it! I'm sure that there are a handful of people who feel this way (myself excluded). Just goes to show that The Consumerist is balanced and fair.

This kind of thing makes me want to donate! Who is with me??

@Eyebrows McGee who says "Can you tell us why you can't be specific about what it costs to run the site?"

There really should be just one voice on financial matters. I can't blame a non-financial person for being vague. I assume the lower end of the figure is direct and continuing costs such as salaries and maintenance -- the higher number may include indirect and certain non-recurring costs; indirect being services donated by the parent company, non-recurring being such things as legal set-up of the Delaware corp and the cost of severing from Gawker. But I assumer...

@Ol' Ben Kenobi: See, thats why I love consumerist. You walk the talk :)

"@OdeletteKhawam: That's how they send the links over. It's just for tracking, to see what kinds of deals Consumerist readers are interested in.

I AM SERIOUS! Fix the comment problems for good, and I'll give y'all $5! :D

@LabCoatWanting_GitEmSteveDave: I'm just guessing here, but I think it sounds like you might want a lab coat. Like, really really want one. A lot.

@OprahBlackbird: What Blinky said. We offer those solely as a service to readers. The sites that participate (by sending us links) benefit from the exposure, so they're happy to help. We benefit by making our readers happy, so we're pleased to offer it. Readers benefit from the deals, when they haven't expired or been misrepresented. See? It's a triple win.

There are no nefarious plots involving the Morning Deals.

@OdeletteKhawam: The sites that provide the links make money. That's how they continue to exist. They may or may not track links from Consumerist to help measure the effectiveness of their participation in our Morning Deals posts.

@Ben Popken: I will shut up now and let you respond to the morning deals questions. :)

At least you're making the tip jar posts entertaining.

I'd still like to see the "EECB World Tour" shirt I've proposed several times.

Q: with the suspicious lack of further documentary evidence of Captain Duvel Moneycats in Consumerist or Consumerist Pledge Drives, has foul play been ruled out? By whom and how much were they bribed?
Q2: Or was the entire Perfect Oatmeal™ a blue-screened simulation second only to the "Moon Landing" we "did" in the '60s?
Q3: Or was the Captain really a cocker spaniel cunningly squeezed into a black cat suit that was damaged beyond repair (and thus, reuse) when Sparkles the Cocker Spaniel slipped out of disguise.
Q4: Or, is the Captain actually a founding member of The Illuminati, thus protecting his identity necessary to maintain global order and peace?

@nakedscience: After years of dealing with comments breakdowns, I've come the opinion that the comments section is actually some kind of unstable element, like uranium. No, but seriously what happened with the comments was that to fix the registration being blank issue I think one of the techs rolled back the site to a previous template, which made all these other previously fixed errors (like the reply-jumping) reappear. Tech knows about the issue, probably knows how to fix it (since they did it before), it's just that the comment area gets a low priority in the workflow, while other things like keeping the servers up and serving up hot toasty new posts get higher priority. That said, one place to rally for comments (or any other bug) to get fixed while Gawker is still doing our tech support is: getsatisfaction.com/gawker.