{"thread":{"id":"41065","subject":"Pls Support Conservancy: https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/","startedAt":"2015-12-22T16:02:25Z","lastAt":"2016-01-17T15:33:02Z","messageCount":4,"participants":["Junio C Hamano","David Turner","Michael Haggerty","Jeff King"],"isPatch":false,"patchVersion":null,"patchTotal":null},"messages":[{"id":"274889","messageId":"xmqqpoxyeajy.fsf@gitster.mtv.corp.google.com","threadId":"41065","inReplyTo":null,"subject":"Pls Support Conservancy: https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/","fromName":"Junio C Hamano","fromEmail":"gitster@pobox.com","sentAt":"2015-12-22T16:02:25Z","receivedAt":"2015-12-22T16:02:25Z","isPatch":false,"sender":{"key":"gitster@pobox.com","avatar":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/54884?v=4"},"body":"[Jeff King, Shawn Pearce and myself represent the Git project to the\nConservancy, and here is a request for help from us.]\n\nWe apologize that we're interrupting the usual content on this\nmailing list with a fundraising message, but the non-profit home of\nthe Git project, Software Freedom Conservancy, is in urgent need of\nyour immediate support: https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/\n\nGit receives a myriad of important services (see\nhttps://sfconservancy.org/members/services/ ) from Conservancy.  We\nhave relied on Conservancy since 2009 to provide them, and we ask\nthat you support them.  While Git gladly contributes 10% of our\nproject's gross revenue to Conservancy's general fund, (while\nConservancy maintains and administers the other 90% in collaboration\nwith us to advance the Git project), that 10% of contributions from\nall Conservancy's member projects doesn't add up to enough to even\nemploy one full time person, let alone the already overworked staff\nof three that Conservancy has.\n\nConservancy's fundraiser, found at https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/\n, is centered around asking individuals who care about the work that\nConservancy does to donate $120/year, or just $10/month, to support the\norganization.  Conservancy seeks about 2,500 Supporters to continue its\ncurrent work, and 750 Supporters to continue a \"bare minimum\" of\nservices to its projects.\n\nHere are some of the things that Conservancy does for Git that are in\nthe \"bare minimum\" category:\n\n * Handle our Google Summer of Code payments and travel, including\n   handling all financial transactions with Google to receive and then\n   disperse the money.\n\n * Coordinating travel reimbursements for Git contributors to attend\n   conferences.\n\n * Buying and shipping hardware to Git volunteer contributors who need\n   it.\n\n * Keeping the non-profit status for us so that we don't have to form\n   our own org and file our own paperwork.\n\nHere are some of the services Git has received in the wider category:\n\n * Dealing with questions from the community about the DCO and legal\n   issues surrounding contributions to the Git project.\n\n * Discussing the issue of copyright governance and contributions with\n   large corporations who want their employees to contribute to Git\n   but need legal assurances or have questions relating to Git's\n   license or contribution policies.\n\n * Helping us write the Git trademark policy:\n   https://git-scm.com/trademark , registering the trademark, and\n   enforcing the trademark when we need it.  This assures Git users can\n   know that when they see something called \"Git\", it relates to the Git\n   project in some way.\n \n * And, in fact, we do very occasionally find companies violating the\n   GPL on Git, and Conservancy has helped us out with that.\n\n\nAs you can see, Git really relies on the important work of Conservancy,\nand thus the Git project leadership encourages you to choose Conservancy\nas one of your charitable gifts this holiday season.  (Conservancy is a\n501(c)(3) charity incorporated in New York, and donations are typically\ndeductible on U.S. taxes.)\n\nPlease visit: https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/\n"},{"id":"274990","messageId":"1450990600.3892.25.camel@twopensource.com","threadId":"41065","inReplyTo":"xmqqpoxyeajy.fsf@gitster.mtv.corp.google.com","subject":"Re: Pls Support Conservancy: https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/","fromName":"David Turner","fromEmail":"dturner@twopensource.com","sentAt":"2015-12-24T20:56:40Z","receivedAt":"2015-12-24T20:56:40Z","isPatch":false,"sender":{"key":"novalis@novalis.org","avatar":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/77003?v=4"},"body":"I just wanted to add that the Conservancy does really important,\nthankless work on a shoestring budget.  