[Sugar-devel] A Better Idea...

[Caryl Bigenho]

Hi Folks…
"Nickel and dimeing" members doesn't seem to be a viable option. Not enough funds would be raised for all the wonderful things Dave (and many others) envision. Having an easy means for patrons to donate would be wonderful. But, the best way to raise funds for projects is probably through an active "Development Committee" similar to those used by educational institutions and other non-profits.
So, you may ask, what is a Development Committee and what do they do? As the fundraising arm of the organization, it is tasked with seeking out funding sources. For SugarLabs that might be mostly through competitive grants. 
We have missed out on some important ones already, such as: 
the Adult Literacy X-Prize (1)… team sign ups closed last December 15 and 
the Global Learning X-Prize (2), (which seems a perfect fit for Sugar Labs) closed in April of 2015
And, what was SLOB doing when these opportunities came and went? In 2015 they were concerned with GCI, the election, GSOC, Turtle Arts Days, etc. and in 2014 it was more of the same. Nothing about funding opportunities!
 I can't believe we totally missed the Global Learning one. It was such a good fit that I know we could have done very well. We need a team of dedicated volunteers to continually search for new opportunities, such as these, that would be a good fit. It should be organized  with a volunteer chairperson and volunteer members who would continuously be on the look out for possible grant opportunities and discuss them using whatever platform they choose to use. The chairperson, or a designee, could report at the monthly meetings what they had found… either "nothing" or "X, Y, and Z."
The board could decide to approve or disapprove moving forward with any of these opportunities with a simple floor motion.
Caryl






(1) http://adultliteracy.xprize.org
(2) http://learning.xprize.org
 		 	   		  
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