GNOME Foundation Cuts Budget, Seeks More Volunteers and Donations (gnome.org)
(Saturday October 19, 2024 @05:34PM (EditorDavid)
from the GNU-Network-Object-Model-Environment dept.)
- Reference: 0175286253
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/24/10/19/1912204/gnome-foundation-cuts-budget-seeks-more-volunteers-and-donations
- Source link: https://foundation.gnome.org/2024/10/07/update-from-the-board-2024-10/
"The foundation behind the Gnome desktop environment is having to go through some serious belt-tightening..." [1]writes Linux Magazine .
From an October 7th [2]announcement by The Gnome Foundation :
> Our plan for the previous financial year was to operate a break-even budget. We raised less than expected last year, due to a very challenging fundraising environment for nonprofits, on top of internal changes such as the [3]departure of our previous Executive Director, Holly Million. The Foundation has a [4]reserves policy which requires us to keep a certain amount of money in the bank account, to preserve core operations in the event of interruptions to our income. In order to meet our reserves policy, this year's budget had to reduce our expenditure to below expected income, and generate a small surplus to reinstate the Foundation's financial reserves to the necessary level...
>
> We're asking for your support in several ways:
>
> - Look out for opportunities to volunteer your time and skills in areas where we've had to reduce staff involvement.
>
> - Share ideas on how to organize and improve our activities in this new context.
>
> - Consider [5]making donations to support the GNOME Foundation's core priorities , if you're able...
>
> Through these difficult decisions, the GNOME Foundation is able to meet its reserves policy, ensuring sufficient funds for the coming year. Our budget for the new financial year is realistic and supports four full time staff, who are able to support key operations like finance, infrastructure and events. We are additionally contracting a number of other individuals on a short term or part time basis, to help with fund raising, websites and delivering on our project commitments.
>
> We are going to be looking to the GNOME community to help with the areas that are most affected by our reduced staffing. If you would like to help GNOME with its events, marketing, or fundraising, we would love to hear from you.
In their new budget, "expenses have been greatly reduced," according to [6]an October 10 update :
> We are also very relieved to be able to provide a surplus budget for the first time in many years, and doing so while still being able to support the community: events, infrastructure, internships, travel funding, and meeting our commitment to donors for work done in some parts of the stack, e.g.: Flathub, parental controls and GNOME Software.
[1] https://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/News/The-Gnome-Foundation-Struggling-to-Stay-Afloat
[2] https://foundation.gnome.org/2024/10/07/update-from-the-board-2024-10/
[3] https://foundation.gnome.org/2024/07/12/gnome-foundation-announces-transition-of-executive-director/
[4] https://wiki.gnome.org/Foundation/BudgetAndSpending#Reserves_policy
[5] https://www.gnome.org/donate/
[6] https://foundation.gnome.org/2024/10/10/budget-and-economic-review/
From an October 7th [2]announcement by The Gnome Foundation :
> Our plan for the previous financial year was to operate a break-even budget. We raised less than expected last year, due to a very challenging fundraising environment for nonprofits, on top of internal changes such as the [3]departure of our previous Executive Director, Holly Million. The Foundation has a [4]reserves policy which requires us to keep a certain amount of money in the bank account, to preserve core operations in the event of interruptions to our income. In order to meet our reserves policy, this year's budget had to reduce our expenditure to below expected income, and generate a small surplus to reinstate the Foundation's financial reserves to the necessary level...
>
> We're asking for your support in several ways:
>
> - Look out for opportunities to volunteer your time and skills in areas where we've had to reduce staff involvement.
>
> - Share ideas on how to organize and improve our activities in this new context.
>
> - Consider [5]making donations to support the GNOME Foundation's core priorities , if you're able...
>
> Through these difficult decisions, the GNOME Foundation is able to meet its reserves policy, ensuring sufficient funds for the coming year. Our budget for the new financial year is realistic and supports four full time staff, who are able to support key operations like finance, infrastructure and events. We are additionally contracting a number of other individuals on a short term or part time basis, to help with fund raising, websites and delivering on our project commitments.
>
> We are going to be looking to the GNOME community to help with the areas that are most affected by our reduced staffing. If you would like to help GNOME with its events, marketing, or fundraising, we would love to hear from you.
In their new budget, "expenses have been greatly reduced," according to [6]an October 10 update :
> We are also very relieved to be able to provide a surplus budget for the first time in many years, and doing so while still being able to support the community: events, infrastructure, internships, travel funding, and meeting our commitment to donors for work done in some parts of the stack, e.g.: Flathub, parental controls and GNOME Software.
[1] https://www.linux-magazine.com/Online/News/The-Gnome-Foundation-Struggling-to-Stay-Afloat
[2] https://foundation.gnome.org/2024/10/07/update-from-the-board-2024-10/
[3] https://foundation.gnome.org/2024/07/12/gnome-foundation-announces-transition-of-executive-director/
[4] https://wiki.gnome.org/Foundation/BudgetAndSpending#Reserves_policy
[5] https://www.gnome.org/donate/
[6] https://foundation.gnome.org/2024/10/10/budget-and-economic-review/
Make a desktop people can understand? (Score:5, Insightful)
by innocent_white_lamb ( 151825 )
Maybe they would do better if they made a desktop that people could understand and was easily configurable?
They could look at Mate for some inspiration there.
(Which sounds facetious but is actually a true statement.)
Maybe they should volunteer (Score:2)
I'm no shaman, but for an affordable consulting fee I could serve as a guru. I'll provide them with a free sample of my wisdom: Perhaps some on the Foundation should volunteer their own efforts and save even more money. I would offer more, but like a Commodore Amiga I must meditate on the error of my ways.