[Eg-oversight-board] Fwd: Conservancy fundraiser launching on Monday

[Chris Sharp]

Forwarding...

----- Forwarded Message -----
> From: "Karen Sandler" <karen at sfconservancy.org>
> To: project-reps at sfconservancy.org
> Sent: Sunday, November 22, 2015 12:46:16 AM
> Subject: Conservancy fundraiser launching on Monday
> 
> Hi project reps!
> 
> I wanted to give you all a heads up that Conservancy is launching a big
> fundraiser on Monday. As many of you know, it's been difficult to find
> financial stability for Conservancy... the 10% that you all contribute
> is very much appreciated but doesn't cover even one staffer plus basic
> overhead and the services we provide are greater than our peer fiscal
> sponsorship organizations. We need additional support to be able to
> survive, and while we've relied on corporate donations to do that (and
> will continue to seek that support) it's too capricious to serve as our
> primary funding source. We've concluded that we need a base of
> individual supporters we can rely on annually in order to close that
> gap. We launched our Supporter program last December but without an
> urgent message behind it we've been unable to get the number of donors
> that we need.
> 
> We have structured the campaign with two levels - a lower level that
> will sustain the organization for a 'bare minimum' service plan to you,
> our member projects, and a separate, higher level to continue doing
> license enforcement and other more complex legal work in service to our
> projects. While our campaign focuses on GPL enforcement, we know many of
> you are not invested in copyleft at all. Not meeting this goal means
> we'll scale back much of the licensing, trademark and patent-related
> services we provide.
> 
> The message we have for the campaign frames the problem as urgent, but
> the urgency relates to the next fiscal year (since that's how we plan
> our budget). Given the commitments we've lined up we have about a year
> to reassess if the fundraiser fails, and we'll have time to work with
> you to figure out how we transition to the next phase, whether it's
> reducing our services or moving to a volunteer model relying a lot more
> on all of you.
> 
> We hope you will help us to meet our goal. Our effective number, given
> the small base we already have signed up as supporters, will be around
> 500 new sign ups. If each project can get just 15-20 people to sign up
> for just $10 per month, we'll meet the bottom goal easily.  Conservancy
> still gets a lot done with very little, so our urgent needs really are
> attainable if you all help us get there.
> 
> Please promote the campaign when it launches, blog and microblog about
> your positive experiences with Conservancy and encourage your
> contributors and users to sign up.
> 
> Thanks so much for all of your hard work, and I hope we can continue
> with uninterrupted support for your excellent projects which inspire us
> every day!
> 
> karen
> 
> 
> 
> Karen M. Sandler
> Executive Director, Software Freedom Conservancy
> __________
> Become a Supporter today! http://sfconservancy.org/supporter/
> 
> 
> 

-- 
Chris Sharp
PINES System Administrator
Georgia Public Library Service
1800 Century Place, Suite 150
Atlanta, Georgia 30345
(404) 235-7147
csharp at georgialibraries.org
http://pines.georgialibraries.org/