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MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83

13 messages

MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83

Reply Threaded

Hello lists,

After some initial discussion with MapGuide PSC members, I am presenting RFC 83 - Project Sponsorship to the community for review and comment. This RFC lays the groundwork for official sponsorship of the MapGuide Open Source Project. The sponsorship methodology closely follows other OSGeo projects such as GDAL/OGR and OpenLayers.

http://trac.osgeo.org/mapguide/wiki/MapGuideRfc83

Any comments, questions, or concerns regarding the RFC are welcome.

Thank you,
Trevor Wekel

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mapguide-internals mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals

Andy Morsell

RE: [mapguide-users] MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83

Reply Threaded

Trevor,
Is there any reason why sponsor contributions below $500 USD would not be
allowed? Many individual or sole proprietor (like me) contributors would
not be able to donate $500 a pop.

Thanks,

Andy

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Trevor Wekel
Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2009 8:12 PM
To: MapGuide Internals Mail List; MapGuide Users Mail List
Subject: [mapguide-users] MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83

Hello lists,

After some initial discussion with MapGuide PSC members, I am presenting RFC
83 - Project Sponsorship to the community for review and comment. This RFC
lays the groundwork for official sponsorship of the MapGuide Open Source
Project. The sponsorship methodology closely follows other OSGeo projects
such as GDAL/OGR and OpenLayers.

http://trac.osgeo.org/mapguide/wiki/MapGuideRfc83

Any comments, questions, or concerns regarding the RFC are welcome.

Thank you,
Trevor Wekel

_______________________________________________
mapguide-users mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-users

_______________________________________________
mapguide-internals mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals

Jason Birch

Re: MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83

Reply Threaded

That's an OSGeo-imposed lower limit; apparently not worth the admin
overhead for lower amounts?

We could do something else with Paypal ourselves, but someone would
have to be willing to step up and take on the liability associated
with handling the cash.

Jason

Jason

On 2009-09-11, Andy Morsell <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Trevor,
> Is there any reason why sponsor contributions below $500 USD would not be
> allowed? Many individual or sole proprietor (like me) contributors would
> not be able to donate $500 a pop.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Andy
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [hidden email]
> [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Trevor Wekel
> Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2009 8:12 PM
> To: MapGuide Internals Mail List; MapGuide Users Mail List
> Subject: [mapguide-users] MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83
>
> Hello lists,
>
> After some initial discussion with MapGuide PSC members, I am presenting RFC
> 83 - Project Sponsorship to the community for review and comment. This RFC
> lays the groundwork for official sponsorship of the MapGuide Open Source
> Project. The sponsorship methodology closely follows other OSGeo projects
> such as GDAL/OGR and OpenLayers.
>
> http://trac.osgeo.org/mapguide/wiki/MapGuideRfc83
>
> Any comments, questions, or concerns regarding the RFC are welcome.
>
>
> Thank you,
> Trevor Wekel
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mapguide-users mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-users
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mapguide-internals mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals
>

_______________________________________________
mapguide-internals mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals

Trevor Wekel

RE: RE: [mapguide-users] MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83

Reply Threaded

In reply to this post by Andy Morsell

Hi Andy,

We were planning to use the standard OSGeo Project Sponsorship mechanism http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Project_Sponsorship. From what I understand, this mechanism calls for a minimum sponsorship amount of $500 USD. I expect this lower limit was set to reduce the reporting and management overhead associated with managing small payment amounts.

I believe GDAL/OGR and OpenLayers both use the OSGeo Project Sponsorship mechanism and they have a $500 minimum. GRASS GIS does not use the OSGeo sponsorship mechanism and they do not place a lower limit on the sponsorship amount.

Currently, our Builds Donation button uses a PayPal account owned by OTX Systems (my company). I think this is ok the for builds since OTX Systems is supplying the service. However, I am not sure it makes sense to use that account for general MapGuide project sponsorship. OTX Systems would not be the sole provider of services rendered for project sponsorship.

To me, using an OTX Systems PayPal account for general MapGuide Sponsorship seems messy from an accounting, taxation, and ownership standpoint. Since the PSC members are not OTX Systems Directors, they would not have explicit control over the money. With the OSGeo Project Sponsorship mechanism, they (we) do.

Another alternative I see is to create a separate Canadian corporation with some/all PSC members being shareholders and directors. This corporation could then set up a PayPal account, accept donations, and disperse funds accordingly. To go along with the intent of OSGeo Project Sponsorship, 25% of the funds taken in should be donated to the OSGeo Foundation. Suitable names could be the "Canadian MapGuide Foundation", or perhaps "Canadian OSGeo Chapter".

