Before we register.....

[Guest Bignose]

We have spent some time on the geocaching web site. It seems very well thought out and is very helpful to newbies like us. The high quality of the web site is one of the reasons that we are interested in geocaching. We are going to start hiding and finding as soon as we figure out which gps to buy. But we would like to know more about the geocaching organization before registering our personal information. We are curious about why the web site is a ".com" and not an ".org". Are you (the web site) a commercial business? If so, is there an affiliation with any of the equipment manufacturers or vendors? If you are a profit-making business, what's up with donations being solicited through Amazon by means of that little button at the bottom of some pages. If you are non-profit, are those donations deductible? We don't mean to be nosy. Just want to know more about what we will be associated with before we register. Thanks.

[Guest cache_ninja]

howdy,

here's some info, although i'm sure jeremy will answer this as well...

 

www.geocaching.org leads you to www.geocaching.com, so it is registered as a .org however, i dont think, as of yet, its a non-profit per se. you should realize that geocaching is less than a year old, and this site, even newer, so if jeremy has applied for non-profit status w/the u.s. gov, it could take awhile.

 

the donations go directly to maintaining and improving the site, jeremy has put a gigantic amount of time and work into the url, which is a costly affair... there are some cool features, mapping and such, that haven't been realized yet becuase they are quite expensive etc. as far as i know, there is no commercial connection w/geocaching.com and any particular company, in fact, a decision to remove all ads was made awhile back...i hope this all helps a bit

 

c/n

[Guest jeremy]

Donations are not deductible. However, folks don't pay to play the game, so it's up to you whether you want to help me pay for server space, machine upgrades, bandwidth, etc. For instance, I'm trying to raise funds for a map server.

 

Geocaching.com is owned by Grounded, Inc, which is a commercial company. The Geocaching site is a not profit, meaning it makes no money. (seriously, as for now it is a for-profit). As of yet I'm not sure whether it will eventually be an org or a com, so I have both registered. Dot com was initially registered because people know it more than any other domain.

 

It's a part time job for me, so I haven't really put much thought into it. You're welcome to play, not play, support, or offer nothing. I'll still run the site for folks who want to play.

 

Jeremy

[Guest jeremy]

One more thing. If you have any concerns about Grounded, Inc. giving out your information, etc., check out the privacy policy on the login page (click on "my cache page") - It's pretty thorough.

 

Jeremy

[Guest Krepism]

Donations are not deductible. However, folks don't pay to play the game, so it's up to you whether you want to help me pay for server space, machine upgrades, bandwidth, etc. For instance, I'm trying to raise funds for a map server.

 

Jeremy,

Are looking for software and a server or just software? If you need a server let me know, depending on what you need for power, I may be able to help. Let me know if you want, off line, krepism@yahoo.com. I have allot of older servers just sitting around.