Re: GNOME Corporate Sponsor Brainstorming

["Jason D. Clinton" <me jasonclinton com>]

On Fri, Jan 28, 2011 at 14:23, Brian Cameron <brian cameron oracle com> wrote:
>>
>> Level 2: $5000 / year
>> Benefits:  Logo added to foundation.gnome.org and quarterly one on one
>> call with the Executive Director.  Same as above and an opportunity to
>> share feedback with GNOME's CEO.
>
> I think it is valuable to have an option like this, but I'd expect
> that most organizations would fall into category #1 above, and not
> really want this sort of access to the foundation.
>
> I think a third category is also really needed.  It would be nice if
> there were a small donation fee (perhaps $200) that individual GNOME
> consultants or small consulting firms could pay in order to get
> themselves advertised on the GNOME website as being consulting
> contacts.  I think this would appeal to many coders for hire out
> there, and would be a way for them to increase their relationship
> with GNOME directly.

+1 to most of the ideas thrown out here but the above back-and-forth
got me thinking about how we could articulate (or narrate) to a donor
what it is that they are doing with their money. It's great to say
"you get X, Y and Z for your contribution," and another to say that
you get "X, Y and Z for your contribution because of what you help us
create." I'm thinking specifically of companies that have donated
their office space for our hackfests. True, some of these have been
Advisory Board members but even when they've already given us money,
they went an extra step and allowed us to interfere with their
company's day-to-day operations in a material way. Why?

The only over-arching idea that I guess is "a better seat at the
table" which is, ostensibly, what the Advisory Board and the proposed
one-on-one with the ED get them. But I'm thinking that if we agree
that this is some kind of unifying donor pathos, then we can start to
ask questions like, "Should donors be encouraged to participate
in/table at hack-fests?"