Personally, I like the idea of setting up a corporation to manage the sponsorship money. But it does increase costs and someone will have spend lot of time to do all the corporate paperwork - income tax, annual returns, write up minutes, etc., etc. We would have to raise at least $2000 from the community just to cover corporation setup, accounting/tax software, and the OSGeo Foundation donation.

Thanks,
Trevor

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Andy Morsell
Sent: September 11, 2009 5:21 PM
To: 'MapGuide Internals Mail List'
Subject: [mapguide-internals] RE: [mapguide-users] MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83

Trevor,
Is there any reason why sponsor contributions below $500 USD would not be
allowed? Many individual or sole proprietor (like me) contributors would
not be able to donate $500 a pop.

Thanks,

Andy

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Trevor Wekel
Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2009 8:12 PM
To: MapGuide Internals Mail List; MapGuide Users Mail List
Subject: [mapguide-users] MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83

Hello lists,

After some initial discussion with MapGuide PSC members, I am presenting RFC
83 - Project Sponsorship to the community for review and comment. This RFC
lays the groundwork for official sponsorship of the MapGuide Open Source
Project. The sponsorship methodology closely follows other OSGeo projects
such as GDAL/OGR and OpenLayers.

http://trac.osgeo.org/mapguide/wiki/MapGuideRfc83

Any comments, questions, or concerns regarding the RFC are welcome.

Thank you,
Trevor Wekel

_______________________________________________
mapguide-users mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-users

_______________________________________________
mapguide-internals mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals

_______________________________________________
mapguide-internals mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals

Paul Spencer-2

Re: RE: [mapguide-users] MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83

Reply Threaded

I'm not keen on using smaller donations to support the cost of setting
up and running a corporation. Annual tax returns for a corporation
run $500-$700 regardless of income, for instance.

I would like to suggest some alternatives

1) encourage folks to make smaller donations via the builds donation
mechanism, which is is very worthwhile and much needed

2) fund independent consultants (like Trevor :)) directly to work on
things they would like (unlikely to be less than $500 for any given
issue anyway as discussed in previous emails).

3) find an individual to set up a personal paypal account, track
donations and when it hits $500, make a lump sum donation via the
official mechanism on behalf of all donations - the caveat being that
there would be no tax receipts for that individual or for any of the
contributors.

Cheers

Paul

On 2009-09-11, at 10:20 PM, Trevor Wekel wrote:

> Hi Andy,
>
> We were planning to use the standard OSGeo Project Sponsorship
> mechanism http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Project_Sponsorship. From what
> I understand, this mechanism calls for a minimum sponsorship amount
> of $500 USD. I expect this lower limit was set to reduce the
> reporting and management overhead associated with managing small
> payment amounts.
>
> I believe GDAL/OGR and OpenLayers both use the OSGeo Project
> Sponsorship mechanism and they have a $500 minimum. GRASS GIS does
> not use the OSGeo sponsorship mechanism and they do not place a
> lower limit on the sponsorship amount.
>
> Currently, our Builds Donation button uses a PayPal account owned by
> OTX Systems (my company). I think this is ok the for builds since
> OTX Systems is supplying the service. However, I am not sure it
> makes sense to use that account for general MapGuide project
> sponsorship. OTX Systems would not be the sole provider of services
> rendered for project sponsorship.
>
> To me, using an OTX Systems PayPal account for general MapGuide
> Sponsorship seems messy from an accounting, taxation, and ownership
> standpoint. Since the PSC members are not OTX Systems Directors,
> they would not have explicit control over the money. With the OSGeo
> Project Sponsorship mechanism, they (we) do.
>
> Another alternative I see is to create a separate Canadian
> corporation with some/all PSC members being shareholders and
> directors. This corporation could then set up a PayPal account,
> accept donations, and disperse funds accordingly. To go along with
> the intent of OSGeo Project Sponsorship, 25% of the funds taken in
> should be donated to the OSGeo Foundation. Suitable names could be
> the "Canadian MapGuide Foundation", or perhaps "Canadian OSGeo
> Chapter".
>
> Personally, I like the idea of setting up a corporation to manage
> the sponsorship money. But it does increase costs and someone will
> have spend lot of time to do all the corporate paperwork - income
> tax, annual returns, write up minutes, etc., etc. We would have to
> raise at least $2000 from the community just to cover corporation
> setup, accounting/tax software, and the OSGeo Foundation donation.
>
> Thanks,
> Trevor
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [hidden email] [mailto:mapguide-
> [hidden email]] On Behalf Of Andy Morsell
> Sent: September 11, 2009 5:21 PM
> To: 'MapGuide Internals Mail List'
> Subject: [mapguide-internals] RE: [mapguide-users] MapGuide Project
> Sponsorship RFC 83
>
> Trevor,
> Is there any reason why sponsor contributions below $500 USD would
> not be
> allowed? Many individual or sole proprietor (like me) contributors
> would
> not be able to donate $500 a pop.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Andy
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [hidden email]
> [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Trevor
> Wekel
> Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2009 8:12 PM
> To: MapGuide Internals Mail List; MapGuide Users Mail List
> Subject: [mapguide-users] MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83
>
> Hello lists,
>
> After some initial discussion with MapGuide PSC members, I am
> presenting RFC
> 83 - Project Sponsorship to the community for review and comment.
> This RFC
> lays the groundwork for official sponsorship of the MapGuide Open
> Source
> Project. The sponsorship methodology closely follows other OSGeo
> projects
> such as GDAL/OGR and OpenLayers.
>
> http://trac.osgeo.org/mapguide/wiki/MapGuideRfc83
>
> Any comments, questions, or concerns regarding the RFC are welcome.
>
>
> Thank you,
> Trevor Wekel
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mapguide-users mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-users
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mapguide-internals mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mapguide-internals mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals

