Actually I think this can be an agenda item for next week's meeting: * GNOME Foundation newsletter for prospective/current donors.
On Thu, Apr 24, 2014 at 7:12 AM, Alex G.S. <alxgrtnstr...@gmail.com> wrote: > * Finally, we need data about our existing donors. There needs to be >> a system where we have email and postal addresses so we can contact >> them. We need to know how much they donate and how long they have been >> members for. We need to know how many people are joining/leaving over >> time. We need to know why people are joining/leaving. This will >> require new infrastructure, and we need advice from the board about >> what is technically required and how we can get it. > > > Many non-profits especially those in the arts have opt-in newsletters. I > know that when I go to say, for example, the local symphony's website they > have an email subscription box to sign up for these. If a person donates > or goes to a concert they automatically sign the donor up because they > capture their email address. I think if GNOME was to do something similar, > and of course I could help here, we could start with one newsletter. That > newsletter have a broader focus than just talking about software releases > and it should talk about the foundations activities. > > . One obvious thing we should be doing is >> sending regular updates to donors, probably as an email (I wonder if >> this could be tied in with the annual report somehow - eg. quarterly >> donor updates could be used as the basis for each annual report). > > > The newsletters should be sent frequently but not so often that they > become annoying. I would send a newsletter at least monthly or every two > weeks. That way it becomes a regular thing that the donor looks forward to. > > > On Thu, Apr 24, 2014 at 5:30 AM, Oliver Propst <oliver.pro...@gmail.com>wrote: > >> On Thu, Apr 24, 2014 at 11:13 AM, Allan Day <allanp...@gmail.com> wrote: >> > Oliver Propst <oliver.pro...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> When we are doing a campaign we tend to be very focused on it (thus >> >> busy), and not have the resources to focus on more long term planning. >> >> >> >> Thus its a a good time for us now to think about how we can improve >> >> our fundraising efforts [1]. A great start is to learn how from how >> >> other free/open source projects have conducted their fundraising >> >> campings. >> > ... >> > >> > Thanks for getting this started, Oliver. I've been thinking about this >> > a bit myself recently, and I'd like to do some work on Friends of >> > GNOME if I can find the time. I wanted to discuss it in a team >> > meeting, but the mailing list works. >> I have added this an agenda item for the upcoming Engagement Team >> meeting set for next week [1] >> >> >> > So, some general thoughts: >> > >> > * One of my main issues with Friends of GNOME right now is that we >> > don't do enough to engage with existing donors. If people donate, the >> > least they should get back is regular updates about how we are >> > spending their money. Right now, Friends of GNOME is a black hole - >> > people make their donations and that's pretty much it. This is not an >> > effective way to encourage people to keep donating or to get them to >> > donate more (see below). One obvious thing we should be doing is >> > sending regular updates to donors, probably as an email (I wonder if >> > this could be tied in with the annual report somehow - eg. quarterly >> > donor updates could be used as the basis for each annual report). >> > >> > * We ought to be looking to existing donors as the potential source >> > of additional cash. If someone is making a regular donation, the >> > chances are that they will also be willing to donate to periodic fund >> > raising campaigns. This is the way a lot of charities operate - once >> > you are a donor they will contact you about their campaigns. One thing >> > we need to do here is separate Friends of GNOME and our fund raising >> > campaigns into different entities. >> > >> > * It doesn't seem like the adopt a hacker postcards and the t-shirts >> > are being tracked and distributed very effectively, and I'm not >> > convinced that we have the administrative capacity to do a good job of >> > these. I wonder if we should drop them in favour of other incentives >> > that don't have the same administrative burden. Ideas: discount >> > vouchers, vouchers to spend on GNOME merchandise, freebies at >> > conferences, membership badges you can download and print at home. >> > >> > * It's time to be thinking about another campaign. When that happens, >> > we need to be certain that we will be able to use the money fairly >> > quickly - this hasn't happened in the past, and that is potentially >> > damaging. (Again, people need feedback about how their money is being >> > spent, otherwise they might not donate again.) We should think about >> > what we actually need money for, and I'd like the board to provide us >> > with some advice here. There are outstanding sysadmin tasks, for >> > example, like upgrading Bugzilla, or maybe we need to improve our >> > infrastructure in some way. >> > >> > * Aside from the funding campaigns, we don't actively promote or >> > publicise Friends of GNOME. This is a basic error - we should be >> > routinely inviting people to join, posting about the scheme, and >> > advertising what we are doing with donations. This should be part of >> > the Engagement Team's regular activities - not just when we happen to >> > have a campaign running. A good way to start here would be to come up >> > with a plan for what kinds of posts we should be making and how often >> > we should be making them; this is something we can check ourselves >> > against at each team meeting. >> > >> > * It seems to me that the Foundation's money goes into a central pot >> > - I don't get the impression that particular income is earmarked for >> > specific uses. I wonder if the finances could/should be organised in >> > such a way that we can definitely say where Friends of GNOME money is >> > going, or even channel it to areas that we think are more interesting >> > to donors. Again, that's something for the board. >> > >> > * Finally, we need data about our existing donors. There needs to be >> > a system where we have email and postal addresses so we can contact >> > them. We need to know how much they donate and how long they have been >> > members for. We need to know how many people are joining/leaving over >> > time. We need to know why people are joining/leaving. This will >> > require new infrastructure, and we need advice from the board about >> > what is technically required and how we can get it. >> >> These are all great points I agree with. We can elaborate more on how >> to adress this at the next meeting. >> >> 1 >> https://mail.gnome.org/archives/engagement-list/2014-April/msg00054.html >> >> -- >> -mvh Oliver Propst >> _______________________________________________ >> engagement-list mailing list >> engagement-list@gnome.org >> https://mail.gnome.org/mailman/listinfo/engagement-list >> > >
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