We recently had a fellow write and ask:

I’m confused about your web site saying you need $400 per month for operating costs. Does that include money for your own time to maintain the web site, or is that the cost that the web host provider charges? I see that PowWeb offers some really good deals for web hosting, and I heard you say that you do the web maintenance. I’m just thinking that it would be good to clarify what the costs are, if one is going to be asking for money."

Some people may wonder how on earth we can keep this Internet Radio station on the air if it is supported by one family of two with a $960.00 monthly income. Here's how:

How Prophecykeepers Radio is funded through listener support

Dear Friends,

UPDATE 3/10/2005 Well, we continue to pay the price for teaching some truth is this beleaguered world... our 1986 Dodge Ram Van broke down today with a mysteriously broken drive train... our other vehicle, a 1986 Dodge Aries LE Wagon has been broken down with a broken Transmission since early December.

Blueotter could be out "in the world" earning money like everyone else and not have these kind of problems... now instead of working a normal 40 hours week, he puts in 40 hours all right... every 3 1/2 days!

Prophecykeepers is not all about just doing one interview each week and uploading it... Web development takes CONSTANT work... we man several websites, namely:

Prophecykeepers.com
Prophecykeepers.net
Prophecykeepers.org
RedHatSpeaks.com
TrilogyMultiMedia.com

Blueotter recently spent 60-70 hours a week for 3 weeks rehabilitating the old sound archives... and works constantly updating and improving online facilities for our 400 discussion group members and several non-paid part time volunteers. 

I guess it boils down to if you believe Prophecykeepers Radio is worthwhile and its work is of import. Besides sacrificing having "a 'normal' life" in which Blueotter could pay our bills and go about business like more or less normal people, his  family not only makes far LESS money than it used to... but now the family has expenses that they would not have if we were not running a non-profit out of their home.

To illustrate, the family would have no need for a toll-free telephone number, a second telephone line, would not be paying for cable internet access (dialup would do), would not be paying for all available extra telephone features, frequent hardware breakdowns (some caused by deliberate and maliciously sent viruses and even by hacking), the mounting cost of maintaining a home office... e.g. electricity, furnishings, office supplies, computer hardware and software, modems, routers, speakers, fax machine, printers, sound mixer, digital telephone hybrids, computer software... etc. etc.

Add to this picture an electrical fire a few months ago, and being hacked 5 times this past year and losing much of our data, etc. etc. We do have enemies, and we are constantly harassed by email and by telephone and sometimes our computers are even attacked. We have daily occurances of one kind or another. Can you imagine the stress Blueotter and his family are exposed to? Blueotter's wife Betty (Gentle Wind) who is a diabetic thanks to her Indian ancestry and is also overweight like Blueotter because of poor nutrition (all obesity is) and may be looking at a second bout with cancer. GOOD food, fruits and vegetables used to be cheap... now the poor can barely afford any. Carbs and  Beef are cheap in american society, but are very fattening.

Think we are whining? Well sometimes we really feel unappreciated. This world is a cynical place and everyone but us, it would seem, is materialistic.

So the bottom line is, Prophecykeepers Radio is only possible IF donations cover the telephone dial tones special features,  home office expenses, cable internet  access, the toll-free phone number for taking orders plus the cost of those fine people who call just to chat and forget we are paying the phone bill, the cost of hardware, software, breakdowns, office expenses etc. And it is only possible if we are able to have enough groceries to eat... after a fashion. $85 a month does not buy groceries for two people. It would not even buy groceries for ONE person in most areas.

If we were unable to garden in the summer, and hunt in the fall, we would starve in the winter.

...We  do own a 1986 Dodge Aries LE Station Wagon which is broken down and needs a transmission, and a 1986 Dodge Van which gets 9 miles to the gallon when it is running but is also broken down at the moment.

We and live in a depressed area in the Missouri Ozarks where the cost of living is 20% less than the rest of the country, and our only expenses are:

Our "usual" expenses"

Rents (Mobile home and lot) $325.00

Auto insurance $85.00/month

Power Bill averages $125.00/month

In winter, Propane Heating is 2/3rds donated by LIHEAP

Phone Dial Tone for two telephone lines... plus all available special features are needed to run our office -- $80.00/month

Flat Rate Long Distance service through Minutebusters.com - $40.00/month

Toll free 877 number through Kall8.com - averages $50.00/month answering questions from curious web visitors who call and want to talk for an hour on our nickle...