Trevor Wekel

RE: RE: [mapguide-users] MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83

Reply Threaded

Hi Paul,

We started receiving builds donations in April and have received a total of $135 from the community so far. At that funding level, the builds are not sustainable. The internet connection alone is $110 a month and hardware depreciation is approximately 3x that amount.

All three of your suggested alternatives are good. But I would like to drop option 1) in favour of option 3). This will allow the PSC to allocate funds to the build infrastructure or other initiatives as they see fit. Under the broader scope of project sponsorship, hopefully the donations will increase.

Would there be any personal tax implications with option 3? I would be willing to set up a PayPal Premier account but will have to register a new bank account and potentially another credit card to move the account to a verified status. From what I recall, the send limit on an unverified PayPal account is only $3000.

Good suggestions!

Thanks,
Trevor

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Paul Spencer
Sent: September 12, 2009 7:20 AM
To: MapGuide Internals Mail List
Subject: Re: [mapguide-internals] RE: [mapguide-users] MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83

I'm not keen on using smaller donations to support the cost of setting
up and running a corporation. Annual tax returns for a corporation
run $500-$700 regardless of income, for instance.

I would like to suggest some alternatives

1) encourage folks to make smaller donations via the builds donation
mechanism, which is is very worthwhile and much needed

2) fund independent consultants (like Trevor :)) directly to work on
things they would like (unlikely to be less than $500 for any given
issue anyway as discussed in previous emails).

3) find an individual to set up a personal paypal account, track
donations and when it hits $500, make a lump sum donation via the
official mechanism on behalf of all donations - the caveat being that
there would be no tax receipts for that individual or for any of the
contributors.

Cheers

Paul

On 2009-09-11, at 10:20 PM, Trevor Wekel wrote:

__________________________________________

Paul Spencer
Chief Technology Officer
DM Solutions Group Inc
http://research.dmsolutions.ca/

_______________________________________________
mapguide-internals mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals

_______________________________________________
mapguide-internals mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals

Frank Warmerdam

Re: RE: [mapguide-users] MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83

Reply Threaded

In reply to this post by Trevor Wekel

Trevor Wekel wrote:
> Personally, I like the idea of setting up a corporation to manage the
> sponsorship money. But it does increase costs and someone will have spend
> lot of time to do all the corporate paperwork - income tax, annual returns,
> write up minutes, etc., etc. We would have to raise at least $2000 from the
> community just to cover corporation setup, accounting/tax software, and the
> OSGeo Foundation donation.

Folks,

If you *really* *really* want small donations as part of your sponsorship
program, I would be willing to entertain the possibility of a trusted
MapGuide PSC member taking responsibility under guideance and supervision
for doing the accounting functions necessary to make it happen rather than
create another corporation.

Speaking as OSGeo Treasurer.

