[OSGeo-Discuss] Ways to Donate to OSGeo

[Tyler Mitchell]

From my blog: http://bit.ly/osgeodonate1
----

A recent comment was passed along to me suggesting we need to be able to accept micro-donations. Those are donations from anyone except those who use the sponsorship programs.  The good news is we can do it already and have been able to for a while!

Here is a brief overview of the various donation and sponsorship opportunities that exist at OSGeo. Have some special way you want to give something? Drop me a note and we can talk about it.

== Donate Button ==

We have a PayPal "Donate" button on the front page of OSGeo.org. Donors can contribute any amount!
You can also use this URL to accomplish the same thing but using email:
https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=B3JT7BC4W8PNU

We also have a bank account you can direct deposit or wire funds too, though for small amounts most won't want to do this - email me if you do.

== Focused Marketing Funding ==

Local Chapters, and friends, around the world help take OSGeo before more audiences than we know of. You can help them directly by offering to fund many different things, some may only cost $100 or less, others in the thousands: purchase a booth at an industry tradeshow, donate a speaking slot at an event, fund printing of brochures, pay for a printed pop-up banner and more. For some ideas of the kind of marketing material available see this wiki page:
http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Marketing_Material_Samples

You can pay for the purchase directly yourself, or offer to do it through a Local Chapter. Alternately, OSGeo HQ can take help if needed. I have an account with a "cloud-based printing" company from which I can order material and have it printed and shipped locally around the world. If you want to make a donation to fund something in particular, use the donate button and drop me a note.

== Meeting Space ==

Local Chapters may also need someone to just simply donate meeting space. Having a Friday afternoon meet-up at a restaurant is fun, but sometimes a boardroom with projector can really be all that it takes to help a Chapter grow. If you have a room, offer it up, get the kudos (and good P.R.) and help make a difference without having to spend a cent.

Likewise, Local Chapters are often heavily involved in running events (including FOSS4G). The two largest costs to running an event are usually food and meeting space. If you can help with either of these you will be a great asset and worthy of much praise!

I'll do a follow up post on the other ways you can donate but before I sign off please take a moment to check out our Sponsors page[1]  to see the great sponsors that help make the larger funding happen. Their funding has gone toward a hundred different things including: buying booth space, giving OSGeo a presence at events, funding printed material, duplicating OSGeo Live DVDs[2], keeping web services lights on and helping keep our annual events going. Our sponsors are at the forefront of helping fund all our bigger efforts. Thanks a lot!

Stay tuned for part 2...

[1] http://osgeo.org/sponsors
[2] http://live.osgeo.org/