Yesterday we kicked off the WinCustomize Charity & Subscription Drive, a direct and coordinated appeal to the community to both support this site, and to support a good cause; Childs Play. The response in the first 24 hours has been fantastic. We set a goal of 2,000 new/renewing subscriptions, and $5,000 for charity. Here's where we stand as of 8am today:

• Subscriptions: 67 (3.35% of goal)
• Charity Dollars Raised: $228.82 (4.58% of goal)

If we can maintain the pace set yesterday for the duration of the drive (Nov 1 - Dec 14) then we'll end up with over 2400 subscriptions and nearly $8,500 raised for Childs Play! We have 43 days left, and the holidays are approaching, so I'm hopeful we can keep it up.

I'm sure some of you are asking "Why should I subscribe?" and the answer is actually pretty simple: To support a site that provides a service you enjoy and find useful, as well as to support a wonderful community of some of the most outstanding people you're likely to find anywhere on the Internet.

WinCustomize is primarily funded through two sources: Subscriptions & advertising. Many sites go the 100% advertising route and the result is pages covered top to bottom with ads. Pop-ups. Pop-unders. Those annoying ads that slide over the page content and are hard to close etc. You would be surprised how well those ads pay to be honest. But even though we could be making a lot more if we went the full ad route, that would turn WinCustomize into a site even we wouldn't want to visit.

So we need those subscriptions. It lets us continue to provide and expand the services we offer (file hosting, forums, bandwidth for downloads, a sales channel for Master Skinners etc). As the site grows, it takes more developers, more servers and more bandwidth, and that all is expensive. Each subscription helps us keep developing and improving the site.

Support the site, support Childs Play. Buy a subscription or a Master Skin from this page:

https://www.wincustomize.com/charity.aspx