Best regards,
--
---------------------------------------+--------------------------------------
I set the clouds in motion - turn up | Frank Warmerdam, [hidden email]
light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
and watch the world go round - Rush | Geospatial Programmer for Rent

_______________________________________________
mapguide-internals mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals

Trevor Wekel

RE: RE: [mapguide-users] MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83

Reply Threaded

Hi Frank,

Ok. I'm interested. Perhaps we should chat offline a bit to figure out the details? Then I can present an updated proposal to the list and PSC. Setting up a personal PayPal account to "pool" donations would also work but doing this directly through OSGeo would be more official and better controlled.

Thanks,
Trevor

________________________________________
From: [hidden email] [[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Frank Warmerdam [[hidden email]]
Sent: September 12, 2009 7:40 PM
To: MapGuide Internals Mail List
Subject: Re: [mapguide-internals] RE: [mapguide-users] MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83

Trevor Wekel wrote:
> Personally, I like the idea of setting up a corporation to manage the
> sponsorship money. But it does increase costs and someone will have spend
> lot of time to do all the corporate paperwork - income tax, annual returns,
> write up minutes, etc., etc. We would have to raise at least $2000 from the
> community just to cover corporation setup, accounting/tax software, and the
> OSGeo Foundation donation.

Folks,

If you *really* *really* want small donations as part of your sponsorship
program, I would be willing to entertain the possibility of a trusted
MapGuide PSC member taking responsibility under guideance and supervision
for doing the accounting functions necessary to make it happen rather than
create another corporation.

Speaking as OSGeo Treasurer.

Best regards,
--
---------------------------------------+--------------------------------------
I set the clouds in motion - turn up | Frank Warmerdam, [hidden email]
light and sound - activate the windows | http://pobox.com/~warmerdam
and watch the world go round - Rush | Geospatial Programmer for Rent

_______________________________________________
mapguide-internals mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals
_______________________________________________
mapguide-internals mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals

Trevor Wekel

RE: RE: [mapguide-users] MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83

Reply Threaded

In reply to this post by Paul Spencer-2

Hi everyone,

I wanted to give a quick update on this RFC before updating it and sending it out for vote. The only major issue raised was the $500 minimum sponsorship/donation amount.

I have been emailing with Frank Warmerdam and Tyler Mitchell and we should be able to use the OSGeo PayPal account to accept donations in any amount. The only caveat is that someone from the project may need to help out with the accounting. I can do that. I have experience using PayPal and QuickBooks.

We should also set up a Sponsors/Donors page listing the individuals or corporations who have given money to the project. Do we want to a make a distinction between a sponsor and a donor? A donor would be someone who gives a one-time infusion to the project and a sponsor would be someone who plans to give a set dollar amount to the project every year.

For the yearly recurring sponsorship, we could set a minimum dollar amount of $100 assuming the sponsorship money is sent through the PayPal "donate" button. To reduce the management overhead, I would also like to suggest that we only list donors who contribute $50 or more on the Donors/Sponsors page.

For both sponsors and donors, a listing on the Sponsors/Donors page is optional. If we cannot add a "list me / do not list me" item to the PayPal button or notes, I can follow up with each sponsor/donor to see if they want to be listed on the webpage.

How does this sound?

Thanks,
Trevor

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Paul Spencer
Sent: September 12, 2009 7:20 AM
To: MapGuide Internals Mail List
Subject: Re: [mapguide-internals] RE: [mapguide-users] MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83

I'm not keen on using smaller donations to support the cost of setting
up and running a corporation. Annual tax returns for a corporation
run $500-$700 regardless of income, for instance.

I would like to suggest some alternatives

1) encourage folks to make smaller donations via the builds donation
mechanism, which is is very worthwhile and much needed

2) fund independent consultants (like Trevor :)) directly to work on
things they would like (unlikely to be less than $500 for any given
issue anyway as discussed in previous emails).

3) find an individual to set up a personal paypal account, track
donations and when it hits $500, make a lump sum donation via the
official mechanism on behalf of all donations - the caveat being that
there would be no tax receipts for that individual or for any of the
contributors.

Cheers

Paul

On 2009-09-11, at 10:20 PM, Trevor Wekel wrote:

Jason Birch

Re: MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83

Reply Threaded

My personal take would be that sponsors are someone that hits some
minimum value level (silver, gold, whatever) and anything else is a
donation.

Also wondering if we want to look at per-feature and in-kind sponsors
too at some point?

Does PayPal have apis for pulling lists of donors?

