Let’s get this second announcement out of the way:

The Terminal is implementing a voluntary subscription model beginning today!

Now that I’ve got your attention, I’m going to explain why we’ve decided to go in that direction and what it means to you (or you can just go directly to our new support page).

We are an open source for news and information and we will remain so – this announcement will have no effect on how or whether or not you can access the site to read it. (I would go so far as to call our brand of providing information open source news, but someone already owns the domain – yes, really).

I am aware that there are many that will still choose to simply visit the site, and we’ll still love you for it. We also know that there are those that cannot afford to provide support – that’s OK too. But I’m going to try my best to talk you out of buying one of those beers at the bar or a couple of those cups of coffee per month to support something that you enjoy.

There are a lot of things that we want to do in the coming months to improve how we provide information to you and how you’re able to use the site. However, as altruistic as we may want to be, we realize that in order to do it we had to examine just what it would take monetarily. There are sites that already do this, so we figured we’d give it a try.

So just what does this money help us do?

• It allows us to pay potential feature-length contributors to the site (even if only a nominal fee) so that they can produce the best possible product for you.
• It allows us to improve on existing and purchase necessary equipment for the continued development of the site.
• It will allow us to provide inexpensive advertising options to small businesses in the greater Birmingham area on the site (new rates to take effect on April 7 – they’ll be posted on April 4).
• It allows us to occasionally farm out technical assistance to complete those larger projects that we’re planning to implement.
• It allows us to better market the site and make more people aware of our existence, expanding the conversation.

Earlier this morning we formally announced three of our major initiatives for the year over on the Newsstand. We hope to share information about more proposed projects in the coming weeks. We also hope that these are the types of things that you want to see us do on this site…

Our monthly subscription rates range from $3 – $25/month. There will also be an opportunity to give whatever you think is appropriate in one lump sum. (Due to some unforeseen circumstances, this feature will be added to the page in the coming hours since we did not want to delay the launch of this initiative any longer). Those that give lump sum contributions of $40 or more will receive a Black Terminal T and a Terminal sticker. We are also working on other ways to say thanks for subscribing and we’ll announce them in the coming weeks.

One more thing – we’re remaining a for-profit organization at this time. So you’re not getting a tax deduction from this contribution to The Terminal. We hope that you see the site as a valuable resource of information and a place where you can take a moment and catch up on what’s going on. If we’re not covering what you want us to (provided it involves Birmingham, AL), drop us a line and let us know. In reality it’s your site, we’re just here to make sure you get it.

Thanks and as always enjoy the ride!