[Osmf-talk] Consultation on fundraising strategy

Fri Mar 17 13:02:40 UTC 2023

I’m also highlighting the incompetence of the OSMF. If they can’t run a conference, or cut costs, does it make any sense at all to send them boat loads of money?

It’s pretty clear to some audiences at least that we need to rethink the OSMF, not bail them out:

<https://twitter.com/stevec/status/1636525391350480896?s=46&t=puDs0lWV9Yc38mk7hFGn-Q>
The @openstreetmap Foundation seems to in some kind of zombie/failure state and needs a reboot. Agree? https://t.co/GWMlJ4pHYO #OpenStreetMap
[twitter.2.ico]<https://twitter.com/stevec/status/1636525391350480896?s=46&t=puDs0lWV9Yc38mk7hFGn-Q>
stevecoast.eth<https://twitter.com/stevec/status/1636525391350480896?s=46&t=puDs0lWV9Yc38mk7hFGn-Q>
twitter.com<https://twitter.com/stevec/status/1636525391350480896?s=46&t=puDs0lWV9Yc38mk7hFGn-Q>

Best

Steve

On Mar 17, 2023, at 1:25 AM, Simon Poole <simon at poole.ch> wrote:

Steve is just being snarky.

- historically the surplus from conferences was essentially the OSMFs sole source of non-earmarked funds. However that hasn't been true for quite a long time.

- corporation tax is due on all such activities (conferences, merch etc), and yes when you are selling something to somebody you have to provide them with the goods etc. (aka more expenses).

Conferences are not likely to go away as one source of funds for the OSMF, however scaling the activities so that they could conceivably produce half a million post tax would seem to be a very tall order.

Simon

Am 17.03.2023 um 01:26 schrieb john whelan:
I think this idea has merit.  I also think there should be a way for even a small business to use OSM to display their location.  That way it can be a business expense rather than a questionable donation?

Are we set up as a charity in any country?  Normally I would expect to get a deduction on my tax bill if I donate to a charity but only if it is a Canadian registered charity.

Cheerio John

On Thu, Mar 16, 2023, 20:15 Steve Coast <steve at stevecoast.com<mailto:steve at stevecoast.com>> wrote:
My idea would be to have some kind of conference event, where sponsors could pay to get priority speaking slots and booths.

They could get their logo prominently displayed on the website, and on, say, a conference t-shirt. The pricing could be set to both cover the conference but also there could be large leftover funds to run the foundation if it were well managed.

One of the many advantages of this is that companies often find it easier to fund something if there is a reason, something they get in exchange, like conference slots and so on, rather than throwing money in to an eternal black hole, with nothing to show for it.

Perhaps someone has had this idea already or even implemented it in the past?

Another idea could be to somehow lower costs, perhaps by removing unnecessary or superfluous costs which may have grown dramatically over time. Or perhaps by making sure OSMF costs only directly benefit OSM, instead of, say, offering mapping services for free to the entire internet, or paying for people and associated costs which could be replaced by ChatGPT or Excel.

A good starting point for such discussions could be, what is the money specifically going towards, and why is OSMF spending it that way?

If OSMF got a very large donation, say in the form of cryptocurrency, that donation could be used to hedge cost variations over time and ensure continuity.

Best

Steve

On Mar 16, 2023, at 12:17 PM, Mikel Maron <mikel.maron at gmail.com<mailto:mikel.maron at gmail.com>> wrote:

For 2023, the OSMF Board has decided to target a balanced budget. Given our expected income and expenses, there is a gap of approximately 500K GBP that we need to fundraise for.

https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Board/Minutes/2023-02-09#On_2023_budget

In the fall, we started planning for this by taking part in a workshop on fundraising strategy and operations Board/Minutes/2022-10 - OpenStreetMap Foundation<https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/wiki/Board/Minutes/2022-10#Fundraising_workshops>.

What has been clear is that we need a diversified campaign engaging wide community for small amounts, and target larger asks to businesses and major giving from individuals. This needs to be organized and executed effectively – there is a lot of communication, outreach, development of new mechanisms for giving, etc.

We are considering contracting an experience consultant who is already engaged in OpenStreetMap community to assist us in this process. The usual set up for such is a small percentage fee of what’s raised. They would work closely with the Board and fundraising committee, as well as share details of process publicly in regular diary entries. All of this is designed in mind to make the fundraising campaign reflect how we work as a community. We think this is low risk, high reward, and that dedicated attention to fundraising is necessary to make it successful.

We’ll need everyone’s help as well – from getting the word out, creatively engaging potential donors, to making asks, to of course kicking in a bit of money too.

Please share viewpoints here, or if you prefer directly with board at osmfoundation.org<mailto:board at osmfoundation.org>. We will receive your input over the next week until March 22.

-Mikel

* Mikel Maron * +14152835207 @mikel s:mikelmaron
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