[ubuntu-us-ma] Tips/advice for successful community funded (marketing) projects?

Daniel Hollocher danielhollocher at gmail.com
Wed Feb 17 18:35:42 GMT 2010


Hey Danny,
A coincidence that you posted this at this time, as I happen to be
thinking about this for just yesterday.  I have a book on fundraising
that I really like called "Mega Gifts".  It really goes into the
psychology of fundraising, why people give and to whom they give.  I
can lend it to you if you are interested.

I think you need to involve donators in your fundraising activities so
that people are aware and excited about whatever you are fundraising
for.  According to Mega Gifts, large donators are commonly asked to
sit on the board of whatever foundation they donate to.  The idea is
to keep them involved because they will likely donate again. The
benefit of involvement is not just awareness, but also education.  If
people only have a vague idea of what you are doing, then they will
only be vaguely interested.  If you give people a clear idea of what
needs to be done, and exactly how the money will be spent, people will
be much more excited.  Martin has written some things about funding
different activities directly, and I think that is relevant to
fundraising.  The more directly you can fundraise, the clearer it will
be.

I think with the Anime Boston thing, maybe you could have an
Anime+Ubuntu get together, and have a cover charge?  I'm not sure
exactly what you would do, I don't know anything about Anime culture.
Maybe you could have a gathering after the event, invite the
attendees, and ask for donations for future events.  It certainly
makes sense to fundraise during the event, because then the people you
help can appreciate your services directly.


Anyway, I said I had been thinking about this recently, and I will set
out a different email and different topic so as not to hijack.


On Wed, Feb 17, 2010 at 12:16 PM, Danny Piccirillo
<danny.piccirillo at ubuntu.com> wrote:
> Thanks guys, if anybody has other good fundraising ideas, please post them!
> So far, there seem to be a few different ways to fundraise:
>
> Holding regular events where people can make small donations
>
> Does anybody have any creative ideas for events (besides installfests) where
> this could be successful? I'd like to organize a booth on the street in a
> popular part of the city to showcase Ubuntu
>
> Buying something in bulk and selling (the Ubuntu Massachusetts team did this
> with aluminum Ubuntu case badges)
>
> What else have people sold, or think might be good to sell?
>
> Just plain old announcing a project and looking for funders (Ubuntu
> Massachusetts is doing this with Anime Boston)
>
> Any ideas on how to do this more effectively?
>
> Other methods you can think of?
>
> On Tue, Feb 16, 2010 at 21:54, Jan Claeys <lists at janc.be> wrote:
>>
>> Op vrijdag 05-02-2010 om 13:13 uur [tijdzone -0500], schreef Jamal:
>> > I'm not particularly familiar with the topic of fundraising, so I
>> > apologize if my comments aren't helpful.
>> >
>> > How would it work if you asked attendees to donate a low amount for
>> > such events as release parties or other type of gatherings? They are
>> > expected to receive dinner, so I don't see why that would be too much
>> > to ask for. What are your thoughts?
>>
>> Well, "release parties" are different things for every locoteam, but if
>> you have a party where people can eat/drink, then of course it's useful
>> to make a little bit of profit on that!
>>
>> Also, asking for donations can be really useful sometimes.  Most people
>> will give you a small amount like 0.50 or 1 € here, but sometimes
>> somebody gives 10 of 20 € too (e.g. because they are happy with Ubuntu,
>> have no time to volunteer, and thus want to help another way).
>>
>> Donations can also be in addition to the base price of something, e.g.
>> if a drink is 1,50 €, make posters that any change money not claimed is
>> for the benefit of the locoteam, so if somebody pays with 2 € and says
>> "keep the change", you make an (extra) 0.50 € profit for the locoteam.
>>
>> (Of course that's not possible when you are at a venue where you can't
>> sell your own drinks/food.  Make sure you use a venue where you can.
>> Volunteering for the bar is also a good way for non-technical people to
>> help the locoteam!)
>>
>>
>> PS: the € is used as an example monetary unit, replace by whatever is
>> used in your country!  ;-)
>>
>>
>> --
>> Jan Claeys
>>
>>
>> --
>> loco-contacts mailing list
>> loco-contacts at lists.ubuntu.com
>> https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/loco-contacts
>
>
>
> --
> .danny
>
> ☮♥Ⓐ - http://www.google.com/profiles/danny.piccirillo
> Every (in)decision matters.
>
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