Hello, I think this is a very good approach and letter. One thing to think about is that if you are going to ask for funds in the $2-6k range and have a tiered partner/donor program I think you might want to be more specific about what they are going to get. Yes, they are already tremendously benefitting from a great product, but the point is they already have it. What else can be offered to them. You start by mentioning "public recognition" and with the OOo website trafiic volume that has real value, but what else can be offered? Maybe a sign at tradeshows where OOo has a booth? Logo's on the next OOo tee shirts, etc.
Have we also thought about asking for donations from large users of OOo? Regards, Andrew Aitken Managing Partner Olliance Group 650-493-3800 www.olliancegroup.com ------------------------- Original Message: From: Louis Suarez-Potts <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [email protected] Date: Saturday, January 22 2005 12:36 AM Subject: [bizdev] Contacting Derivatives, phase I HI > >Well it's an encouraging start. Let's see how it turns out. Do you have >an agenda for this? > Now I do. :-) The main point is to contact the companies mentioned and inquire whether they are interested in contributing in whatever form to OOo. They are not obligated to but at the same time we can underscore that their profit is directly related to the continued existence of OOo. :-) My feeling is that many will say yes, if asked... and asked.... and asked. * We have the list that Gavin and others put together [1]. It can be added. I think the original list (not here) has URLs, too. We can get contact information from them. * We should contact these people, indicating that we are communicating on behalf of OOo. Who should make the contact? Initial contact: it doesn't much matter. If the situation requires it, Charles or I can follow up, or I alone. * What to say. How about a version of this: Dear.... I am contacting you on behalf of OpenOffice.org. We would like you to join with us in making OpenOffice.org the best office suite in the world. Right now, we understand, you sell a derived version of OpenOffice.org, and are, we hope, making a profit. All that is of course perfectly legal. But the source project needs your contributions in order to maintain its excellence--and your profits. We are not asking for much in return for what you have gained. We always need developers, of course; but also, and perhaps equally importantly, quality assurance people (QA), as well as, simply, cash. Your contributions, in whatever form, will be publicly honored. That is not a trivial offer: Our site is visited by over a million each week. If you wish to contribute cash, you may use a bank transfer or PayPal. PayPal: <http://www.openoffice.org/contributing/donate.html> Bank Transfer If you wish to use bank transfer, our bank account information is: Account Owner: Team OpenOffice.org e.V. Bank: Deutsche Bank Hamburg Bank Number: 200 700 24 Account Number: 0480 0249 00 Swift Code: DEUT DEDB HAM IBAN: DE25 2007 0024 0480 0249 00 I look forward to discussing this further with you, Sincerely, --- * I would ask that whoever takes on a particular company that he or she indicate on this list. Gavin, would you be able to provide the full list? Also, if Sun has contacted these people, could you let us know? **For me, I have contacted: RedOffice (2002 some response), KaiOffice (no response, 2004), and SOT Office, OpenOffice.pl (not sure now which one, there are several variants), and Lycoris. But these essays were long ago, mostly, and I see no problem with doing it again. We also didn't have the Team OpenOffice.org e.V. set up then. ** Finally: if these do send in money, we are setting up a sponsors page. I have thought that we could use this schedule, taken from OOoCon: Gold: 6K, Silver: 4K; Bronze: 2K. No presence on sponsors page of less than that but yes mention on a more general donors' page, if desired. The sponsors page will probably end up some popular place. Cheers, -Louis -- [1] Their derived office suites are all licensed by their own commercial licenses, so that they distributed them under SISSL all. And as I know: RedOffice of RedFlag Chinese 2000 doesn't mention OOo in its license, but publishes its relationship with OOo on its website. SunShine Office of CS2C includes OOo in its thirdparty license document. Co-Create Office of Co-Create mentions OOo in its license document. ChinaOffice of GoldSoft says in its license document that it's from OOo. KingStorm WPS Office of KingSoft mentions OOo in its license document too. ThizOffice of ThizTech mentions OOo in its website, but I didn't have its software copy. KaiOffice of KaiSource doesn't mention OOo in its website, I didn't have its software copy either. Next Office of Well Develop mentions OOo in its website, but I didn't have its software copy. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
