[OSGeo-Discuss] Membership fee (was: Proposed process for selecting OSGeo charter members)

[Mateusz Łoskot]

On 24 June 2014 12:52, Jorge Gaspar Sanz Salinas <jsanz at osgeo.org> wrote:
> El 24/06/14 12:33, Mateusz Łoskot escribió:
>>
>> I still can't comprehend what actually is being objected in the proposal
>> of membership fee.
>> Moreover, I can't understand how the fact members financially support their
>> organisation stands in contradiction with active volunteer-based participation.
>>
>> What is the actual problem here, act of paying or amount or anything else?
>>
>
> The problem I think is that we are talking about the membership, about
> putting money as a requirement, instead of recognition being elected by
> your peers.

Right, that is something, an actual topic that we can discuss about.

IMHO, simple "Donate" button does not really provoke a deeper reflection
that would potentially lead to concious decision "Yes, I want to donate".
That is because there "Donate" button these days work like
JustGiving.com calls from friends on social networks...
one would have to be a billionaire to be able to donate everyone!

So, my understanding is that we are considering to add
for-fee membership as a form of regular donation that also allows
us to predict cash flow and budget.

I would suggest to stop thinking of such paid OSGeo membership
in terms of memberships to other professional organisations like
AGI, AAG, etc. Those are not even remotely linked to OSGeo.

Would we ever prevent anyone from attending the OSGeo AGM
if she has not paid a membership?
Would we ever consider paid OSGeo AGM?

Shortly, I see nothing wrong in expecting as an organisation
that if an individual aims and agrees to be nominated for
OSGeo Charter Member she/he also agrees to donate on yearly/monthly basis.


>> What if we've never considered the membership fee and instead
>> we (the OSGeo) would be issuing regular calls on the mailing list:
>>
>> """
>> People, this month's bill for svn.osgeo.org is due.
>> Who's paying this time, any ***volunteers***?
>> """
>>
>
> Ha! Not exactly that, but maybe doing better outreach effort to show
> where the money is used would help to a better understanding of the need
> of funds.
>
> Budgets are published and anyone willing to ask can reach them, but
> maybe being more proactive on showing the need for money could help to
> increase the perception that maintaining OSGeo is not free (as free beer).

Yes, but that is more a technical issue. So, it's the easiest one to
solve, I think.

Best regards,
-- 
Mateusz  Łoskot, http://mateusz.loskot.net