Your Small Change Can Make A Big Change Happen

Why we are asking for donations? We wanted to take a moment to try and explain...

You may see we've added some donation buttons to the site. If not here they are:

But why have we resorted to asking for donations?

Well this goes back to our original intentions to make this a completely free information site.

Admittedly some services we provide actually promote businesses in the DR or products that come form the DR and thus help the local economy, and we are very happy, whenever we have the opportunity, to contribute in such a way, especially in these globally difficult economic times. So that is not going to change...

But what has happened is the last few years is that we realized how 'vulnerable' we are to the vagaries of the 'Big Boys' who rule the 'Search Engine' roost! (i.e. the BIG 'G' and we don't mean God -- although they sometimes seem to act as if they are!)

In the Search Engine giant's ongoing objective of weeding out poor internet material and 'improving' search results for all (which, if it actually appeared to be true, would be commendable)-- they have moved to prioritize large websites (such as Wikipedia! and other so-called 'curation' sites despite many of them being dubiously engineered to attract your 'click') and have taken measures that have virtually 'killed off' small-time web-masters, with limited financial resources, like us!

Whilst we were well aware that there were many mediocre and almost worthless 'cloned' websites featuring poorly written or simply 'stolen' material proliferating on the Web (some even stole our own original content!)... we had hoped that our earnest effort to maintain a degree of quality would keep us 'safe enough'. Sadly this has not proven to be the case.

We Do care!

The fact that we have worked hard to be original, real and we do care -- counts for nothing with 'Big G' of course! BUT We hope it MAY mean something to you...

Due to Search Engine changes dating back as far as mid October 2011 (some of you may have heard of Mr.Panda!), and other changes in 2012 (yes the ludicrously named Penguin update!), we lost a lot of our typical regular traffic and many of our coveted and may we say deserved, premier places in many search results. But that traffic is what allows us to maintain and develop the site -- in so far as it generates revenue from advertising clicks.

BUT... We NEVER liked featuring ads, yet it seemed a necessary evil and it did produce enough income to maintain the site, pay the hosting, pay for 'some' of the many hours put into the development of material and article writing, editing, research -- etc., etc., etc...

BUT this has now been cut-off solely through the actions of 'the Big Boys' effectively bullying the little guys like us.

But rather than cry over spilt milk we determined to free ourselves from the shackles of the economic ties with 'they who shall remain nameless'... and work towards getting rid of all advertising from the site (unless it appertains to genuine Dominican products, businesses, arts or crafts -- and are ads created by us for our contacts and friends in the Dominican Republic).

Every Little Helps!

In order to do this we therefore decided that if even if only 20% of our valued visitors to the site could let us have just a tiny donation -- perhaps just a dollar... we could not only afford to maintain the site, promote worthy causes relating to the Dominican Republic and 'give back' more where it counts... we could ALSO dump the 'advertising' platform that now gives so little and may even have been a cause for our site to lose some of its traction in the SERPs!! (What's that you ask? Search Engine Results Pages!!).

If YOU can help us NOW by throwing in a few cents -- we will be genuinely grateful... And we will aim to become 'ad free' as soon as it is financially viable.

Should we reach the point where we cover our daily costs in running and maintaining the site -- we will use surplus to 'build out' the site further and make it even better, PLUS we commit to giving 25% of what accrues (above and beyond the daily requirements) directly to Dominican charities working to improve the lives of children in the DR. When this begins to happen we will post the information about where the money has gone and the amounts we have donated (on YOUR behalf) right here on this page.

AND If you can give-a-little right now -- here is that button again:

A BIG Thank you to all who help out -- even if you can only spare a dollar, or even 'fiddy-cent'! We sincerely appreciate it.

Al G Smith -- Website Manager
https://www.visiting-the-dominican-republic.com

thanks for donating to visiting the dominican republic

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Copyright: All content on this site © Copyright (2005 - 2022) Al G Smith and Visiting-the-Dominican-Republic.com. No part of this website may be reproduced in any form without prior written permission from the copyright holders. Terms of Use: We try and research our content using reliable sources, and it is provided in good faith, but we can make no guarantee of its currency nor accuracy, nor can we accept liability for any use made of the information featured on this website. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions for improving the site, please feel free to contact us Privacy Policy: We do have forms that may require some personal information such as email to be submitted in order to enable us, or our recommended service provider, to contact and assist you. We do not rent, sell or otherwise compromise the privacy of your contact information. Submission of one of our web forms is an acknowledgement that you have read and accept this policy. Disclosure: For the sake of transparency and in light of recent legislative requirements, it is possible that from time-to-time we may include reviews or promotional articles about products or services from which we might potentially derive a benefit (perhaps in the form of an affiliate fee, or other reward IF a purchase is made). If this is the case, and should you make a purchase after using a link on this site to an outside vendor, we thank you for supporting and enabling the continued maintenance and development of this site by making any such purchase. Please Note: Any fee received is paid by the seller and does not impact adversely on the price paid by the you, as a buyer (that is: the item will cost you the same via any other similar link on any other website, including the vendors own website). You will also notice advertisements on some pages provided through the Google advertising network, or similar organizations, it costs you nothing to visit these links, although we might receive a very small fee for any visit to a website made through these links. But note that they will lead to external websites over which we have no control, and for which we can accept no responsibility. Always do your own due diligence before committing to any purchase. Contact information: If you do need or wish to contact us then you can use our on-site contact form, or you can currently write to us at: Al G Smith -- Website Manager Quinta de Cima Vale De Prazeres 6230-788 Fundao Castelo Branco PORTUGAL

SBI!