Cable web access $120.00/month because you can't get Cable internet here without CableTV, which we would not have if we did not have the responsibility f keeping Prophecykeepers "on the air."

Storage Unit   $50.00/month

=================

Totalling an average of $ 875.00

Leaving ONLY $85 a month in this budget for food and household expenses for two people... which obviously two people cannot buy food with so we must be reimbursed for our expenses. Blueotter's family income is $960 a month, and $875 goes out for bills. If Blueotter's family doesn't eat, Prophecykeepers Radio becomes history. Blueotter receives NO "salary."

Prophecykeepers Radio survives ONLY IF donations cover the "regular expenses": Telephone Dial Tone two lines ($90.00/mo), Toll-free 877 number ($50.00), Long Distance Calls $50.00/mo, Cable Internet ($120.00/mo - absolutely necessary to run an Internet Radio Station) PLUS we must cover any "unexpected expenses" which are constant because we work with older and even some obsolete equipment... so it runs about $400.00 monthly we spend to keep this WebCast alive... money we wouldn't normally spend if we didnt run this WebCast. 

The big weakness in this "budget" is that does not allow for any advertising, and not being able to advertise is the reason why Prophecykeepers Radio's listener base is declining... new listeners come in, and older listeners sometimes lose interest OR we lose track of them because we lose their email address because people constantly change address due to spamming.

A $300.00 a month gift just for Google pay-per-click advertising, and an even bigger ad budget  would do wonders right now and allow us to legally reach millions of people by opt-in mass "safelist" mailings,

If we DO get extra funds over and above what the bare minimum is that is required each month, we use these funds to do the worthy things mentioned above... like fund the non-profit foundation we just founded.

If we don't get enough donations, we pay these personally (or let them get past due), and don't eat well and our health suffers - well, you get the picture. We make the needed sacrifices. But, we grow a garden in the summer, can food in the summer, and freeze whatever we can get good deals on...

The local Mennonites recently opened up a surplus supermarket here in Cabool, or we would have been sunk into despair  last summer! We just picked up the Venison hamburger from the Deer that was donated 2 weeks ago... hey country life beats the heck out of city life IF you are willing to cut back your "lifestyle."

...and our church of Christ here in Cabool, MO helps us a little each month when we have too bad a shortfall and *if* they have the money... like they are gonna have to help us with our broken down cars this month.

We rent a nice 10 year old 3 bedroom 2 bath 70' x 16' Mobile Home we are renting to live in, and life is pretty nice here in Cabool Missouri. The 20 acre trailer park is we live in totally run down, and we have the only inhabited trailer in it, and the owner lives 70 miles away, so it just like living in the country with all of the local town conveniences except for a little town road noise. Thanks so much friend, for  your donation or purchase and helping us stay on the air.



Electrical Fires at Prophecykeepers Radio update...

Just in case you heard and want an update or have not heard yet...

No major flames because we were awake Noon Tuesday 14 December 2004 to unplug and throw breakers...

...while watching a Video in the VCR, a voltage drop caused BIG surges... destroying our FREEZER, VCR, TV, all AC adapters, 2 Cable Boxes (replaced by Mediacom free), Furnace/AC blower transformer (not yet replaced), 16 brand new expensive long-life florescent light bulbs (replaced), both cordless phones (not replaced yet), a Boom box (not replaced)... , two 80 Gig harddrives.... and an entire fairly new computer -- motherboard and power supply totally fried.

A 15 Amp G.E. breaker switch that should have tripped did NOT and allowed powers spikes/surges. It was all caused by a bad "neutral" wire in a buried electrical cable between the house and the meter. The problem was the neutral wire on the incoming power line between the meter and the house had corroded.

We buried a new Electric cable Saturday 18 December... as soon as the phone, cable, light, and gas companies locate their lines.

Could have killed us all if we had been asleep!

We sure thanked Creator!

Life is returning to normal.

Your prayers would be appreciated...

Blueotter

Will Anderson
RR 3 Box 654
Cabool, MO 65689