CGPress launches crowdfunding campaign
(Update) Patreon campaign has been cancelled.
If you enjoy reading CGPress and would like to continue to do so, please consider contributing through Patreon (link removed). We’re running a campaign for 30 days to gather needed funds to be able to continue operating the site. Latest update: 27 days left – Goal: $8000.
Why: CGPress is growing fast, due to this we’re receiving more information each day to publish. This means we need to hire artists to help us handle this information, and we need to compensate them appropriately. The income is not growing at the same rate, so we are running a campaign for 30 days to gather the needed funds to be able to continue running the site. If we don’t get close to the number, it’ll be time to pack up and leave. (All or nothing – exciting, isn’t it?)
What’s at stake: Thanks to technology, for the first time in history we artists can have our own news media that reaches the whole world. While we face new challenges that surface, we now have the possibility of running a digital printing press that expresses and defends the interests of artists – thus the name of the site, the CG Artists’ Press, or CGPress. We have published news and articles dealing with subjects you will find nowhere else, we have an editorial line known for its independence, and while we regularly receive offers for publishing paid content, we have not published a single sponsored news article, ever. We have declined to accept dozens of presents from companies through the years to maintain our independence, we are one of the very few sites that publish quality, trustable, thorough reviews. Our organization’s only focus is on delivering news and content with the goal of helping fellow artists and studios, and thanks to this we have no conflicts of interest in news reporting. Together with readers, we have collectively helped artists get jobs, build careers, fund artists’ crowdfunding campaigns, helped software get ported to other platforms, changed the direction of software development, and in essence, helped build a friendlier, healthier, better ecosystem for artists at large.
News media plays an essential role in society, one that cannot be left in the hands of maximization of revenue. CGPress will always be a guarantee that artists’ voices and interests will be heard, and that they will be the #1 priority.
We believe in these ideas, we believe this site is necessary. The decision is up to you.
Thank you for listening.
Note: to make it easier for people to participate we’ve launched a sales & discounts news channel that will hopefully help you save some money while you contribute to CGPress (or at least break it even).
Developers who’d like to see this site continue to thrive or would just like to give more exposure to what they sell are welcome to offer exclusive discounts through the above channel. We ask for no commissions and direct those interested to your sites. Please use the Contact Us form on our site.***
Note II: If you’d like to help CGPress and have an idea that does not fit into any of the categories of our Contact Us, too.
*** We at CGPress will do our best to respond to any comment, request, or concern, within 48 hours of submission. Typically we will not respond on weekends, so any inquiry made late on a Friday, will be addressed and replied to the following Monday.
Any other way to donate than Patreon?
Sell some of your landing page real estate for advertising.
cut cost on run the site on VPS.
8k months is of hell lot for not much constant really why need so much what you eating caviar and toast for breakfast?
i love your site have done for well over 10 years.
but 8k…………..
Hi, thanks for the comments. To clarify, the campaign is not just to cover running costs but also so that we can expand the site with more content and new writers. CGPress has been a labour of love for a long time but we believe that new and existing writers should be appropriately remunerated, and that asking people to work for free or little money harms the journalism profession just as much as the same practices harm the CG industry.
I hope that helps clear things up. Again we’re grateful for the comments, this is a big step for us and feedback is invaluable.
I do want to help out. Any chance you could add a $5 tier? I don’t mind throwing more than a $1, but $15 is a bit too much every month for me with all my other commitments.
It’s possible to donate anything up to $15 by clicking on the $1 option and changing the amount. Thanks so much for offering to help out!
Done! Good luck and I hope you reach your goal.
Thanks! We really appreciate it.
$8000/Month is nearly $100K/Year?!
Actually i didnt know any Blog with adverts who needs 8K per Month to post articles.
It would be more serious if you talk about how you will use all this money, like all the crowdfunding campaigns. Who you are, what are your plans, what did we get…?
“All or nothing – exciting, isn’t it?” sounds frustrating to me.
I wish you good luck.
@Tom,
“$8000/Month is nearly $100K/Year?!”
First off, they’re asking for $8K total not each month.
Secondly, even if they WERE asking for that, $100,000 to $200,000 in annual ad revenue is pretty standard for a news site with cgpress’ level of Alexa ranking.
Ah, whoops. I hadn’t actually clicked through to Patreon. My apologies on the first point.
The second still stands though:$8K is a pretty reasonable burn for a site with this popularity.
Wish you the best of luck with this, I’m just a junior who moved to a new appartment one month ago so at the time I’m not able to help you out but in the future i definitely will!
