OpenClimate.fund

[Ly0n]

As discussed at the last community meeting, we are going to start another very simple funding experiment. To increase the incentive to contribute to OpenSustain.tech, contributors will be able to select an open source project as part of the pull request that will receive funding from a common pool that we will be collecting for. The contributor may not be affiliated with the project that receives the donation. The user workflow would be:

1. Add Open Source Project to OpenSustain.tech
2. Choose a Donation Link on OpenClimate.fund from a listed OpenSustain.tech project or any dependency.
3. Add the donation link to the Pull Request.
4. Donate to an open source you are not associated with from a larger pool the OpenSustain.tech community is collecting for.

[andrew]

Create donation pool ( at Open Source Collective ?! )

Open Collective does have the concept of a "fund" as well, might be able to use that?

[Ly0n]

Open Collective does have the concept of a "fund" as well, might be able to use that?

That's exactly what we need. Here a link with more information: https://docs.opencollective.com/help/financial-contributors/organizations/funds

It might be much easier to integrate the list of possible donation options directly into OpenClimate.fund instead of integrating it into ClimateTriage.

What would be a good way to present the data to a user? Maybe just as a table?

[Ly0n]

Here is a summary of some of the discussions we have had so far. @andrew filtered the projects for donation links
gist.github.com/andrew/032017247a16d49a8bd904f442221250
We would need to filter these projects for activity, as some of them are no longer active.

If we add sponsor links from the top 3 contributors of active projects, we might end up with about 300 options.

What I'm still not sure about is how to distribute the money from a technical point of view. You can see the variety of donation platforms here: gist.github.com/andrew/4100c9fd9488ef55cf0051f3dff2cad4

We could start with GitHub Sponsors, as I expect to cover most cases of sponsoring the top 3 contributors here. However, we would have to pay fees twice if we collect the donations once and then redistribute them.

[Ly0n]

Just one very simple way to significantly increase the amount of possible donations options would be to add the Top100 of dependencies within the ecosystem.

[lappemic]

Created the open-climate-fund repo and will push a first prototype as discussed today with @Ly0n.

[Ly0n]

Thanks @lappemic for a great meeting today. Here are the action items we discussed to launch OpenClimate.fund this year:

• Add another Grist spreadsheet showing possible donations from GitHub sponsors and the Open Source Collective of projects and organisations. @lappemic
• Test workflow donating from protontypes orgs via GitHub Sponsors and Open Source Collective. @Ly0n
  • Modify existing python script: https://github.com/protontypes/open-sustainable-technology/blob/main/.github/workflows/ecosystems_to_grist.py @lappemic
• Create blog post announcing OpenClimate.fund @Ly0n
• Create social media text
  - [ ] Post on SustainOSS
  - [ ] Post on Mastodon
  - [ ] Post on BlueSky
  - [ ] Post on LinkedIn
• Create some more content about the 'why OpenClimate.fund is needed'. @Ly0n
• Add OpenClimate.fund to Pull Request Template with the hashtag '#openclimatefund' @Ly0n
• Create BlueSky Social Media Account for the launch.
• Design Website
  • Collect beautiful open source images of environmental sustainability projects. @Ly0n
  • Create logo similar to ClimateTriage.com
  • Let's put together some social media preview cards and test them out.

[Ly0n]

Source: https://github.com/protontypes/organization-documents/blob/master/graphics/OpenClimatefund_paths.svg

[Ly0n]

Here some content for the About Section / Why? Section. Part of this can also be used for social media content:

Open Source plays a crucial role in combating climate change and biodiversity loss by providing transparent, verifiable methods for quantifying and forecasting the irreversible damage to our planet’s natural balance. Despite its significance, no global fund is dedicated to supporting the projects that generate some of the most vital data of our time. As a result, many of these projects, particularly after their initial launch, rely on the goodwill and spare time of volunteers to continue their development and maintenance.

OpenClimate.fund is an innovative initiative designed to direct funding from a larger fund we are raising to support these vital open-source projects. In our first funding round, we will distribute €100 each to 100 projects listed in the Open Sustainable Technology Dataset. Instead of selecting the recipients ourselves, we ask for your help. Contribute a project that is not yet listed in the Open Sustainable Technology Dataset and support another project already listed by selecting donation options from Open Source Collective or GitHub Sponsors, provided you are not affiliated with the project.

Our long-term goal is to create a positive feedback loop that strengthens connections between open-source projects, fostering a collaborative environment that accelerates progress in addressing climate change and sustainability. We know that this is just a drop in the ocean, but by addressing this funding gap, we hope to motivate private and public sponsors to provide additional funding or create similar funds with greater resources.

[lappemic]

I like the text. In my opinion we could simplify some of the texts to make it easier to read, but i guess this is personal taste. :)

What we could add at the end is something along the lines of: "If you would like to support this initiative and sponsor projects as well, get in touch with us." To animate and give people the idea they could sponsor as well.

[andrew]

In my opinion we could simplify some of the texts to make it easier to read

Agree!

[Ly0n]

Here a shorter version for the website:

Open source plays a key role in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss. It provides transparent, verifiable methods for quantifying and forecasting the irreversible damage to our planet's natural balance. In addition, open source tools enable us to design technology and products in a traceable way that minimises their impact on the environment. Despite its importance, no global fund supports the projects generating this vital data. As a result, many of these projects, especially after their initial launch, rely on the goodwill and limited time of volunteers to continue their development and maintenance.

