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NoDogma
USA
123 Posts |
 Posted - Feb 20 2015 : 9:37:53 PM
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I briefly looked and could've missed it.
Is AYP (being non profit, an hence not required) publishing annual expenses, income, projected needs (including expansion plans) ?
Initially I just bought books thinking that's the way to give reasonable support. Then this year donated 100 because I heard that cost structure for non AYPers is quite a bit.
Most of the followers might not be rich because they don't want work as primary achievement (I.e. they're not after money ) but some might be able to contribute a lot more if they see numbers.
If I had more money ( possible a year from now) , I will donate more if I know numbers involved.
Thanks,
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yogani
USA
5238 Posts |
Posted - Feb 20 2015 : 11:45:08 PM
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Hi NoDogma and All:
Thank you for your support, and inquiry and concern in this area. There are some things I would like to share on past history and future plans, aiming to improve the quality and sustainability of the AYP knowledge resources long term, and what everyone can do to help.
AYP is not a non-profit entity simply because I know the ins and outs of a regular corporate structure much better from my previous career, and it was relatively easy to set AYP up as a US small business corporation when the need arose a few years ago. Before that it was simply a self-employment set-up. It was switched to a corporation so AYP could continue to operate as a legal entity with its various internet, publishing and distribution contracts after my death, and there is a succession plan for handling those things involving my family.
Even though AYP is not non-profit, it has never made a profit, not in the 11+ years it has been in existence. In the early years AYP was funded out of my pocket. All funding that has come in since then has gone back into the many projects we have undertaken. AYP has been supported mainly by book sales, and with occasional donations. It has also been supported with donated time from many who have helped along the way. And for all of this I am very grateful.
But financially it has always been touch and go, with expenses barely being covered. Over the past year, book sales have declined substantially, so we are facing increasing financial uncertainly this year.
However, since the last Enlightenment Series books were published in 2012, we have been working on developing a greatly expanded online subscription version of AYP called "AYP Plus," which will include all the ebooks (15) and audiobooks (11) in online streaming mode, with multi-media, customized lesson topic paths, many more new features, and extensive additions to the online lessons surpassing all that has been published before by a significant margin. So far it is about 5000 easily accessible pages!
It is my intention to continue adding to the lessons in AYP Plus as long as I am able. It has been a mountain of work over the past couple of years and is finally approaching a level of completion suitable for launch in a few months. The subscription is planned to be $10 per month for unlimited access to everything in AYP Plus, including ongoing additions and support from here.
It is hoped that AYP Plus will draw enough subscribers to offset the decline in book sales we have seen, and provide funding for ongoing improvements in the subscription environment. The connection between book sales and what we have been doing for free online has always been uncertain and unpredictable. The plan with AYP Plus will be for online subscription revenues to go directly back into improving the online subscription service. It will be a much more direct relationship between practitioner financial support via subscriptions and the services we will continue to provide online.
The current plan is to not change any of the AYP free resources, which we would like to keep available for the tens of thousands of self-directed practitioners who visit AYP every month. But everyone should understand that my activity will be focused primarily on AYP Plus going forward, so we will have an opportunity to develop the ongoing subscriber support necessary to sustain and grow the AYP resources. I used to think it could be done with book sales alone, while continuing to expand everything else for free online, but it has not worked out that way, so we are changing the business model accordingly.
Give us a few months to polish things up, and then I hope everyone will find AYP Plus to be a useful full-service online resource worth a few dollars per month to be a part of. That is where the action will be going forward, and hopefully the financial stability will be there too for supporting ongoing improvements.
In the meantime, the many titles, editions and distribution channels for the AYP books continue to be there, and all purchases are most appreciated, as are donations of money and/or time according to value you feel you have received from AYP. We hope to be doing a lot more when AYP Plus comes online, so stay tuned.
Many thanks, and all the best!
The guru is in you.
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BlueRaincoat
United Kingdom
1734 Posts |
Posted - Feb 21 2015 : 08:16:05 AM
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Hi Yogani
Wondering if you've give any thought yet to international payments when AYP Plus comes live.
I am intending to subscribe to AYP Plus, although I have to say I am not exactly looking forward to setting up a direct debit to a bank account abroad. PayPal charges more reasonable fees, but then it would have to be done manually every month.
Any chance there might be an AYP UK bank account? Then the international transfer charges would have to be paid for one account only. (That, of course, assuming there would be a number of us in the UK joining AYP Plus) |
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yogani
USA
5238 Posts |
Posted - Feb 21 2015 : 5:02:56 PM
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Hi BlueRaincoat:
Paypal can handle automatic recurring payments, as can the other payment processor AYP uses, 2Checkout. These are the two processors we will be using for AYP Plus, which together span the entire globe. Other payment processors can be added later as needed.
Subscriptions with automatic monthly payments will easily be able to be initiated on the AYP Plus sign-up page with either of these two processors, and can be turned off on the Paypal or 2Checkout websites. We will also be able to turn off recurring subscription payments from the AYP end. So subscribing will be easy, as will unsubscribing. AYP will keep no financial information on its own server. Everything will be handled through the secure transaction systems of Paypal and 2Checkout, both which are leaders in the field.
As you know, Paypal reaches many countries, but not all. 2Checkout reaches many more countries, including most that Paypal does not cover. So I think we are in pretty good shape for processing international subscriptions, where just about any credit or debit card anywhere in the world can be used. And in the case of Paypal, there is also the option to use a bank account linked to the Paypal account.
It took a lot of research and development to set up the technical aspects of AYP Plus. Subscription processing was only part of it. We also had to solve many technical issues for facilitating easy and integrated access to the vast amount of content on the site. Happily, the technical aspects are in pretty good shape now, so the main focus these days is on continuing to expand the AYP content, something that brings me great joy. It is amazing the amount of logistical and technical stuff we have had to go through to get to focusing full time on the actual thing that AYP is about -- the content, and support of practitioners! But now we have it... 
Thanks, and all the best!
The guru is in you.
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BlueRaincoat
United Kingdom
1734 Posts |
Posted - Feb 22 2015 : 06:58:49 AM
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Sounds great - very thorough planning.
Thank you Yogani!  |
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NoDogma
USA
123 Posts |
Posted - Feb 25 2015 : 4:24:53 PM
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Yogani,
thanks much for the very detailed reply.. and all the efforts.
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Is there any information on annual expenses, losse