I've known Bradley and Karen\nfor years and I've seen how dedicated they are to keeping free software\nfree.  \n\nI'm a Conservancy supporter, and I hope you'll join up too!\n\nOn Tue, 2015-12-22 at 08:02 -0800, Junio C Hamano wrote:\n> [Jeff King, Shawn Pearce and myself represent the Git project to the\n> Conservancy, and here is a request for help from us.]\n> \n> We apologize that we're interrupting the usual content on this\n> mailing list with a fundraising message, but the non-profit home of\n> the Git project, Software Freedom Conservancy, is in urgent need of\n> your immediate support: https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/\n> \n> Git receives a myriad of important services (see\n> https://sfconservancy.org/members/services/ ) from Conservancy.  We\n> have relied on Conservancy since 2009 to provide them, and we ask\n> that you support them.  While Git gladly contributes 10% of our\n> project's gross revenue to Conservancy's general fund, (while\n> Conservancy maintains and administers the other 90% in collaboration\n> with us to advance the Git project), that 10% of contributions from\n> all Conservancy's member projects doesn't add up to enough to even\n> employ one full time person, let alone the already overworked staff\n> of three that Conservancy has.\n> \n> Conservancy's fundraiser, found at \n> https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/\n> , is centered around asking individuals who care about the work that\n> Conservancy does to donate $120/year, or just $10/month, to support\n> the\n> organization.  Conservancy seeks about 2,500 Supporters to continue\n> its\n> current work, and 750 Supporters to continue a \"bare minimum\" of\n> services to its projects.\n> \n> Here are some of the things that Conservancy does for Git that are in\n> the \"bare minimum\" category:\n> \n>  * Handle our Google Summer of Code payments and travel, including\n>    handling all financial transactions with Google to receive and\n> then\n>    disperse the money.\n> \n>  * Coordinating travel reimbursements for Git contributors to attend\n>    conferences.\n> \n>  * Buying and shipping hardware to Git volunteer contributors who\n> need\n>    it.\n> \n>  * Keeping the non-profit status for us so that we don't have to form\n>    our own org and file our own paperwork.\n> \n> Here are some of the services Git has received in the wider category:\n> \n>  * Dealing with questions from the community about the DCO and legal\n>    issues surrounding contributions to the Git project.\n> \n>  * Discussing the issue of copyright governance and contributions\n> with\n>    large corporations who want their employees to contribute to Git\n>    but need legal assurances or have questions relating to Git's\n>    license or contribution policies.\n> \n>  * Helping us write the Git trademark policy:\n>    https://git-scm.com/trademark , registering the trademark, and\n>    enforcing the trademark when we need it.  This assures Git users\n> can\n>    know that when they see something called \"Git\", it relates to the\n> Git\n>    project in some way.\n>  \n>  * And, in fact, we do very occasionally find companies violating the\n>    GPL on Git, and Conservancy has helped us out with that.\n> \n> \n> As you can see, Git really relies on the important work of\n> Conservancy,\n> and thus the Git project leadership encourages you to choose\n> Conservancy\n> as one of your charitable gifts this holiday season.  (Conservancy is\n> a\n> 501(c)(3) charity incorporated in New York, and donations are\n> typically\n> deductible on U.S. taxes.)\n> \n> Please visit: https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/\n> \n> --\n> To unsubscribe from this list: send the line \"unsubscribe git\" in\n> the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org\n> More majordomo info at  http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html\n"},{"id":"276232","messageId":"569B2FDC.8090207@alum.mit.edu","threadId":"41065","inReplyTo":"xmqqpoxyeajy.fsf@gitster.mtv.corp.google.com","subject":"Re: Pls Support Conservancy: https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/","fromName":"Michael Haggerty","fromEmail":"mhagger@alum.mit.edu","sentAt":"2016-01-17T06:08:28Z","receivedAt":"2016-01-17T06:08:28Z","isPatch":false,"sender":{"key":"mhagger@alum.mit.edu","avatar":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/119718?v=4"},"body":"On 12/22/2015 05:02 PM, Junio C Hamano wrote:\n> [Jeff King, Shawn Pearce and myself represent the Git project to the\n> Conservancy, and here is a request for help from us.]