Fundraising and Fund-Using Josh Berkus OSCON 2013
who is this guy?● 3yrs San Francisco Opera
Development● Assistant Treasurer, Software in
the Public Interest
Who● people who believe in your
mission● often already supporters● also the general public
– depending on your mission
Who● Figure out who your supporters are
– where do they hang out?– how do they communicate?– why do they support your organization?
How
3. Merchandising– works for awareness,
not so much for money– also issues for 501(c)3s
4. Events– meet donors– lose money (on individuals)
Who● Companies who:
– are local for you– sell to/recruit your donors/clientele– have an image which coincides with your
mission
How● Branding
– put their name on “something good”● Events
– companies love event sponsorships– especially if their staff get to go
How
1. Get an introduction
2. Write a formal ask– emphasize marketing value– use numbers!
3. Follow up with publicity
4. Check that they're satisfied
How
1. Get a grant writer (really)
2. Research what's available
3. Fill out a lot of paperwork
4. Get the grant
5. Do reports on the grant progress
6. Renew (hopefully)
First, hire a bookkeeper● You need to file tax forms
– Federal - 990– State forms– maybe local as well
● You need to create an annualreport
2nd: Accounts● You'll need a corporate checking
account– one with good online tools– and good distributed business policy
● but get an investment account too
3rd: A little tracking● $100K is enough to steal● Have a separate bookkeeper and
treasurer● Monthly reports on income and
expenses● consider Ledger-CLI + Git
Infrastructure● servers & cloud servers
– donate to OSL?● test machines● key developer laptops● AWS bills
Travel & Conferences● Subsidize your annual conference● Sponsor partner conferences● Send your people to other
conferences● Send your people to speak to
governments/companies/comunities
Paying for Coding● How?
– contract?– feature bounty?– student internships?– bug bounties?– something else?