The Cost of Running this Site

When Rotation.org first began, it was all done out of the pocket of its founder. Then a few friends chipped in to help pay the web-hosting bills. As we've expanded, the webhosting bills have grown quite a bit. The servers behind our Lesson Exchange are powerful and feature amazing software. And some of the special scripting at this site is done by professional web folks. Still, the technical stuff doesn't cost as much as you would think... about $2000 a year.

Our biggest commitment of funds is to pay for our coordinators. They deal with requests for help that flood this site. They also keep the volunteer Board of Directors organized. One of our Coordinators' biggest contribution is toward the Writing Team which produces free Rotation curriculum each year. We pay our coordinators to manage the volunteer writers and professionally edit the "free" lessons. Of course, the Wezemans are professional writers and editors! So we feel we're getting a bargain.

From time to time we spend money to create content that directly benefits the users of this site. For example, the free Flash presentation was paid for out of the Fund. Rounding out our annual expenses are things like accounting and tax expenses, and expenses related to our annual board meeting.

In 2008 and 2009 we began producing "free" online Teacher Training presentations. These presentations can be viewed online or downloaded.

All totaled, it takes about $18,000 a year to operate this site. In 2009-10, we want to raise an additional $5000 to add more free training presentations. Given the large number of people visiting this website and using its materials, we think that's incredibly reasonable amount to ask and shouldn't be hard to raise IF everyone "takes their turn" making a donation.

Many churches put us in their annual budget because they know Rotation.org is saving them a ton of curriculum money, and because they appreciate the mission-forward aspect of what we're trying to do.

Who handles the cash?

Until the Spring of 2005, Shadyside Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh PA faithfully managed the Fund. In the summer of 2005 we incorporated and re-established the Fund under the management of an accounting firm that works with our Treasurer. Donations pay for the Coordinator position, site hosting and domain name services, special projects, the free flash training pieces, accounting costs, plus the occasional need to create or update our website's functionality.

History of Rotation.org

www.rotation.org began in the Fall of 1997 as a means of freely distributing the original Workshop Model Manual produced by Neil MacQueen and Melissa Hansche at the Presbyterian Church of Barrington Illinois. Neil created the website and posted the manual along with a few articles and some free lesson plans. (The manual has since evolved into a book published by Geneva Press). Click here for a more detailed history of the Rotation model and movement.

As the Internet began to flourish, several of us who were contributing content to rotation.org recognized the great potential of an Internet site to inform, resource, and create connections between Rotation educators. The website was also an answer to the small avalanche of phonecalls about the Rotation Model that Neil and other churches were experiencing.

1999 saw Rotation churches contributing a ton of free lesson materials. In the summer of '99 an email newsletter and Web bulletin board were added. The "Ideas Exchange" bulletin board and Lessons Exchange are designed to explore something completely new in Christian Education: using web technology to allow educators to share with each other.

In 1999 and 2000 the site grew and grew, not only in content, but in the number of people who were using it. So in 2001, Neil and several other educators started the Rotation.org Fund so that we could afford the expanding site and make much needed improvements. At that time the Fund was accounted for by a volunteer church which held the bag for us, received contributions and paid the bills. At about that same time the Rotation.org Advisory Team was created. This is a group of 3 Rotation.org users and Christian educators who work on a consensus basis to spend the money, establish policies and practices. Membership on the Team was by the invitation of previous Team members, and terms last for two or three years. In 2002 a generous grant from 1st Pres Birmingham Michigan allowed us to add a part-time Coordinator position and update the Lesson Exchange software. Since then Rotation.org has made an annual appeal to the "Friends of Rotation.org" via email that allows us to continue the Coordinator position and maintain the website. In 2004 we were able to hire a part-time "Exchange Gardener" to help clean up the message boards and reorganize them. In 2004, over a dozen volunteer gardeners (moderators) took on "upkeep" responsibilities for various areas of the Exchange. In 2005 Rotation.org Inc. was created as a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. We are now overseen by a five-member board and have a CPA firm managing the Fund and auditing the account.

In 2007 the board began planning for an ambitious series of online training "flash" presentations. These presentations can be viewed at home or church, and they are completely free to everyone thanks to the faithful donations of our contributors. The first presentation introducing the model to your volunteers appeared in 2008. In 2009 we'll release a presentation about Training Your Teachers.

Rotation.org is not only a resource, it is a radical experiment in resourcing -supported by volunteers. We are demonstrating a new way of creating curriculum and sharing resources with each other. And we continue to push the envelope.

Rotation.org is not officially affiliated with any one particular Rotation group.

Rotation.org is not connected with any publisher, denomination, and is not officially connected to "Lord and King" (aka Children's Ministries of America) -a which offers national rotation conferences. Rotation.org is not officially connected with Sunday Software Inc. whose owner (Neil MacQueen) originally created the rotation.org website and who is on the Rotation.org Board of Directors. 

There is no fee to belong to the Rotation.org community. It's open to all.

Who owns the domain name and the materials?

Neil MacQueen is the registered domain name owner for www.rotation.org. In 2005, Neil transferred rights to the domain name to Rotation.org Inc and the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors approves all expenses and manages the Fund.  ALL materials at this website belong to the author(s) named with each piece. They have complete copyright control over their work and can request that it be deleted or modified at anytime. At NO time will the information gathered at this site (currently only via the email news subscriptions) be used for commercial purposes.

8 ways you can support Rotation.org:

1. Share lesson materials by posting them in the Lesson Exchange.

2. Browse postings and add your ideas to others.

3. Join the Volunteer Writing Team.

4. Make a donation to continue to maintain and improve this website.

5. Make a larger donation to continue the ministry of our Part-time Resource Coordinator.

6. Suggest new topics, changes and additions to the Ideas Exchange message boards and the Articles database.

7. Contribute your creative Rotation photos.

8. Add your church's name and contact info to the CONTACT directory here so that others in your area can connect with you.

For more information about any of these items, email our Resource Coordinator.

Question about Supporting this Website? Contact We-support@rotation.org

Click here to read the Rotation.org Mission Statement

Carol Hulbert, President
Tanja Rouintree, Treasurer
Jaymie Derden, Secretary
Ken and Phyllis Wezeman, Rotation.org Coordinators, coordinator@rotation.org

Neil MacQueen, webmaster