Re: Sponsoring lilypond development Was Re: Score parts: instrument and duration

[Han-Wen Nienhuys]

Pedro Kröger wrote:
> I propose we have a short campaign among lily users to raise some
> money. That would help while we are working on the next major version
> and thinking and working in medium and long time frame actions for
> founding. I don't know how many people are here or in lily-users, but if
> we could get 100 people to contribute $20 for 6 months, that would
> guarantee a monthly $2000 during 6 months (I have no idea about much one
> need to live in the Netherlands, I'm using these figures just as an
> example). That's sound reasonable to me. I assume that it's easier for
> most people to contribute with $10-30 for a period of time like 6 months
> than to donate three number figures at once (e.g. $200). At least it is
> easier to me. I also assume that probably that's the reason that people
> don't contribute more offen, because they think that it will not make a
> difference to contribute such a small amount as $20. I believe we could
> start this campaign right away.
>
> That's one idea, where a few users will help donating a little. Another
> idea is to start a somewhat bigger campaign trying to raise the money
> for this 6 month period at once. That would involve universities, music
> centers, and institutions like that.

There are definitely plus sides to this idea.  Lilypond.org now gets 
about 80000 visitors per month, and with 20000 downloads of the 2.6 
release, I guess we might have 10,000 to 40,000 users. However, I see 
two problems

 1. apart from the "involved" people like you,  how do you convince 
people to donate money?  I'm not sure of the exact numbers, but I think 
that the past two months of sponsored features have brought in more 
money than twice the amount of donation over the past 2 years. You don't 
get anything in return for a donation: no support, no features, just a 
thank-you note.

Psychologically, it's much easier to part with money, if you get 
something in return.

I confess that I pay more attention to questions from people who donate 
or are customers, but that gets unwieldy for me if 100 people start 
donating, and it would also be unfair, since Mats is doing most of the 
question answering anyway.

 2. getting donations will create a tension between sponsored features 
and unsponsored work. For example, if there are a lot of small donators, 
should I start working on Tie formatting out of my own accord, or do I 
wait for someone to come along who needs it bad enough to pay the 
(larger) sponsor fee?

I would be much more comfortable if a campaign is set up to amass money 
for sponsored features. For example, I could post a "dynamics 
improvement project" with specs and a price-tag and people can then 
contribute. When the price target is met, I start working, and collect 
the cash once its done.

--
Han-Wen Nienhuys - address@hidden - http://www.xs4all.nl/~hanwen

LilyPond Software Design
 -- Code for Music Notation
http://www.lilypond-design.com