Re: Realizing Good Ideas with Debian Money

[Sam Hartman <hartmans@debian.org>]

>>>>> "Adrian" == Adrian Bunk <bunk@debian.org> writes:

    >> 
    >> Talking about the issues involved in paying people to do work.
    >> What the options are, collecting people's concerns etc.
    >> 
    >> I actually think the first round of that can be done without
    >> significant access to numbers.
    >> 
    >> That said, I'd sure like that anual report (actually I'd love it
    >> quarterly) you speak of above.  I'm not volunteering.  Are you?

    Adrian> My biggest high level concern is the income side, since this
    Adrian> is the most difficult part and will likely also be the most
    Adrian> controversial one.


Ah, I was actually asking if you wanted to volunteer to work on the
reports since you seemed to value them.  I was only one quarter serious:
if you did want to do that work, I'd be thrilled, but I didn't really
expect it.


I think it's actually impossible for a non-profit to reduce income from
expenses.

It's a lot easier to do fund raising when you can explain why you want
the money.
I think it's no accident that when people learned our sysadmin team no
longer had hardware donors and  was considering how expensive continuing
their current strategy was, we got two very large donations, one of them
intended to make that possible.

Yeah, unless you want debt (which we almost certainly do not), income
needs to lead expenses.
But when people see you spending their money for purposes they believe
in, it's easier for them to give you more.  When they understand your
needs they give more.

I don't donate to Debian.  (I do sort of donate to SPI, but I'm
considering stopping).  In both cases I value the organizations a lot,
but I don't actually think they need my money.  Both organizations seem
to have funds adequate to meet their own expenses.  So why should I give
them my money?

--Sam