[Osmf-talk] Possible AoA Amendment #2: Your boss can't force you to vote a certain way

[Mikel Maron]

> OK, now I am lost in an analogy.

Heh, I was lost from the beginning. I think Andy's analogy was about the OSMF, not OSM. If OSM ever had an early moment that looked like a garden party, it would have made the Mad Hatter's tea party look quite dainty. Picture SteveC running around yelling "MAPS" and throwing OSM kool-aid into the air, all broadcast to the world.

I get Andy's point -- entities with a lot of resources can intentionally or unintentionally cause problems. However telling stories gets us even farther away from realistic risk assessment.

My view is the biggest risk of malfeasance is not from the companies you already know and love in OSM, but from actors in competition with OSM or see some other non-mapping opportunity.

> how is https://donate.openstreetmap.org/ not a good way for companies or organizations to fund OSM? Do companies/organizations want more information or certainty on how funds are going to be spent (such as the several hardware fundraising drives that OSM did in the past, or sponsoring SotM, or the SRE position now), or are they looking for a more structured way for funding (such as the Corporate Membership scheme)?

I can jump in here, I organized the fundraising for SSRE and iD recently. Eugene, exactly right. Clarity from OSMF on needs and spend is important. That goes for organizations, but also individuals (re hardware drives). Before this year, the OSMF didn't really know how to spend the money it already had. That doesn't mean there were not real needs. It takes work to define needs and be ready to spend money.

Also, with larger donations, procurement process is not as simple as going to a website and entering a credit card. Corporate Membership is closer to a donation without a specific intent.

Next year, we do need a more structured way to support OSMF, so we aren't going around year after year with a fresh request. We need a longer term plan, and request longer term commitments to support it. Fundraising strategy needs to balanced -- not only going to companies, but looking at grants, and especially opportunities for individuals. 

-Mikel