Heck, their "usual" lifetime deal is pretty sweet at just $99.99 ... annually it's $19.99, and monthly it's $5.00 ... but at fifty bucks you're getting "forever" for the cost of two and a half years at the annual rate (and less than a year at the monthly rate).
WitchSchool has been in business for 8 years now, so it's not a flash-in-the-pan. The problem is that they're running the school (via their proprietary software) on a server that's almost that old, and the expansion that's been being driven by the new Ning site (largely built by yours truly) has been pushing it beyond it's capabilities. They don't need a ton of money, but what they need, they need now.
If you've got "witchy" friends, you can also buy gift memberships ... do go check it out!