BTW, I will have the rc available by the end of the weekend; sorry for
the delay, had a hellish upgrade to get through at work that took all
my spare home time too...

On 2009-10-01, Trevor Wekel <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Hi everyone,
>
> I wanted to give a quick update on this RFC before updating it and sending
> it out for vote. The only major issue raised was the $500 minimum
> sponsorship/donation amount.
>
> I have been emailing with Frank Warmerdam and Tyler Mitchell and we should
> be able to use the OSGeo PayPal account to accept donations in any amount.
> The only caveat is that someone from the project may need to help out with
> the accounting. I can do that. I have experience using PayPal and
> QuickBooks.
>
> We should also set up a Sponsors/Donors page listing the individuals or
> corporations who have given money to the project. Do we want to a make a
> distinction between a sponsor and a donor? A donor would be someone who
> gives a one-time infusion to the project and a sponsor would be someone who
> plans to give a set dollar amount to the project every year.
>
> For the yearly recurring sponsorship, we could set a minimum dollar amount
> of $100 assuming the sponsorship money is sent through the PayPal "donate"
> button. To reduce the management overhead, I would also like to suggest
> that we only list donors who contribute $50 or more on the Donors/Sponsors
> page.
>
> For both sponsors and donors, a listing on the Sponsors/Donors page is
> optional. If we cannot add a "list me / do not list me" item to the PayPal
> button or notes, I can follow up with each sponsor/donor to see if they want
> to be listed on the webpage.
>
> How does this sound?
>
> Thanks,
> Trevor
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [hidden email]
> [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Paul
> Spencer
> Sent: September 12, 2009 7:20 AM
> To: MapGuide Internals Mail List
> Subject: Re: [mapguide-internals] RE: [mapguide-users] MapGuide Project
> Sponsorship RFC 83
>
> I'm not keen on using smaller donations to support the cost of setting
> up and running a corporation. Annual tax returns for a corporation
> run $500-$700 regardless of income, for instance.
>
> I would like to suggest some alternatives
>
> 1) encourage folks to make smaller donations via the builds donation
> mechanism, which is is very worthwhile and much needed
>
> 2) fund independent consultants (like Trevor :)) directly to work on
> things they would like (unlikely to be less than $500 for any given
> issue anyway as discussed in previous emails).
>
> 3) find an individual to set up a personal paypal account, track
> donations and when it hits $500, make a lump sum donation via the
> official mechanism on behalf of all donations - the caveat being that
> there would be no tax receipts for that individual or for any of the
> contributors.
>
> Cheers
>
> Paul
>
> On 2009-09-11, at 10:20 PM, Trevor Wekel wrote:
>
>> Hi Andy,
>>
>> We were planning to use the standard OSGeo Project Sponsorship
>> mechanism http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Project_Sponsorship. From what
>> I understand, this mechanism calls for a minimum sponsorship amount
>> of $500 USD. I expect this lower limit was set to reduce the
>> reporting and management overhead associated with managing small
>> payment amounts.
>>
>> I believe GDAL/OGR and OpenLayers both use the OSGeo Project
>> Sponsorship mechanism and they have a $500 minimum. GRASS GIS does
>> not use the OSGeo sponsorship mechanism and they do not place a
>> lower limit on the sponsorship amount.
>>
>> Currently, our Builds Donation button uses a PayPal account owned by
>> OTX Systems (my company). I think this is ok the for builds since
>> OTX Systems is supplying the service. However, I am not sure it
>> makes sense to use that account for general MapGuide project
>> sponsorship. OTX Systems would not be the sole provider of services
>> rendered for project sponsorship.
>>
>> To me, using an OTX Systems PayPal account for general MapGuide
>> Sponsorship seems messy from an accounting, taxation, and ownership
>> standpoint. Since the PSC members are not OTX Systems Directors,
>> they would not have explicit control over the money. With the OSGeo
>> Project Sponsorship mechanism, they (we) do.
>>
>> Another alternative I see is to create a separate Canadian
>> corporation with some/all PSC members being shareholders and
>> directors. This corporation could then set up a PayPal account,
>> accept donations, and disperse funds accordingly. To go along with
>> the intent of OSGeo Project Sponsorship, 25% of the funds taken in
>> should be donated to the OSGeo Foundation. Suitable names could be
>> the "Canadian MapGuide Foundation", or perhaps "Canadian OSGeo
>> Chapter".
>>
>> Personally, I like the idea of setting up a corporation to manage
>> the sponsorship money. But it does increase costs and someone will
>> have spend lot of time to do all the corporate paperwork - income
>> tax, annual returns, write up minutes, etc., etc. We would have to
>> raise at least $2000 from the community just to cover corporation
>> setup, accounting/tax software, and the OSGeo Foundation donation.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Trevor
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: [hidden email] [mailto:mapguide-
>> [hidden email]] On Behalf Of Andy Morsell
>> Sent: September 11, 2009 5:21 PM
>> To: 'MapGuide Internals Mail List'
>> Subject: [mapguide-internals] RE: [mapguide-users] MapGuide Project
>> Sponsorship RFC 83
>>
>> Trevor,
>> Is there any reason why sponsor contributions below $500 USD would
>> not be
>> allowed? Many individual or sole proprietor (like me) contributors
>> would
>> not be able to donate $500 a pop.
>>
>> Thanks,
>>
>> Andy
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: [hidden email]
>> [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Trevor
>> Wekel
>> Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2009 8:12 PM
>> To: MapGuide Internals Mail List; MapGuide Users Mail List
>> Subject: [mapguide-users] MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83
>>
>> Hello lists,
>>
>> After some initial discussion with MapGuide PSC members, I am
>> presenting RFC
>> 83 - Project Sponsorship to the community for review and comment.
>> This RFC
>> lays the groundwork for official sponsorship of the MapGuide Open
>> Source
>> Project. The sponsorship methodology closely follows other OSGeo
>> projects
>> such as GDAL/OGR and OpenLayers.
>>
>> http://trac.osgeo.org/mapguide/wiki/MapGuideRfc83
>>
>> Any comments, questions, or concerns regarding the RFC are welcome.
>>
>>
>> Thank you,
>> Trevor Wekel
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> mapguide-users mailing list
>> [hidden email]
>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-users
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> mapguide-internals mailing list
>> [hidden email]
>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> mapguide-internals mailing list
>> [hidden email]
>> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals
>
>
> __________________________________________
>
> Paul Spencer
> Chief Technology Officer
> DM Solutions Group Inc
> http://research.dmsolutions.ca/
>
> _______________________________________________
> mapguide-internals mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> mapguide-internals mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/mapguide-internals
>