“All or nothing – exciting, isn’t it?” Sad to hear. I enjoy reading CGPress.
But unfortunately I cant/will not pay this much next to all my other current costs. I personally would not mind to see more advertising if this would help to keep the site running.
kind regards
8k a month is a lot. You can pay 2 full-time positions (depending on country maybe more), cover all the server costs and rent an office. That sounds unrealistic for a relatively small news website. I mean we’re not talking about several hundred word articles every day, it’s mainly short, sometimes even “copy and paste” news from inside the industry.
I know this sounds harsh and ungrateful but I don’t see that happening.
Speaking not as part of CGP here, I was not involved in the decision. The senior staff, the founders, have calculated what is necessary to keep the website running.
How long have you gotten this resource for free that has had a huge benefit to the 3ds max community and lately others. How many artists are selling on Gumroad? Why should CGP be a free service? I experienced the same thing when I decided to stop Max3D, and peoples comments felt very entitled — as if I owed them this free service.
This is a full-time job for the founders, and those of us who help out spend considerable time posting news items. I never expected any compensation (which isn’t a lot, but appreciated!), but I appreciate CGP’s stand on this.
I wouldn’t focus on the $8k figure. You vote with your wallet, if you don’t want it to stay, then don’t contribute. I respect each individual’s choice in this manner.
I appreciate the quality of the curatorial content on CGP. It is one of my long standing daily routines and as a professional resource it has far out stripped many of the subscriptions that I have been forced into.
So I’m in!
Thanks for the kind words Adam, it’s really appreciated.
Big surprise for me but then again it’s understandable and I really wouldn’t want to miss my daily visits here. Just a few days ago I was thinking that I’d miss a lot of interesting news without CGP. Good luck and many thanks to all of you, I’m in!
I understand the need to raise funds it is a tough to keep a site going and keep up the quality. I am wondering how easy it will be to raise 8k a month. Maybe you should also have a direct donate option. I am happy to chip in but maybe not on a monthly basis. Anyway good luck to you, hope you can keep it running otherwise i wont have anything to do while rendering and waiting for sims.
This site has been a great resource for me to discover new things over the past couple of years. If you like this site and want to help it grow, then $1 a month isn’t really asking too much. You’ll spend more than $12 on a mediocre movie or a couple of fancy coffees.
To everyone complaining about the $8k/month cost, remember that no one is asking you for $8k. $12/year seems like a small amount for something of value.
I think that part of the discouragement is the unrealistic goal. I am sure that CGPress executives are able to average monthly unique visitor count, look up some statistics about how much people tend to donate in general, and do some math to come up with realistic goal expectation.
People who are interested in the specific choice of CG packages CGpress reports about, and are interested in frequent news about them are rather small crowd, so I would be very surprised if even $800/month came out as a realistic expectation out of the calculation described above, let alone $8000/month.
As you can see, you can probably already tell it’s not going to happen, especially since donation intensity tends to drop off exponentially with time, and the prime time is already a few days past.
And that brings me back to my first sentence – the unrealistic goal is discouraging. I am sure that not only I, but many others feel like there is no point in fighting a fight that is already lost. If the goal was a more realistic one, and we could see that it has actual chance of being reached, then it would actually become worth the effort and money.
Exactly, Ludvik, these are also my concerns. I see zero chance in reaching this goal unless you have some big donators (like ADSK, Maxon, Adobe,…). With mostly freelancers and small studios donating, this is far out of reach.
“It’s either 8000$/month or we close the site” isn’t helping either. This site was “free” for years, and announcing now that you will discontinue right away unless 8000$ a month come in… that’s just making it worth, adding up to what Ludvik said: “There is no point in fighting a fight that is already lost”.
How about starting smaller, set realistic goals, milestones. 500$ a month and the site will continue, 2k a month and there will be reviews, 4k … etc.
It was not totally obvious that this about a *monthly* commitment. In other words: a subscription. Given how many other news outlets struggle with this approach I think the goal set here is rather unrealistic.
What is wrong with including some advertisement on the main page, for example? If similarweb.com is correct, cgpress.org has about 300k visits a month. That should make for some nice ad revenue…? Not that I am a big fan of ads but if money is tight, this seems to be a reasonable solution?
I don’t mind seeing ads if they are CG related with good offers. Like other have said, 8K a month doesn’t feel very realistic.
Quite a lot of the stories here are about commercial companies, be it about newly available software/updates, studio breakdowns etc which is basically free advertising you’re giving away, there should be a way to monetize that.
