recruiting sponsors

From: Stormy Peters <stormy gnome org>
To: GNOME Marketing List <marketing-list gnome org>
Subject: recruiting sponsors
Date: Thu, 7 May 2009 14:16:18 -0600

Recruiting sponsors (as in companies that sponsor GNOME) is something the whole GNOME community can help with.

So I put together this draft of a how-to. Let me know if you have any comments or suggestions and I'll put it in the wiki.

Stormy

= Recruiting a sponsoring company =

The GNOME Foundation is sponsored by many individuals and companies. This page is about how GNOME community members can recruit sponsoring companies or government organizations to the GNOME project.

Companies and government organizations can sponsor the GNOME Foundation in several ways:
* giving a one time financial donation via Friends of GNOME,
* sponsoring GNOME events and programs like GUADEC, GNOME.Asia and accessibility outreach,
* paying employees to work on GNOME,
* joining the GNOME advisory board and paying an annual set amount to the GNOME Foundation.

Many companies do many of these, for example, most of our sponsors pay employees to work on GNOME, are on the advisory board, and sponsor GNOME events though out the year.

== Who can recruit? ==

You can! If you know of companies that are not part of the GNOME community and sponsors now, please recruit them. If you are interested in recruiting, put down your name and location. Often it helps to meet in person and knowing where we have interested community members can help us connect potential sponsors with passionate community members.

* Stormy Peters, Colorado, USA

Remember, you don't need permission to recruit companies and government organizations to join GNOME, but you should get board approval before you invite them to be on the advisory board.

== Which companies might want to donate to GNOME? ==

The easiest companies to approach are ones that are using GNOME technologies in development. But also consider companies and government organizations that are using GNOME (even if they are using Linux and don't know they are using GNOME!) Also, government organizations interested in fostering freedom and software development may be interested in contributing.

* Companies using GNOME technologies in development or in their products.
* Examples: Supersonic Imagine uses GNOME technologies and they sponsored GUADEC 2008.
* Companies using GNOME as end users.
* Companies whose end users might use GNOME with their products. For example, digital camera makers, assistive technology providers, ...
* Government organizations
* others?

== How do I approach them? ==

* First, try to set up a meeting. It's best if you can talk to them in person. Next best is over the phone.
* When sending an email query, I find it best to keep the first message very short and ask to follow up via phone. (Or in person, if possible.)
* Also, learn as much about them as you can before hand, and tailor the message to them.
* Don't try to explain all the benefits of the GNOME Foundation and the GNOME project in the first mail. I usually just briefly explain what GNOME and the GNOME Foundation are (two sentences), a sentence about how it relates to them and then a request for a meeting.
* When following up, be sure to ask lots about what they do and how they use GNOME. You should do less than half the talking during the meeting.

== What's in it for them? ==

* By using open source technologies like GNOME, companies can focus on adding their value add, branding both the open source pieces and their applications for their users.
* The foundation provides a conduit to the developers. We can help make introductions or advice on how best to get work done.
* The advisory board provides a high-value communication channel with the GNOME community, through the board of directors, and with other companies using GNOME technologies.
* The foundation ensures that the GNOME project is easy to work with by enabling six month release cycles, press releases, funding management, etc.
* The foundation currently has a part-time assistant and a full-time director who will support the GNOME community and grow interest in the desktop and the platform. We are looking to hire a system administrator in the near future.
* The more you work with the community, the more you support the project and the more awareness they have of your plans, the more supportive they will be when you need help. By joining the GNOME Foundation and sponsoring GNOME, you will create good will among GNOME developers. They know that the GNOME Foundation fees go towards things that help GNOME developers like hackfests, sponsoring travel to conferences, and system administration resources.
* General press. The GNOME Foundation does regular press releases and we welcome participation from our sponsors.
* Knowledge of future directions and roadmaps. By participating in the community through mailing lists and teams, you gain awareness of roadmaps, marketing plans, and future directions.
* GNOME provides desktop technology to many users world wide in many languages.

== What resources are available? ==
* sponsorship brochure
* marketing list - feel free to ask for help
* Stormy and the board of directors, if you'd like to set up a future meeting
* the board of advisors, if they'd like to talk to another company working with GNOME

== How do I explain the GNOME Foundation? ==

The GNOME Foundation is a nonprofit organization that supports the GNOME project.

