I’ve been developing Finnish School for over four years now. I’ve spent countless hours working on it, improving it, fixing it, and supporting it. I’m quite happy with the entire project; it’s been a huge success with almost 19,000 people signing up, and an average of almost 700 people using it per day. There’s nothing else like it on the web, and there’s no better way to learn Finnish vocabulary words.
Even though my monthly server costs are high, I’ve been able to keep the entire site free of charge. I’ve never included online ads because I know how annoying they can be. Even though the site kinda runs itself, I do spend quite a bit of my free time answer people’s e-mails, adding new features, and improving the site for you all. I have a big plans for the site, lots of new features I’d like to develop, but honestly I’m lacking the motivation and without any sort of incentive, these new features will never happen.
So what I’ve decided to do is ask for a small donation of 5 euros per year to use the site - the price of a pint of a beer at the pub. Finnish students who are serious about learning the language spend quite a bit of money each year on books, CDs, classes, and tutors – and I think 5 euros is a small donation to make for such a useful service like Finnish School. With the donations I’ll be motivated to develop the site further, provide users with better support, and hopefully be able to compensate for my expensive monthly server fees.
All new users may use the entire site as much as they want, but only the first three levels. Donors to the site will receive the following…
- Access to all vocabulary levels
- Priority support via e-mail
- BETA testing to all upcoming site features
I know I’ll have to remove the “free” part of the sites “Fast, free, and easy” tagline, but if you’re serious about learning Finnish and you enjoy the site and you’d like to see it developed further, I think the 5 euro donation is a small request to ask.
Click here to learn how to donate and become a Finnish School member!
Hi,
I’m wondering why I have sent u 5 euros and a confirmation email but havent received anything, it has been 2 days. Are you still running this website?
Comment by Pham Tien Hoang — December 6, 2008 @ 12:25 pm
Hey,
I have the same comment as Pham. I also have sent you 5 euros through bank transfer and a confirmation email both. I have been waiting for two days over now and still I haven’t heard from you.
Comment by Ashesh — December 18, 2008 @ 7:30 pm
Im with the same problem
Comment by Anonymous — December 28, 2008 @ 11:07 pm
I just read these blogs, but I’ve already done the 5EUR donation. What is the next step and how long does it take? Thanks.
Comment by IT — February 11, 2009 @ 11:55 pm
could we pay by mail or what?…
Comment by Finnish-Addict — February 13, 2009 @ 9:58 pm
did anybody from the comments above got their account activated in the end? i have paid a couple of days ago and still nothing…
and i’m so looking forward to continuing. i hope this is not a scam
Comment by erika — February 19, 2009 @ 4:55 pm
Phil, I donated the 5 euros and would like access. Thanks.
Comment by Ben — April 28, 2009 @ 1:02 pm
Hi, I sent the donation. And now waiting for all the lessons to be opened for me. —
Comment by sab — June 5, 2009 @ 12:21 pm
Hello I just paid my donation using my paypal address but it is different from the address I used to register. How do I know I’m a member since no info was required with payment? When it redirected me to the site, I got an error page… Please update me asap.
Comment by Elfie — June 23, 2009 @ 12:51 am