OpenClimate.fund is a new way of funding vital open-source projects. It's an innovative initiative designed to direct funding from a larger fund we are raising to support these projects. In our first funding round, we'll be giving €100 each to 100 projects listed in the Open Sustainable Technology Dataset. Rather than choosing the recipients ourselves, we'd love your help. If you know of a project that isn't already listed, please create a pull request to OpenSustain.tech. You can then choose another project already listed that supports donation options from Open Source Collective or GitHub Sponsors, as long as you're not affiliated with the project you've chosen. Once we've reviewed your contribution, we'll donate 100€ to the project you've chosen.

We know that this is just a drop in the ocean, but by addressing this funding gap, we hope to motivate private and public sponsors to provide additional funding or create similar funds with greater resources. If you would like to support our initiative for our next round of funding please contact Micheal, Tobias or write to us on Mastodon.

@RichardLitt Could you please give us some native speaker feedback on this text for the website?

[RichardLitt]

Looks fine to me!

[Ly0n]

I've been trying to get some good images for the website from projects that offer donation opportunities, with not too much success. But this satellite image matches the colours pretty well and is CC0:

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Caspian_Sea_(Unsplash).jpg

or this one:
https://freerangestock.com/photos/179591/vibrant-aerial-view-of-tropical-island-with-turquoise-water-and-reefs..html

[andrew]

I really like the first one

[Ly0n]

Here a first draft of the blog post: https://hackmd.io/D-Uk_kDERtimwfXpqY_RZg?both

[lappemic]

Added a comment and corrected some minor orthographics. Otherwise i think it is a very powerful and well written blog post! Great Job @Ly0n!

[andrew]

Looks really good, big fan of the call to action at the end.

[RichardLitt]

I changed "here's how it works" to "Here’s what you can do:" in the second paragraph.

[RichardLitt]

I think this wording works better:

It makes it clearer what we're asking.

For this section, I think "Apply for our first funding round" is more actionable, too?

[lappemic]

@RichardLitt thanks a lot for your inputs! I think the the one from the hero makes sense. I adjusted it accordingly to

• "Add projects to OpenSustain.tech to support open SOURCE making a difference in our world." In the print screen the "SOURCE" is missing i think?

About the Applying or Joining i am honestly not sure. They do not really apply in that sense, right? With applying i relate some hurdles and effort, which could be discouraging for people to do so. Whereas with Join it sounds more welcoming and inclusive. But i am really not sure and maybe its a language thing? What you think @Ly0n?

[Ly0n]

@lappemic I think you are right. Join fits better here.

[Ly0n]

Here is another "hot" Earth shot from space that we can use to market this project:

[Ly0n]

Last preparations for Launch:

Before Launch

• Add GitHub Link to the footer
• Create social media content for BlueSky, LinkedIn and Mastodon.
  • Michael posts first, then waits and reshares. Tobias posts a day later.
  • Satellite Image?! or other image content?
  • Create texts and taglines for Social Media:
    • "Funding the digital infrastructure preserving our foundation of life"
    • "Join our crowdsourced funding revolution for climate action!"
    • Longer text for Bluesky: 300 characters
    • Mastodon: 500 characters
    • LinkedIn: A shortened version of our blog post as "normal post".
    • LinkedIn: Article create from our blog post.
• Add social media links to the footer of OpenClimate.fund
• Fix the content of OpenClimate.fund that we allow all know donation platforms: accept donations through known donation platforms like Open Source Collective or GitHub Sponsors.
• Change Tagline: "Add projects to OpenSustain.tech to support open source making a difference in our world."

Launch at Wednesday December 18 16:30 CET

• Post to ClimateAction.tech and WorkInClimate Slack
• Post on SustainOSS
• Post on Reddit
  • Tobias with a new account?
• Create Hackernews post: 5 times .. last time with Show HN:
• Create Lemmy post
• Ask OpenCollective and Open Source Collective to share and post.
• Write emails to people who could help us share.
• Ask people on LinkedIn to share and write about OpenClimate.fund

[Ly0n]

This is my personal summary of the OpenClimate.fund. So far it's failed for various reasons I'm 100% sure of. Here are some speculations:

1. We introduced a new concept of distributing money. This may have been too much for most people and they simply did not take the time to really understand it. A typical social media problem: We have not made it so simple that people looking at and will understand it in 20 seconds. If it takes 60 seconds of attentions it is already to hard to understand. A very simple video or GIF might have made the communication much more clearer.
2. 100€ is just not enough for most people to take the effort.
3. Pure misfortune as the social media posts and HN etc did not take off.
4. Little connections in between the open source ecosystem and community. Everyone working on his own without thinking about how to strengthen the whole community and to collaborate.

[RichardLitt]

I think you're right on all points. The third is related to the first two, and the connections may or may not be it.

Do we have a mailing list or a way of putting out work like this and having it be broadcast, beyond our own personal channels?

[Ly0n]

Do we have a mailing list or a way of putting out work like this and having it be broadcast, beyond our own personal channels?

The mailing list was something we had always wanted to do, but in addition to the posts on social media and the blog, it was just too much effort. I also didn't have experience how the whole thing could be implemented cost-efficiently. The systems I was familiar with quickly generated unmanageable costs. It has been discussed repeatedly in the past and it would probably have made more sense in the long term than to rely solely on social media.

[RichardLitt]

OK. So, sounds like something we should look into. Now that Tinyletter is dead and Mailchimp is expensive, we should probably think about building out one somewhere else - Beehiiv?. And we should probably form a coherent comms strategy.

Add it to the agenda for a week from now? I am off next week off-grid.

[Ly0n]

The Beehiiv LAUNCH plan is almost too good to be true. We definitely need a strategy for creating content for such a service before we set this up.