The GNOME Project is an effort to create a complete, free and easy-to-use desktop environment accessible to all, regardless of physical ability, financial ability, or language they speak. GNOME is also a powerful application development framework for software developers as well as a set of free software applications for mobile devices. GNOME is developed as free and open source software.

GNOME ships as the desktop interface for operating systems like Linux and OpenSolaris on desktops as well as mobile devices.

To achieve this goal, the Foundation coordinates releases of GNOME and determines which projects are part of GNOME. The Foundation acts as the official voice for the GNOME project, providing a means of communication with the press and with commercial and noncommercial organizations interested in GNOME software. The foundation may produce educational materials and documentation to help the public learn about GNOME software. In addition, it may sponsor GNOME-related technical conferences, and represent GNOME at relevant conferences sponsored by others, help create technical standards for the project and promote the use and development of GNOME software.

The Foundation has over 400 members, all contributors to GNOME, who vote once a year to elect the GNOME Board of Directors who run the Foundation. The Foundation has two people on staff, an executive director and an administrator.

The Foundation also has 20 corporate sponsors and a board of advisors that represent the corporate sponsors. Corporate sponsors include Access, Canonical, Debian, Free Software Foundation, HP, Google, IBM, Igalia, Immendio, Intel, Motorola, Mozilla Foundation, Nokia, Novell, OLPC, OpenedHand, Red Hat, Software Freedom Law Center, Sugar Labs and Sun.

== sample text that can be used ==

* The brochure contains a lot of useful text. (see below)
* The GNOME Foundation is the nonprofit that supports the GNOME project, including mobile. Joining the GNOME Foundation is a way for companies to show their support for GNOME, make sure they are communicating effectively in the project and to get guidance on how best to work with the community as well as an opportunity to hear our plans and give feedback and advice from a product perspective. Companies participate by giving $10,000/year to the project and by attending monthly telephone meetings and an annual in person meeting. There is also a private mailing list dedicated to the advisory board.
* The GNOME Mobile mailing list provides a place for companies and individuals to discuss GNOME issues that are specifically related to mobile devices. In addition to discussing issues it is also a place to meet other companies and developers and discuss plans and ideas for the future. The group also meets several times a year in person at events like GUADEC and the Collaboration Summit.
* Code. Actual code and features are submitted directly to the GNOME maintainers. Companies that make contributions of code, documentation or localization work directly with the developers on the project. The GNOME Foundation often helps with introductions to the appropriate developers.
* The GNOME Foundation is the nonprofit that supports the GNOME project. We support the community by maintaining the project infrastructure, marketing, hosting events and hackfests. Companies can work directly with the community and they can also support the GNOME Foundation financially and join the advisory board. Joining the GNOME Foundation is a way for companies to show their support for GNOME, make sure they are communicating effectively in the project and to get guidance on how best to work with the community as well as an opportunity to hear our plans and give feedback and advice from a product perspective.

== brochure text ==

GNOME

The GNOME Project is an effort to create a complete, free and easy-to-use desktop environment accessible to all, a powerful application development framework for software developers, and a set of free software applications for mobile devices. GNOME is part of the GNU Project, is Free Software, and developed as Open Source software.

The GNOME project encompasses many applications from the desktop to multimedia applications for end users to development tools. See http://projects.gnome.org/ for the entire list.

The GNOME Foundation

The GNOME Foundation supports the GNOME project goal of creating a computing platform for use by the general public that is completely free software.

Why join the GNOME Foundation as a sponsor:

1) Open source technologies are forming the building blocks of desktop and mobile computing platforms. By using open source technologies, companies can focus on adding their value add, branding both the open source pieces and their applications, in a unique solution for end users.

2) The foundation provides a conduit to the developers. Developers working on GNOME technologies whether they work at large corporations, small consulting firms or as hobbyists.

3) As an advisory board member, through regular phone meetings and an annual face to face meeting, you will have a high-value communication channel with the GNOME community, through the board of directors.

4) The advisory board also provides the ideal forum for improved collaboration on areas of common interest among distributors of the GNOME products. Many of our members value the chance to speak and collaborate with partners and competitors about GNOME technologies.

