[openbeos] Re: "One Hour for Haiku" - Coordinating Voluntary Cash Donors

  • From: Simon Porter <hailstorm@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <openbeos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2007 17:34:28 +0000

Hi,
 
I did mention having a way of regularly donating to the project a long while 
ago but nothing came of it. I do like the idea of "One Hour for Haiku". People 
only need donate a small amount each and it can turn into quite a sizeable 
income for the project.
 
I don't think sending out emails to a list of subscribers every month is 
necessary. As Michael mentioned you can subscribe through Paypal if its set up 
with a button on the site.
 
Another thing I think people appreciate is some rough idea of how much money 
the project currently has and what its being used for. Maybe even set a goal to 
aim for each month like enough to pay for 1 developer to work on haiku full 
time. It was nice to see axel get paid to work full time a while ago. I think 
seeing such direct results would encourage people to donate.
 
Navigation to the donation page seems pretty hidden as well. Could do with a 
link on the home page.
 
Regards,
 
Simon Porter
> Date: Fri, 27 Apr 2007 09:54:38 -0700> From: czapla@xxxxxxxxxxxx> To: 
> openbeos@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Subject: [openbeos] Re: "One Hour for Haiku" - 
> Coordinating Voluntary Cash Donors> > Hello, again.> > I'm thankful for the 
> generally warm reception that my proposal has > received.> > Several of the 
> responses have taken my simple proposal as a point of > departure, proceeding 
> to elaborate more general ideas about > organizational development and the 
> process of institutional maturation, > all of which is interesting and 
> hopeful and potentially fruitful for the > future of the project. Clearly, 
> Haiku has many dedicated and thoughtful > caretakers, most especially among 
> the core contributors.> > But it would be a mistake to pose these various 
> elaborations as > *prerequisites* to implementation of a simple membership 
> donation > program like One Hour for Haiku. I must argue that it would be 
> more > useful to think -- contrariwise -- of the membership donation program 
> as > part of a *foundation* that could ultimately permit greater > 
> organizational capabilities and maturity through improved financial > 
> wherewithal.> > Keeping it simple, what I am proposing is really just an 
> addition to the > Haiku website.> > Specifically: On the Donations page > 
> (http://haiku-os.org/community/donating_to_haiku), add a new paragraph > 
> between "Donating Electronically" and "Other Donations". Give it the > 
> heading: "One Hour for Haiku - Making Regular Donations". Offer a brief > 
> description under the heading and present a link to a registration form > (as 
> well as a link to a Current Donors page). The registration link > navigates 
> to a form which solicits this information from the new > registrant: Name; 
> Nickname; Email Address; Country. Successful > submission of registration 
> data leads to a "Thank You" page, which also > includes a link to the Donor 
> Listing page.> > On the backend, registration data is stored in a simple 
> database table > with perhaps six columns (IdentityKey, Name, Nick, Email, 
> Country, > Datestamp). The Donor Listing page would draw data from this table 
> for > its list of current registrants. Code that sends out automated emails > 
> monthly would draw recipient address data from this table. The email > body 
> content for the next mailing could reside in a text file somewhere > on the 
> server, accessible to whomever for revisions as desired. (Even an > 
> unchanging "form letter" would suffice for the email body content, > 
> certainly at the beginning.) Finally, some mechanism to permit > 
> "unregistration" could be provided for persons who wish to opt out.> > I 
> suspect that this isn't exactly trivial in terms of coding, but > wouldn't it 
> be worthwhile? Is anyone with web development skills > available and 
> interested in pursuing such an implementation? Do the > official gatekeepers 
> of the Haiku website agree that this would be a > beneficial addition to the 
> site?> > Publicizing One Hour for Haiku could come a little later. Stories at 
> > OSNews, HaikuNews, BeGroovy, and similar venues would help get the word > 
> out. I really do believe that there are many people who would be happy > to 
> learn about a new way that they can make a significant contribution > to the 
> future of Haiku -- even though (like myself) they cannot write > code (yet). 
> And nearly everyone likes to *belong*, so the membership > angle holds 
> considerable appeal in and of itself.> > I suppose that I am arguing for 
> focus at this point: Make a well-defined > addition to the Haiku website as 
> described above, and then spread the > word. That's all. When a more stable 
> revenue stream becomes established > as a result, then further organizational 
> development (hiring, bounties, > etc.) becomes more feasible.> > Best 
> wishes,> > Czeslaw> > > > > Czeslaw Czapla wrote:> > Home » Community » 
> Donating to Haiku...> > > > > > Hello, Haiku friends.> > > > I have a modest 
> proposal regarding fundraising that I would like to > > submit for general 
> consideration and discussion in this forum. My wish > > would be to see some 
> (likely improved) variation on the proposal adopted > > by the Haiku project 
> in the end and implemented on the Haiku website. I > > think that the 
> potential material benefits to the project would be > > sufficient to warrant 
> the investment of initial effort for the > > implementation.> > > > Here is a 
> bit of background to my proposal. Over the past couple years, > > ever since 
> Haiku Inc. obtained its tax classification status as a > > not-for-profit 
> corporation under US law, I have personally made a few > > cash donations, 
> but only a few, perhaps three or four. I might have made > > many more 
> donations than I did make if only I had *thought* of it more > > often. Many 
> of us are busy with our work, our studies, our loved ones, > > raising 
> children, etc., so that we fail to remember to support more > > faithfully 
> the public-good efforts that are close to our hearts, like > > the Haiku 
> project.> > > > My proposal boils down to this: implement an automated email 
> reminder > > service for voluntary cash donors to Haiku Inc.> > > > The 
> program would be called "One Hour for Haiku". The idea is that any > > person 
> who wishes to volunteer to become a regular monthly cash donor to > > Haiku 
> Inc. could sign up (through a link on the donations page on the > > website) 
> as a member of One Hour for Haiku. By signing up with One Hour > > for Haiku, 
> a person would be making a (self-monitored) pledge to make a > > free-will 
> cash donation to Haiku Inc. once each month in the amount of > > one hour's 
> earnings from paid employment. This figure (one hour's > > earnings) could be 
> calculated from one's own actual income, or from an > > assessment of 
> prevailing wages in one's industry or community, or simply > > from one's 
> best guess at an affordable amount that could be donated > > monthly by 
> oneself on a sustainable basis. The idea is that a donor > > would be 
> pledging effectively to work one hour each month *for Haiku*, > > hence the 
> name of the program. (Another way for non-coders to "work for" > > Haiku!)> > 
> > > (Etc., usw., ecc.)> 
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