On Sun, Jun 5, 2011 at 8:04 AM, Sascha Silbe <sascha-ml-reply-to-201...@silbe.org> wrote: > Excerpts from Bernie Innocenti's message of Sun Jun 05 06:33:40 +0200 2011: > >> > > * Membership fees >> > >> > Could you elaborate what you have in mind here? :-) >> >> It's a prototype idea, not yet discussed anywhere yet. I'd like to know >> what the board members would think about asking a yearly fee from >> members and, in case there's interest, how it could be implemented. > > Whatever you choose to do, please do not *require* membership fees. > Their existence alone is enough to make it impossible for a lot of > people to join. They might even be able to afford the actual membership > fee, but not necessarily the associated costs of transferring the money > to Sugar Labs - given that's possible at all. > > I wouldn't mind *optional* membership "fees", i.e. yearly donations. > But it should be the decision of the member. Don't require proof of > being too poor to pay the fee. It's impossible to do; been there, tried > that, failed to convince to other party. Besides there's a high > psychological barrier to admit that you're poor. > > Instead just *encourage* people to donate a recurring amount of their > choosing. Do a direct debit from their bank account, with a minimum > amount to cover banking costs (they still have the option not to donate > at all). Publish donations above a certain threshold on the website, > maybe using several different thresholds and calling them bronze / > silver / gold sponsors (or some sweet equivalent). >
Noisebridge in San Francisco does something similar. https://www.noisebridge.net/wiki/Membership/FAQ From what I understand, they have a few "Sugar Daddies" (pardon the pun) who do the heavy $$$ lifting, many starving hacker types, and several once-in-a-whilers (like me). They do have a strong need for $$$ to pay for the physical space. cheers, Sameer > Sascha > > -- > http://sascha.silbe.org/ > http://www.infra-silbe.de/ > > _______________________________________________ > IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) > IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org > http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep > _______________________________________________ IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep