Note: This is a draft proposal for a funding/donations page or pages - for more details on donating to this project, please contact the Appropedia Foundation.
Update: Great news - as of late October 2007, Appropedia is a registered 501(c)(3), meaning it is a non-profit, and donations are tax-deductible in the US!.

Appropedia runs on the goodwill of its supporters. We currently cover the costs out of the pockets of supporters within the Appropedia community of editors. As the site is growing in size and popularity, the server demand is increasing, and we wish to add many features, and support the Appropedia Foundation in promoting the site, so funding is becoming critical.

We are looking at ways of increasing the rate of development of the site, through employing people to work on different aspects of the site, including contributing specific content, soliciting contributions of content and developing collaborations, facilitating networking, and providing technical support, to complement and support the larger community of voluntary contributors - to do all of this would require a number of full-time and/or part-time positions, and funding will be required if this is to be implemented.

Our world faces serious challenges of continuing poverty and threats to our environment, and Appropedia seeks to empower individuals and communities to meet those challenges. We believe that your support of Appropedia is an investment in a better world, whether financial support, or whatever form of support you are able to give.

What will the money be used for?

  • Staff to improve Appropedia's service. Currently there are no paid staff, and Appropedia's progress has been quite successful but dependent on when our volunteers are available. Paid staff would:
    • develop the site, seeking and bringing in new content
    • add and develop new features, such as Semantic MediaWiki, additional Drupal modules and more advanced searching
    • foster community, connecting people, answering questions and developing the social networking features that would aid the task- and project-oriented networking that Appropedia aims to foster
    • expand our cooperation with other organizations
  • Internships (esp in the majority world)
  • Hosting costs
    • Dedicated server for faster and more dependable serving of pages.
    • More powerful servers to allow server-intensive features, such as Semantic MediaWiki and additional Drupal modules.
  • Possibly advertising, but usually we decide there are better ways of getting publicity.
  • Supporting specific projects:
    • By supporting projects with expertise and resources, we can help that specific project be successful and ensure that the material is written up on Appropedia to make the information and experiences available to everyone.
    • We will focus on our core strengths - which presently are appropriate technology (and our links to people in parts of the majority world) and education (in the broadest sense).

Corporate funding

It is suggested that this section be given its own page (eventually).

For the integrity of both Appropedia and corporate donors, it is made very clear that open editing and editorial independence are not negotiable, and no favorable treatment is expected in terms of Appropedia's content. Donations are on a pro bono basis.

On the other hand, this is not an excuse to launch unfair attacks on any person or organization, regardless of whether they are a donor - baseless accusations will be removed; relevant criticisms will be allowed to stay, citing sources and presenting other sides to the issue where appropriate. None of this is dependent on whether the person or organization is a donor.

Tax deductions

The Appropedia Foundation has 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status in the USA. Options for tax-deductible donations made from other countries, e.g. Australia, are being explored.

See Foundation:Deductibility of donations for Wikimedia's tax status. Setting up local chapters or making partnerships with local NGOs may be ways of offering tax-deductions.

Methods of payment

If you are interested in supporting this project, please contact one of the Appropedia Foundation's directors, such as Lonny (via his talk page).

Suggested means of payment to be implemented in the future:

  • PayPalW
  • MoneybookersW
  • Direct deposit or bank transfer (does this make receipts difficult, for tax-deductions?);
  • Check (by mail) - less convenient, but not many are likely to do this anyway. We may as well make it available for those who do want to donate this way.

See also

Interwiki links

Examples of donations pages:

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