[Gimp-developer] Crowdfunding proposal

[Abraham Levi Mireles Alvarez <abraham_alma2 hotmail com>]

Hello Gimp team
Crowdfunding proprosal
---Introduction---
I am an artist and big fan of Gimp and the great job you have done so far with it.

Today I wanted to make you a proposal in order to make Gimp even better.

As you know Gimp being open source is developed by you, hardworking volunteers that gladly work without 
charge for the good of artists around the world.

But This also means that you already have jobs that you are already happy with and that you can invest as 
much as time as you wished.

---Proposal---

My proposal is to start a crowfunding in order to fund gimp and develop more feautures faster.

This way you could hire professional developers to work on this or invest more  time on this proyect. For 
instance the gegl transition you guys are planing. 

I am aware that there is already a "donate" choice. But it isn't goal oriented and people are less likely to 
donate for a "maybe". 
---Suggestions---
I propose that you use either "kickstarter" ( wich is very popular) or if you feel more confortable with 
opensource crowdfunding there is "indigogo" here is a list of others: 
http://seedingfactory.com/2013/04/list-of-open-source-crowdfunding-platforms/ ( I recomend Kikcstarter 
becuase it's more profitable)

I have heard that you have students every year helping you every year and they get paid by google $ 5000 
dollars. I think witha crowfunding this could be make but in a higher scale and a bit more reliable.

There have been indie game proyects that have raised millions of dollars for instance : 
1.-http://variety.com/2013/film/news/zach-braffs-kickstarter-campaign-closes-with-3-1-million-1200487781/
2.-http://www.kickstarter.com/blog/over-100-million-pledged-to-games
3.-http://forum.kde.org/viewtopic.php?f=137&t=110973 (Krita team  fellow opwn source proyect is considering 
crowdfunding)

I am sure you could easily get 1 million dollars (at least)or even more money with all the art community 
supporting you. 

What you are doing is even more important than a random indie game. I am sure that you guys could raise even 
more money. Because what you are doing benefits (painters, photograpers, graphic designers, hobbists etc)

We artists  want to support you and the only thing you need to do is ask us. Many tech sites and art fansites 
would spread the voice very fast and people around the world wpuld help.
---Features---
I am just an artist so I can't say wich features you should spend the money on. Personally  I would like more 
features for painters but I think the choice should be yours. 

Perhaps make a team for "painting", another for Ui and another for "photography features?. This would solve 
the feuture priority issue.
---ISSUES---
Hiring an administrator would solve the "how to spend" issue too.
---Conclussion---
I believe that a crowfunding would benefit greatly every gimp user and would honor your effort without 
breaking what GIMP is all about.

Thank you  for your consideration and best regards.