_______________________________________________
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Tom Fukushima

RE: MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83

Reply Threaded

The RFC looks good, and I agree that sponsors should be people who hit a minimum value level. I don't think we could enforce "plans to give a set dollar amount to the project every year" without a contract anyway, right?

Perhaps in the future, sponsors could have votes on what gets worked on.

Cheers
Tom

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Jason Birch
Sent: Thursday, October 01, 2009 11:24 PM
To: MapGuide Internals Mail List
Subject: Re: [mapguide-internals] MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83

My personal take would be that sponsors are someone that hits some
minimum value level (silver, gold, whatever) and anything else is a
donation.

Also wondering if we want to look at per-feature and in-kind sponsors
too at some point?

Does PayPal have apis for pulling lists of donors?

BTW, I will have the rc available by the end of the weekend; sorry for
the delay, had a hellish upgrade to get through at work that took all
my spare home time too...

On 2009-10-01, Trevor Wekel <[hidden email]> wrote:

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Trevor Wekel

RE: MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83

Reply Threaded

In reply to this post by Jason Birch

Hi Jason,

Ok. We can leave the sponsorship as is in the RFC: $500 minimum, $3000 silver, $9000 Gold,
$27000 Platinum. We can assume that any dollar amount over $500 is a sponsorship and there is no requirement for recurrence - good suggestion Tom. All sponsors have the option of being listed on the Sponsors/Donors page.

Following up on Tom's email, all sponsors could have a say on project priorities. This means anyone who contributes $500 or more gets a say. This could be accomplished through an email poll on mapguide-internals.

Donations are any dollar amount under $500. Donors who contribute $50 or more have the option of being listed on the Sponsors/Donors page.

PayPal transactions are generally tagged with the buyers email address so we do have a list. It is possible to do some classification on PayPal transactions for per-feature and in-kind but I would prefer not to make it too complicated at first. PayPal buttons can include a notes section. That may work. I will investigate a little more.

Thanks,
Trevor

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Jason Birch
Sent: October 1, 2009 11:24 PM
To: MapGuide Internals Mail List
Subject: Re: [mapguide-internals] MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83

My personal take would be that sponsors are someone that hits some
minimum value level (silver, gold, whatever) and anything else is a
donation.