I find your lack of faith disturbing.
Ahh, you must be Mr Stevens, head of catering! (bonus points for those who get this 🙂
The Patreon link doesn’t seem to work anymore? Also, searching for ‘CGPress’ doesn’t bring up any results, has the campaign been cancelled?
I agree with Srlebed,
one or two dollar isn`t much. No idea how many people visit the site frequently. I guess enough to reach the goal.
But now the patreon campaign disappeared. Maybe by the lack of response?
@ CGPress. Thanks for all the hard work you put into the site. It’s one of my frequently checked adresses. I wish you all the luck!
Maybe some other options would be nice. Like paypal donation. I personally find anykind of subscription not appealing, even if i pay less (per year) compared to occasionally requests. It is more a psychological thing. One has a lot of ties and contracts everywhere. It feels like a burden to keep track of all those things and at the same time being aware of any potential traps. I think many would like to give something, but no additional subscriptions, sign ups ect. Deeply felt digital persona exhaustion syndrome. (No natvie speaker, sorry)
Hi everyone, thanks so much to those who donated and for the words of of support. Just to keep you updated, we cancelled the campaign once it became clear the target would not be met to ensure that those who had pledged amounts would not be charged.
We’re talking now about alternative ways to keep the site going, so please bear with us. More information soon!
Just a note, this news post currently does not appear in the other channels (e.g. 3ds max). Might be limiting the exposure.
I’m keen to contribute if you find a way. This site is the best for CG news updates and it would be great to see it expanded.
It would be a very good idea to clarify if this campaign is a monthly thing.
Personally I really don’t get it how are you people coming to the conclusion that it’s 8k/month request ???
Nothing in the CGPress statement suggests such thing.
They are asking for $8000 to be able to continue their work. Period.
It’s unbelievable how quickly people get into judgement when they realize that something they’ve been using for free (for years) actually involves a lot of work and effort which clearly deserves remuneration.
You don’t want to pay $1? Just don’t. But whining and discouraging others with
smart-ass suggestions… It’s just so weak.
Hey Mr. Freedom, it seems like you are quickly judging everyone’s mis-understanding on the payment.
I recall the wording on the website made it very confusing as to whether CGPress was needing 8k per month vs 8k in total. I had numerous people thinking the same thing, including myself. I gladly would donate to the website. However it was discouraging to think they needed 8k a month to keep running, BUT now knowing that it was 8k in total, that changes my perception.
Keep in mind the audience of people confused by this wording are the same people dealing with the disastrous perpetual licensing scheme autodesk is dumping on everyone. People don’t want to even pay $$$ a month for 3ds Max.
I wouldn’t be surprised if CGPress ran another campaign and just pledged for a total of 8k and removed any funky wording that he would raise more money than previously seen. I’m not saying they would for sure reach their goal, but it would be a much more clear.
Even after numerous comments from people wondering about why they need 8k a MONTH, not a single one of the cgpress staff objected or explained it was meant to be “in total”. So it’s safe to assume they meant 8k a month. Furthermore, a patreon page is all about recurring MONTHLY payments – so it makes no sense to let people subscribe per month and just assume they all get it that it’s meant to add up to 8k a year. Makes no sense.
If they actually really meant to only get 8k in total then they failed completely to clarify, up to this date – there is still no indidication about that.
I agree with you completely. I wouldn’t be surprised if they meant 8k a month.
I like this site, and I understand that you’d like to monetize it instead of doing everything for free. You canceled the funding campaign which probably makes sense but you could still have a donate button. (Paypal or whatever like 3d-plugins.de does.) I know that site doesn’t get much from that donate button, but something is better than nothing. And I agree with some of the others, you should expand advertising on the site. At this point, it’s so ubiquitous that people are accustomed to it.
Sorry — I misremembered that plugin news website’s name… it’s http://www.maxplugins.de….
I’ve had it bookmarked for so many years, that I forgot the proper name. (Very useful site for those who don’t know about it.)
Matt, the donate button at maxplugins.de would have a problem raising $8 a month, let alone the $8000 that was originally the CGPress plan :o)
Hi everyone, first of all thanks for all the feedback, offers to help out, advice and comments. To clarify, our original intention was to raise 8K a month to substantially expand the site and make sure that new staff were fairly compensated for their work.
When it became clear early on that the campaign wasn’t going to work out, we had to step back and reconsider. Following much deliberation there’s been a change in management and site will continue. You can read a bit more about it here: https://cgpress.org/archives/site-update.html
Cheers,
Paul Roberts – Editor in Chief