[Linux-aus] Crowdfunding for IT projects

[Les Kitchen]

Hi Saber (and other LA folk),

On Tue, Aug 9, 2022, at 19:31, Saber Sayeed via linux-aus wrote:
> This is my first email to this mailing list. Does anyone know any 
> crowdfunding website for non profitable IT/Technology projects? I heard 
> about gofundme.com but it didn't sound right for IT/Technology projects.

Sorry for long delayed response — I'm working through a backlog
of mail.

One outfit I've dealt with a lot (for years now, since 2018) is
Crowd Supply:

https://www.crowdsupply.com/

Their focus is on hardware, so it might not be a good fit to
what you have in mind if that's all software.  But these days
almost all hardware has a large software / firmware component,
and that's true of the projects on Crowd Supply too.  So, if
there's some hardware component to your project, then Crowd
Supply might be worth looking into.

One of the good things about Crowd Supply is their commitment to
open hardware and software: "Our mission is to bring original,
useful, respectful hardware to life." — as they say on their
About page:

https://www.crowdsupply.com/about

which also has their "Proclamation of User Rights".

I've dealt with Crowd Supply only as a project backer, not a
project initiator.  But for that my experience has been
generally very positive.  A few glitches and annoyances now and
then, but nothing major.

I don't know whether there's any software-only analog of Crowd
Supply.  Does anybody know of such a thing?


— Smiles, Les.


P.S. Two small, not immediately obvious things:
1. Though based in Oregon, USA, they usually have the option of
   AU power cords and power adapters.
2. For a couple of years they've been charging Australian GST
   for orders from Australia.  The downside is that you can't
   avoid GST for cheap items.  But the upside is that you don't
   have to hassle with Customs on arrival for expensive items.