GNOME Corporate Sponsor Brainstorming

[Paul Cutler <pcutler gnome org>]

Hi all,

The board has been talking for a while, and companies have asked for,
other ways to sponsor GNOME outside of the Advisory Board.  Diego
kicked off a discussion on the marketing list about a year ago, but I
wasn't able to quickly find the email.

First, some background:  the GNOME Advisory Board[1] is made up of
partners and sponsors who help sponsor GNOME financially.

* Companies with more than 50 employees:  $20,000 / year
* Companies with less than 50 employees:  $10,000 / year
* Non-profits: $0

We would like to expand corporate sponsorships but we don't want to
lessen the benefits for the Advisory Board partners.  The major
benefits to being on the Advisory Board are monthly Advisory Board
calls with other members and the Foundation's board of directors and
an annual meeting at GUADEC.  (I'm not sure if the ED does anything
above and beyond other than normal and expected communication).  We've
also had feedback from potential partners asking for smaller ways to
give.

I'd like to get the community's feedback on two additional potential levels:

Level 1:  $1000 / year
Benefits: Logo added to foundation.gnome.org - This will be available
to companies to show they sponsor GNOME financially - some companies
like the validation to help show potential clients.

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.

While the benefits may not seem like much to some, it's a way for
companies to give and show they are a part of the community.  We'd
have to come up with naming conventions for the other levels.

Lastly, as part of this, I'd like to revamp the foundation.gnome.org
website for both these kind of corporate sponsors as well as those who
have donated hardware to the Foundation, such as a potential offer for
a new event box, Red Hat and Canonical for hosting our servers in
their data centers and other things that are in the works.

Anyone have any other potential benefits we could add?  Feedback on
the costs?   Ideas for naming conventions?

I look forward to everyone's feedback and ideas!

Thanks!

Paul