[Fundraising] Initial Meeting

[Frank Warmerdam]

R. Paul Warriner wrote:
> Food for thought:
> 
> On "Individual Donations", the following was taken from 
> https://www.groundspring.org/learningcenter/groundspring-handbook.pdf
> 
> While Surfrider didn?t
> keep detailed stats on their online fundraising;
> at the time of this writing, as of spring 2001,
> over 5,300 members had signed up or renewed
> online. At the minimum $25 gift level, that?s
> $132,500, although a few donations have come
> in at the $1,000 lifetime membership level! The
> site is Surfrider?s #1 source of memberships ? and
> memberships are the #1 source of revenue for
> Surfrider.
> 
> With a goal of $200,000 thrown out for good measure, is this an area we 
> are short changing?

Paul,

The $25 "minimum gift" in this case sounds essentially like a membership
fee.  And Surfrider is a foundation for an entertainment activity, not
a professionally related activity.

I guess that I'm afraid that "going to the members" for funding is going
to be off-putting to those who are interested in participating.  I know I
am leery of organizations that seem to see me as an income source, rather
than a resource for participation.

If I were a user of OSGeo software at a company, city, NGO, or whatever, I
think I would also be put off to have it suggested that I should be personally
paying to support the organization that brings me that software, instead of
having my employer pay it.

On the other hand, I have no objection to some sort of convenient donations
link on the web site.  I think there is also potential in an optional
"paid membership" that is essentially a donation, but that folks might
be able to get their employer to pay for them.  I'd be interested in thoughts
on how that could be expressed such that employers would see it as a
reasonable expense to cover.

Best regards,
-- 
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I set the clouds in motion - turn up   | Frank Warmerdam, warmerdam at pobox.com
light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
and watch the world go round - Rush    | President OSGF, http://osgeo.org