Fundraising

This is the wiki for the OSGeo Fundraising Committee (FunCom). Most non-meeting communication is via the fundraising mailing list.

= Meetings =


 * First Meeting
 * Second Meeting

= Documents =


 * Sponsorship proposal.
 * EDRC BAA Proposal - Proposal in support of packaged binary and some other project improvements that are of use to ERDC (US Army Research Centers)

= Fundraising Goals =

In order to aggressively pursue promotion it is perceived that OSGeo would need one full time staff member (an executive director) and substantial resources for promotion, travel, infrastructure support. A value of $200000 USD per year in general foundation income (as opposed to conference, or project specific funding) has been suggested as a desirable goal.

= Fundraising Approaches =

Sponsorship Program
This is covered in detail in the Sponsorship proposal.

Conference
The foundation will operate an annual conference starting in 2007, following up on the FOSS4G conference. Conferences can be money making ventures, but putting on a broad and well attended conference is also seen as one of the primary goals of the foundation for it's community building, and promotional benefits. So current plans are that the foundation should aim for a roughly revenue neutral conference.

Note that the conferences have traditionally solicited conference sponsors, and are expected to continue doing so.

Other
A few other ideas that have been suggested.
 * Selling swag like tee-shirts, mugs, etc.
 * Selling CDs with pre-built software.
 * Charging membership fees.
 * Submitting grant applications to other charitable foundations or governments.
 * Providing contract development services (seen as conflicting with the charitable status of the foundation, and in direct competition with consulting organizations).