5) The foundation invests in tasks which the community has done well, including a comprehensive program for independent software developers. We currently have a part-time assistant and a full-time director who will support the GNOME community and grow interest in the desktop and the platform. We are looking to hire a system administrator in the near future.

6) As you know, the more you work with the community and the more awareness they have of your plans, the more supportive they will be when you need help. By joining the GNOME Foundation and sponsoring GNOME, you will create good will among GNOME developers. They know that the GNOME Foundation fees go towards things that help GNOME developers like hackfests, sponsoring travel to conferences, and system administration resources.

7) General press. If you agree, we would like to issue a press release announcing your support. It would reach a large number of international press people, technologists and businesses. We would of course follow up with press coverage of GNOME related initiatives and announcements throughout the year.

Sponsorship fees are $10,000/year. Most sponsors are also invited to join the GNOME Foundation Board of Advisors. The advisory board meets in person annually at GUADEC and holds regular teleconference calls throughout the year.

Most sponsors also provide additional funding for specific programs like events and programs targeted at specific technologies.

During 2008 the GNOME Foundation was able to help bring a free and open source desktop to the world by doing the following:

Participated in Google Summer of Code in which 30 students and mentors participated. They worked on improving f-spot (an application to manage photos), improving anjuta (integrated development environment), improving cheese (webcam application, similar to photobooth), and working on avahi to support LLMNR (which is the Windows technology similar to zeroconf, iirc). See a complete list of projects here.
Ran an Accessibility Outreach Program that resulted in improvements in documentation, magification and mouse control through a webcam. In addition, several smaller tasks like bug fixing were accomplished as well. See a complete list of the tasks here.
Held a GTK+ hackfest that was widely seen as successful for getting the GTK+ developers together and was essential for planning the future of GTK+. We plan to build on this success by using the hackfest model for other GNOME technologies. We are currently planning hackfests around topics like usability, desktop search, internet/desktop integration, GNOME Mobile, accessibility, profiling, and performance.
Held several world wide developer conferences to enable developers to collaborate effectively and to educate new users and developers. In Europe, our volunteer run conference, GUADEC, brought 300 GNOME developers together. This year we had the first GNOME event in Asia, GNOME.Asia, that was held in October 18-19th in Beijing with 300 Asian attendees.

In 2009, we could use your help to accomplish the following:

Produce more end user and need focused technology and features through technology specific hackfests. Hackfests are an event where a core team of project developers get together and spend a week in the same place, discussing plans and writing code. They are particularly useful for getting new projects or large features launched (like GTK+ 3.0) or getting a large amount of code written.
Ensure a free and secure desktop environment for everyone.
Continue to provide a place for our sponsors to come together to discuss their GNOME technology related plans.
Organize a usability study focused on GNOME technologies used by all people including children, users in developing nations and people with accessibility needs.
Provide travel subsidies to bring our world wide community of volunteer developers together. This enables them to work on existing projects, plan new projects and work with partners and companies that use GNOME technologies.
Have more active dialogs between our sponsor companies and our developers through monthly advisory board meetings. This is one way to bring end user and distribution company needs to GNOME developers.
Hold a joint GUADEC/Akademy conference, a Free Desktop Summit, in order to encourage collaboration and common specifications.
Ensure that there is a free and open source stack for mobile devices by working with other mobile groups to define and produce GNOME Mobile.
Hire a system administrator to manage the GNOME infrastructure. The GNOME community has 1000s of volunteer contributors. The infrastructure to support them from mailing lists to bug tracking system to source code repositories is all maintained by volunteers. A contract system administrator could provide the on-call support that would give our volunteer developers and volunteer administrators with the resources they need to keep the GNOME project moving forward its mission of a free and open source desktop for all.
Support local conferences like GNOME.Asia, GUADLAC (Latin America), Boston Summit, GNOME.conf.au (Australia) and Forum GNOME as a forum for community building, technology sharing, and bringing developers, companies and users closer together. Start an internship program aimed at exposing business students to the free and open source software world and bringing their expertise to some of the marketing and business challenges we have.
Support the community on defining and executing a release plan for GNOME 3.0.

Follow-Ups:
- Re: recruiting sponsors
  - From: Stormy Peters
- Re: recruiting sponsors
  - From: Brian Cameron

[Date Prev][Date Next] [Thread Prev][Thread Next] [Thread Index] [Date Index] [Author Index]