Snowdrift.coop incubation
Scope
Snowdrift.coop is building a new sustainable patronage model for Open Source projects. The primary mechanism is "crowdmatching" where patrons pledge to match all the other patrons in order to built more widespread support for projects. Also, the platform itself will be governed democratically as a co-op with the patrons as members.
Initial Incubator Project Sponsor (2015): Allison Randal
Current (2020) Sponsor: Elana Hashman
Project contact: Aaron Wolf
Alignment with OSI Mission
Snowdrift.coop is exploring new ways to build a sustainable economy for Open Source, especially for end-user products which often get neglected compared to sometimes-well-funded upstream Open Source.
Incubation period
Snowdrift.coop will graduate from incubation when fully incorporated with Bylaws in place, in position to govern effectively while working toward full operations and beyond.
Requirements to reach full incorporation
- Prepare complete Bylaws decisions
- Get legal Bylaws draft made by lawyer
- Ratify Bylaws
- Meet any other state requirements for incorporation
Pre-OSI foundations
When first approved in 2015, Snowdrift.coop already had a fake-money prototype website and well-researched notes and writings. Articles of Incorporation were filed with the State of Michigan but Bylaws and final incorporation not finished.
Progress since joining OSI
After joining OSI in summer 2015, the branding and design were developed, and the backend software cleaned up and overhauled. Through OSI as fiscal sponsor, one full-time contractor worked alongside volunteers.
By fall 2016, the main funding source did not continue and the project shifted to an all-volunteer basis.
Over the course of 2017 through 2019, progress was inconsistent. The project moved through several different project-management tools and struggled to organize work among the volunteer distributed team. Nevertheless, the design and governance got refined and simplified and alpha testing began. An animated homepage video captures the core idea better than ever.
Work on Bylaws mainly involved dropping a complex multi-stakeholder idea and simplifying the governance proposals.
Current status
Last updated June 2020
Alpha testing
The platform itself is the first listed project: https://snowdrift.coop/p/snowdrift
Although the ability to pledge has not been widely announced yet, the project has 118 patrons. With crowdmatching set to $1 per thousand patrons, 118 patrons are set for 11.8 cents per month for a total of $13.92.
To avoid excessive fees, charges are delayed until multiple months add up to a few dollars per patron. At the time of this update, no actual charges have been processed.
Bylaws decisions have been discussed but need to get reviewed by a lawyer. Fundraising may be needed unless pro bono counsel can be found.
Next steps
For reference, see https://wiki.snowdrift.coop/planning
But for the Bylaws, the main focus is on summarizing Bylaws ideas, discussing with outside advisors, and getting the clearest concise set of bullet-points to lawyer for review.
Circumstances for winding down without graduation
If by the end of 2020, we do not have Bylaws in place, we will discuss winding down and otherwise will leave the incubation program even without graduation.