Also wondering if we want to look at per-feature and in-kind sponsors
too at some point?

Does PayPal have apis for pulling lists of donors?

BTW, I will have the rc available by the end of the weekend; sorry for
the delay, had a hellish upgrade to get through at work that took all
my spare home time too...

On 2009-10-01, Trevor Wekel <[hidden email]> wrote:

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Jason Birch

Re: MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83

Reply Threaded

I would like to deal with sponsor priorities in the same way that gdal
does; with an annual sponsor survey. But we would need to ensure that
we retain autonomy.

On 2009-10-02, Trevor Wekel <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Hi Jason,
>
> Ok. We can leave the sponsorship as is in the RFC: $500 minimum, $3000
> silver, $9000 Gold,
> $27000 Platinum. We can assume that any dollar amount over $500 is a
> sponsorship and there is no requirement for recurrence - good suggestion
> Tom. All sponsors have the option of being listed on the Sponsors/Donors
> page.
>
> Following up on Tom's email, all sponsors could have a say on project
> priorities. This means anyone who contributes $500 or more gets a say.
> This could be accomplished through an email poll on mapguide-internals.
>
> Donations are any dollar amount under $500. Donors who contribute $50 or
> more have the option of being listed on the Sponsors/Donors page.
>
> PayPal transactions are generally tagged with the buyers email address so we
> do have a list. It is possible to do some classification on PayPal
> transactions for per-feature and in-kind but I would prefer not to make it
> too complicated at first. PayPal buttons can include a notes section. That
> may work. I will investigate a little more.
>
> Thanks,
> Trevor
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [hidden email]
> [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Jason Birch
> Sent: October 1, 2009 11:24 PM
> To: MapGuide Internals Mail List
> Subject: Re: [mapguide-internals] MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83
>
> My personal take would be that sponsors are someone that hits some
> minimum value level (silver, gold, whatever) and anything else is a
> donation.
>
> Also wondering if we want to look at per-feature and in-kind sponsors
> too at some point?
>
> Does PayPal have apis for pulling lists of donors?
>
> BTW, I will have the rc available by the end of the weekend; sorry for
> the delay, had a hellish upgrade to get through at work that took all
> my spare home time too...
>
> On 2009-10-01, Trevor Wekel <[hidden email]> wrote:
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>> I wanted to give a quick update on this RFC before updating it and sending
>> it out for vote. The only major issue raised was the $500 minimum
>> sponsorship/donation amount.
>>
>> I have been emailing with Frank Warmerdam and Tyler Mitchell and we should
>> be able to use the OSGeo PayPal account to accept donations in any amount.
>> The only caveat is that someone from the project may need to help out with
>> the accounting. I can do that. I have experience using PayPal and
>> QuickBooks.
>>
>> We should also set up a Sponsors/Donors page listing the individuals or
>> corporations who have given money to the project. Do we want to a make a
>> distinction between a sponsor and a donor? A donor would be someone who
>> gives a one-time infusion to the project and a sponsor would be someone
>> who
>> plans to give a set dollar amount to the project every year.
>>
>> For the yearly recurring sponsorship, we could set a minimum dollar amount
>> of $100 assuming the sponsorship money is sent through the PayPal "donate"
>> button. To reduce the management overhead, I would also like to suggest
>> that we only list donors who contribute $50 or more on the Donors/Sponsors
>> page.
>>
>> For both sponsors and donors, a listing on the Sponsors/Donors page is
>> optional. If we cannot add a "list me / do not list me" item to the
>> PayPal
>> button or notes, I can follow up with each sponsor/donor to see if they
>> want
>> to be listed on the webpage.
>>
>> How does this sound?
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Trevor
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: [hidden email]
>> [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Paul
>> Spencer
>> Sent: September 12, 2009 7:20 AM
>> To: MapGuide Internals Mail List
>> Subject: Re: [mapguide-internals] RE: [mapguide-users] MapGuide Project
>> Sponsorship RFC 83
>>
>> I'm not keen on using smaller donations to support the cost of setting
>> up and running a corporation. Annual tax returns for a corporation
>> run $500-$700 regardless of income, for instance.
>>
>> I would like to suggest some alternatives
>>
>> 1) encourage folks to make smaller donations via the builds donation
