[Chapter-delegates] Notification: Individual Donation campaign

Mon Nov 13 13:33:28 PST 2017

Good Day Susannah,

Thank you for your email. I appreciate your questions and comments. As noted in the Q&A, this campaign is the first in a long while from the Internet Society, it used to be a common practice and ISOC has raised money from individuals before. We haven’t done so in the last few years for several reasons, but mostly because we felt that our processes and mechanisms were not professional enough. 

Our reasons for doing this now are in line with our position as a global non-profit organization including diversity of our funding sources, which has been a stated goal of ISOC for years; to strengthen the mid and long term financial sustainability of the organization. And secondly, to maintain and strengthen the status as a non-profit organization that needs to meet certain rules of revenue sources.

Our goals are to test mechanisms, messaging and the ability to utilize our processes to seek donations for a wide array of initiatives underway at ISOC. To that end, we purposely did not pick a particular program to put this money to; but in the future, we could. If the mechanisms work, the array of campaigns we might try once or twice a year could include running a chapter membership and donation campaign, or particular project fundraising, or other ways to benefit all of our community with direct and/or indirect funding.

It is not the intent of this campaign to divert attention from the chapters or try to confuse the recipient at all. In the body of one of our test messages, we specifically point out our chapters and link to the website for a person to find the one closest to them. We also talk about the great work going on around the world in areas of education, open standards, public policy and local activities. I believe the message will touch on the breadth and depth of what the community does in the world and that obviously includes the work in the chapters. Both messages will go out on our standard mailer format which has been used to this list for the entirety of 2017.

I hope that clarifies the intention behind this campaign and I look forward to reporting out what comes from it.

Thank you again and appreciate the feedback.

Sincerely,

Todd

-- 

Todd M. Tolbert
Chief Administrative Officer
Internet Society
1775 Wiehle Avenue, Suite 201

Reston, VA 20190
E: Tolbert at isoc.org
Zoom.us: tolbert at isoc.org

From: Chapter-delegates <chapter-delegates-bounces at elists.isoc.org> on behalf of Susannah Gray <susannah.gray at gmail.com>
Date: Monday, November 13, 2017 at 1:11 PM
To: "chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org" <chapter-delegates at elists.isoc.org>
Subject: Re: [Chapter-delegates] Notification: Individual Donation campaign

Hi Todd,

Thanks for your mail. I have some concerns about this campaign: 

- This is the first I've heard of it. Your mail notes that the campaign will start this week already. As you'll be soliciting donations from individual members, were the chapters consulted about this? If so, when?

- The San Francisco-Bay Area Chapter members get regular emails asking them to donate to the chapter to support its work. An email coming in from a different entity asking for support for the same reasons/activities is going to cause confusion, may incite accusations of spamming and will interfere with our local fundraising campaign. 

- In your Q+A document you note ""All donations will support the broad range of Internet Society programs. Things like training for the next generation of Internet leaders, expertise and equipment to build Internet networks in communities that need access, and smart standards and policy-making so the Internet continues to be safe, open, and a means of opportunity for people around the globe.". There's no mention of how the money donated from the individuals that chapters work so hard to recruit will filter down to the chapters themselves. 

Kind regards, 

Susannah 

—
Susannah Gray 
President 
San Francisco-Bay Area Internet Society Chapter
www.sfbayisoc.org

On 11/11/2017 06:15, Todd M. Tolbert wrote:

Good Day Chapter Leaders,

Next week, The Internet Society will launch a donation campaign to our Individual Members. This is the first such campaign in several years. In the past, ISOC has raised money through sustaining memberships of individuals, donations, organization memberships and grants from all around the world. This diversification in our fundraising helps ISOC to maintain its public charity status and combine all of these resources together to support the work for an open, trusted, and global Internet. 

As you know, Chapters are central to our work. Members are encouraged to engage with their local Chapters, with both time and financial support so that the great work around the world, at the local level, can continue to flourish.  This campaign is a pilot of our ability to meet the needs of members who have asked for a way to complement their advocacy efforts with financial support to ISOC in general.

Attached you will find more information on this campaign and answers to several important questions. I recognize that this question and answer document may not answer all questions, but hopefully will provide you with a unified message of the impetus and intentions of this upcoming campaign.  As is our custom, we are letting you know that this work is upcoming and we look forward to sharing with you the results of the campaign when it is completed.

Thank you and have a great weekend.

Sincerely,

Todd

-- 

Todd M. Tolbert
Chief Administrative Officer
Internet Society
1775 Wiehle Avenue, Suite 201

Reston, VA 20190
E: Tolbert at isoc.org
Zoom.us: tolbert at isoc.org

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