I answered some of your questions below, when I go through the thread again I may answer more. I already know I'll never make all of you happy so I'll do the best I can.
1. Kicking out so called freeloader members.
In order to have a thriving message board you have to have members, the more members the better. I am not a bill collector and I don't want to come across as a bill collector. If a person can't pay and he needs extra time, I give it to him without that person giving me a lot of explanation. There is nothing worse than a grown ass man having to explain his financial situation to another man, it doesn't sit well with me, so if a member needs more time I give it to him. Most times they will pay in the time frame promised, sometimes they don't. I don't sweat it.
2. Damn HNIC you lied to me I thought this was for the server. 
when I first started donations in March 2008 that was the deal, I just got tired of paying those fees out of my pocket and I was tired of begging for donations monthly to get up the server bill. So the donation program solved that problem.
Running this message board is a full time job and it needs to generate enough income to support one black man and his son. I need to generate an additional 2-3 thousand a month to live a decent life and do the board upgrades with ease. Since I am self employed and have been since 1998 I don't carry any bills other than utilities, I never want to put myself in a situation where I have to get a job, so I have always kept my expenses low. This is what I do.
3. HNIC when you gonna fix this bitch
Well I'm looking to start soon, I tried the Vbulletin upgrade a few years ago and it was a disaster. I think since then they have fixed all of the bugs with the software and I'm going to give it another try. I'll have someone do the install for me and get someone a lot smarter than me to tweak it.
After the upgrade I'll see how the search function works and go from there. As far as the current search is concerned, it kind of is what it is, I don't know how to tweak it. I see a lot of other forums use google search, but I thing google will not let an adult website use their service. I'll know more when I investigate it further.
4. Hey HNIC why should I pay $20 when this other Kat is paying $10
The new donation amount is $20 a year, but just as sure as I'm sitting here I knew there would be a loud vocal group complaining about the change. I wasn't disappointed.
At the end of the day you have to keep as many members as you can to maintain the board flow. You can't just say "fuck them assholes, if they don't pay the $20 fuck em." I had to give them a way to tell me to fuck off and still maintain a membership on the board. There is no need for any member to be pissed off about the increase, just pay the $10 and keep it moving.
What I do know is that we have a lot of mature and business minded brothers who understand what I'm dealing with. You have to generate enough money to take care of yourself and your business. It's not the members job to make you rich, but all entrepreneurs should strive to be comfortable. To generate enough income for themselves and be able to invest back into their business.
This board may not be as great as it was in the past, but it is a success and it will always be a success. There is no reason I should have to apologize for wanting the basics for myself and the business.
HNIC
You can make 5 million a year, but at some point, 5 million a year just ain't enough money.