>> mechanism, which is is very worthwhile and much needed
>>
>> 2) fund independent consultants (like Trevor :)) directly to work on
>> things they would like (unlikely to be less than $500 for any given
>> issue anyway as discussed in previous emails).
>>
>> 3) find an individual to set up a personal paypal account, track
>> donations and when it hits $500, make a lump sum donation via the
>> official mechanism on behalf of all donations - the caveat being that
>> there would be no tax receipts for that individual or for any of the
>> contributors.
>>
>> Cheers
>>
>> Paul
>>
>> On 2009-09-11, at 10:20 PM, Trevor Wekel wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Andy,
>>>
>>> We were planning to use the standard OSGeo Project Sponsorship
>>> mechanism http://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Project_Sponsorship. From what
>>> I understand, this mechanism calls for a minimum sponsorship amount
>>> of $500 USD. I expect this lower limit was set to reduce the
>>> reporting and management overhead associated with managing small
>>> payment amounts.
>>>
>>> I believe GDAL/OGR and OpenLayers both use the OSGeo Project
>>> Sponsorship mechanism and they have a $500 minimum. GRASS GIS does
>>> not use the OSGeo sponsorship mechanism and they do not place a
>>> lower limit on the sponsorship amount.
>>>
>>> Currently, our Builds Donation button uses a PayPal account owned by
>>> OTX Systems (my company). I think this is ok the for builds since
>>> OTX Systems is supplying the service. However, I am not sure it
>>> makes sense to use that account for general MapGuide project
>>> sponsorship. OTX Systems would not be the sole provider of services
>>> rendered for project sponsorship.
>>>
>>> To me, using an OTX Systems PayPal account for general MapGuide
>>> Sponsorship seems messy from an accounting, taxation, and ownership
>>> standpoint. Since the PSC members are not OTX Systems Directors,
>>> they would not have explicit control over the money. With the OSGeo
>>> Project Sponsorship mechanism, they (we) do.
>>>
>>> Another alternative I see is to create a separate Canadian
>>> corporation with some/all PSC members being shareholders and
>>> directors. This corporation could then set up a PayPal account,
>>> accept donations, and disperse funds accordingly. To go along with
>>> the intent of OSGeo Project Sponsorship, 25% of the funds taken in
>>> should be donated to the OSGeo Foundation. Suitable names could be
>>> the "Canadian MapGuide Foundation", or perhaps "Canadian OSGeo
>>> Chapter".
>>>
>>> Personally, I like the idea of setting up a corporation to manage
>>> the sponsorship money. But it does increase costs and someone will
>>> have spend lot of time to do all the corporate paperwork - income
>>> tax, annual returns, write up minutes, etc., etc. We would have to
>>> raise at least $2000 from the community just to cover corporation
>>> setup, accounting/tax software, and the OSGeo Foundation donation.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Trevor
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: [hidden email] [mailto:mapguide-
>>> [hidden email]] On Behalf Of Andy Morsell
>>> Sent: September 11, 2009 5:21 PM
>>> To: 'MapGuide Internals Mail List'
>>> Subject: [mapguide-internals] RE: [mapguide-users] MapGuide Project
>>> Sponsorship RFC 83
>>>
>>> Trevor,
>>> Is there any reason why sponsor contributions below $500 USD would
>>> not be
>>> allowed? Many individual or sole proprietor (like me) contributors
>>> would
>>> not be able to donate $500 a pop.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>>
>>> Andy
>>>
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: [hidden email]
>>> [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Trevor
>>> Wekel
>>> Sent: Thursday, September 10, 2009 8:12 PM
>>> To: MapGuide Internals Mail List; MapGuide Users Mail List
>>> Subject: [mapguide-users] MapGuide Project Sponsorship RFC 83
>>>
>>> Hello lists,
>>>
>>> After some initial discussion with MapGuide PSC members, I am
>>> presenting RFC
>>> 83 - Project Sponsorship to the community for review and comment.
>>> This RFC
>>> lays the groundwork for official sponsorship of the MapGuide Open
>>> Source
>>> Project. The sponsorship methodology closely follows other OSGeo
>>> projects
>>> such as GDAL/OGR and OpenLayers.
>>>
>>> http://trac.osgeo.org/mapguide/wiki/MapGuideRfc83
>>>
>>> Any comments, questions, or concerns regarding the RFC are welcome.
>>>
>>>
>>> Thank you,
>>> Trevor Wekel
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>
>>>
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>>>
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>>
>>
>> __________________________________________
>>
>> Paul Spencer
>> Chief Technology Officer
>> DM Solutions Group Inc
>> http://research.dmsolutions.ca/
>>
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