\n> \n> We apologize that we're interrupting the usual content on this\n> mailing list with a fundraising message, but the non-profit home of\n> the Git project, Software Freedom Conservancy, is in urgent need of\n> your immediate support: https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/\n\nI agree that SFC is a great and worthwhile organization and I also\nencourage people who care about free and open-source software to become\nsupporters.\n\n> Git receives a myriad of important services (see\n> https://sfconservancy.org/members/services/ ) from Conservancy.  We\n> have relied on Conservancy since 2009 to provide them, and we ask\n> that you support them.  While Git gladly contributes 10% of our\n> project's gross revenue to Conservancy's general fund, (while\n> Conservancy maintains and administers the other 90% in collaboration\n> with us to advance the Git project), that 10% of contributions from\n> all Conservancy's member projects doesn't add up to enough to even\n> employ one full time person, let alone the already overworked staff\n> of three that Conservancy has.\n\nDo we have an idea whether the Git project's 10% contribution is\ncovering its own costs to the SFC? 10% sounds rather low to me, given\nthe legal and administrative services that they provide.\n\nLet's consider contributing more (e.g., 20%) of the Git project gross\nrevenue to SFC.\n\nMichael\n\n-- \nMichael Haggerty\nmhagger@alum.mit.edu\n"},{"id":"276246","messageId":"20160117153302.GA18067@sigill.intra.peff.net","threadId":"41065","inReplyTo":"569B2FDC.8090207@alum.mit.edu","subject":"Re: Pls Support Conservancy: https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/","fromName":"Jeff King","fromEmail":"peff@peff.net","sentAt":"2016-01-17T15:33:02Z","receivedAt":"2016-01-17T15:33:02Z","isPatch":false,"sender":{"key":"peff@peff.net","avatar":"https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/45925?v=4"},"body":"On Sun, Jan 17, 2016 at 07:08:28AM +0100, Michael Haggerty wrote:\n\n> > Git receives a myriad of important services (see\n> > https://sfconservancy.org/members/services/ ) from Conservancy.  We\n> > have relied on Conservancy since 2009 to provide them, and we ask\n> > that you support them.  While Git gladly contributes 10% of our\n> > project's gross revenue to Conservancy's general fund, (while\n> > Conservancy maintains and administers the other 90% in collaboration\n> > with us to advance the Git project), that 10% of contributions from\n> > all Conservancy's member projects doesn't add up to enough to even\n> > employ one full time person, let alone the already overworked staff\n> > of three that Conservancy has.\n> \n> Do we have an idea whether the Git project's 10% contribution is\n> covering its own costs to the SFC? 10% sounds rather low to me, given\n> the legal and administrative services that they provide.\n\nI'm not sure whether we have good numbers there. I think the most\n\"expensive\" thing Conservancy does for us is legal services, most of\nwhich has been for the Git trademark (preparing the application, helping\nwrite the policy, dealing with requests, etc). I don't know whether they\nlog the hours for that or not. I've cc'd Bradley, who can probably say\nmore.\n\n> Let's consider contributing more (e.g., 20%) of the Git project gross\n> revenue to SFC.\n\nI think that's a reasonable idea. We don't spend much of our money, so I\ndon't think it would make a big impact on Git's finances. On the other\nhand, we don't _have_ much money in the first place. I think we have on\nthe order of $15K collected over the last several years. So another 10%\nwould only be $1500, or only a few hundred dollars per year.\n\nAnother option would be to give a lump-sum of Git money occasionally,\nafter seeing how much we have, upcoming expenses, etc. Besides a little\nbit for trademark fees (to the USPTO), I think our only expense is\ngenerally travel assistance. We have Git Merge coming up, and a couple\npeople have asked me about assistance to the developer's summit. So I'd\nprobably want to hold off on any lump-sum giving until we've allocated\nthat money.\n\nWe may also be able to fulfill those requests without touching Git money\nat all (e.g., by asking conference sponsors to chip in for developer\ntravel). In general, we could also probably bring in more money by\nactively soliciting donations. We haven't so far, mostly because Git\nitself doesn't really do anything with the money (so there's a donation\nlink on the git-scm.com site, but it's not very prominent).\n\nLast year the ticket money from Git Merge went entirely to Conservancy.\nGiven the number of companies that use or build around Git, I suspect\nsoliciting medium-to-large donations from companies would probably be\nproductive.\n\n-Peff\n"}]}