On Tue, Apr 15, 2014 at 11:52:27AM +1000, Ben Finney wrote:
Alex Fraser <alex@phatcore.com> writes:
I'd like to bring some attention to a crowd funding campaign for Blender. […]
Ben Finney <ben+freesoftware@benfinney.id.au> writes:
Would you like Free Software Melbourne to financially support a project making a series of well-produced video episodes, raising awareness of the role copying has in our society and culture?
How would you – Free Software Melbourne members – like this group to act in regard to supporting worthwhile projects aligned with our goals?
Should we collect funds at meetings and have a percentage of those go to some worthwhile project periodically? Or something else?
I personally donate to a couple of things including donations relevant to our group such as to the FSF, and also put a lot into the MediaGoblin fundraiser recently. There are many things I'd like to donate to, but it's not possible to donate a significant amount to everything. Because of this, I'd rather donate to groups that I feel align with my own interests. Sometimes those might align perfectly with what our Free Software Melbourne group considers worthwhile, and other times it might not. My preference is for options to be presented at our monthly meetings, and for everybody to personally decide in their own time who they want to donate to, as well as when and how much they wish to donate. Doing a group donation is great to get our group name out there and help make it clear what we stand for, but at the same time I don't want people to feel pressured (or concern themselves with the possibility of that happening). Doing so may make people hesitant to come along to our meetings if they don't have the money to spare, or simply aren't interested in the cause. So let's all discuss these ideas, promote them, explain why they are important etc. But I'm not sure I'm for collecting donations at our meetings themselves as a usual activity. Having said that, I can see exceptions where it may be desirable. eg. * if somebody would like Free Software Melbourne to take care of the donation process (a possibly that could increase in likelihood if funds have been collected on behalf of other people). * cases where a minimum amount is required to donate for some reason, or there are significant cost overheads involved in having everyone donate separately. Cheers, Adam