Talk:Sugar Labs/Donate

I would like to propose that Sugar Labs reconsiders adding a membership structure for donors. It appears this was already discussed in the oversight board meeting that took place 2008/09/19, as indicated in the meeting minutes excerpt:"We also discussed the idea of members dues, but reached consensus that it wasn't a good idea at this stage." (http://sugarlabs.org/go/Sugar_Labs/OversightBoard/Meeting_Minutes-2008-09-19)

As a potential donor, I see the following benefits to implementing a membership structure:

1. It is easier to introduce other potential donors to the project when one brandishes a fancy membership card.
2. Annual membership payments would match nicely with the annual salary requirements of paid developers.
3. Membership tenure (in the form of cheaper renewals, bounty points, etc . . .) could be used to entice existing members to renew their memberships.

Some examples of other non-profit organizations that utilize a membership based donation system:

1. The Planetary Society (https://planetary.org/join/membership/)
   • Founded in 1980
2. Free Software Foundation (https://www.fsf.org/associate/support_freedom/join_fsf?referrer=4052)
   • Provides members with bootable membership cards
3. Electronic Frontier Foundation (https://secure.eff.org/site/Donation?ACTION=SHOW_DONATION_OPTIONS&CAMPAIGN_ID=1082&JServSessionIdr006=8sqitlker1.app13b)
   • Receive a T-shirt and/or hat with membership