Thread: Donations to the PostgreSQL project using bitcoins
Hi all, While looking at the donation page of Postgres, I noticed that there is nothing to be able to give donations in bitcoins. I imagine that it could be nice to add a bitcoin wallet address that people could use to send donations to the PostgreSQL project, and have of course the wallet being managed by the same entity/people as the other money donations. Bitcoin public addresses have the disadvantage to show how many bitcoins a given address has received, but receiving even a little is better than nothing. The wallet address published on postgresql.org could also be changed periodically if showing the total amount received since the existence of the address is a problem. Thoughts? Regards, -- Michael
Le 11/04/2014 15:19, Michael Paquier a écrit : > Hi all, > > While looking at the donation page of Postgres, I noticed that there > is nothing to be able to give donations in bitcoins. I imagine that it > could be nice to add a bitcoin wallet address that people could use to > send donations to the PostgreSQL project, and have of course the > wallet being managed by the same entity/people as the other money > donations. Bitcoin public addresses have the disadvantage to show how > many bitcoins a given address has received, but receiving even a > little is better than nothing. The wallet address published on > postgresql.org could also be changed periodically if showing the total > amount received since the existence of the address is a problem. > Thoughts? > > Regards, > I think this question should be asked to the various non-profit organizations among the community (SPI, PGUS, PG Europe, etc.) and each one may have a different answer depending on how they want to handle donations and money in general. Speaking for the PGFR association, donations are not a primary source of income for us and we don't have plans to develop it (we prefer focusing on getting more members). Furthermore we already have 3 different ways to accept payments (including paypal) and it's a lot of work to keep up with everything, so we're currently trying to simplify it and handling bitcoins does not seem simple at all :)
On 04/11/2014 05:10 PM, damien clochard wrote: > Le 11/04/2014 15:19, Michael Paquier a écrit : >> Hi all, >> >> While looking at the donation page of Postgres, I noticed that there >> is nothing to be able to give donations in bitcoins. I imagine that it >> could be nice to add a bitcoin wallet address that people could use to >> send donations to the PostgreSQL project, and have of course the >> wallet being managed by the same entity/people as the other money >> donations. Bitcoin public addresses have the disadvantage to show how >> many bitcoins a given address has received, but receiving even a >> little is better than nothing. The wallet address published on >> postgresql.org could also be changed periodically if showing the total >> amount received since the existence of the address is a problem. >> Thoughts? >> >> Regards, >> > I think this question should be asked to the various non-profit > organizations among the community (SPI, PGUS, PG Europe, etc.) and each > one may have a different answer depending on how they want to handle > donations and money in general. > > Speaking for the PGFR association, donations are not a primary source of > income for us and we don't have plans to develop it (we prefer focusing > on getting more members). Furthermore we already have 3 different ways > to accept payments (including paypal) and it's a lot of work to keep up > with everything, so we're currently trying to simplify it and handling > bitcoins does not seem simple at all :) > > My own thoughts are that the organizations should accept legal tender, and not anything else, such as bitcoins, beads, shells, or cowhides. But then it's not my decision to make. cheers andrew
On Sat, Apr 12, 2014 at 6:10 AM, damien clochard <damien@dalibo.info> wrote: > Le 11/04/2014 15:19, Michael Paquier a écrit : >> Hi all, >> >> While looking at the donation page of Postgres, I noticed that there >> is nothing to be able to give donations in bitcoins. I imagine that it >> could be nice to add a bitcoin wallet address that people could use to >> send donations to the PostgreSQL project, and have of course the >> wallet being managed by the same entity/people as the other money >> donations. Bitcoin public addresses have the disadvantage to show how >> many bitcoins a given address has received, but receiving even a >> little is better than nothing. The wallet address published on >> postgresql.org could also be changed periodically if showing the total >> amount received since the existence of the address is a problem. >> Thoughts? >> >> Regards, >> > > I think this question should be asked to the various non-profit > organizations among the community (SPI, PGUS, PG Europe, etc.) and each > one may have a different answer depending on how they want to handle > donations and money in general. Sure. Makes sense. > Speaking for the PGFR association, donations are not a primary source of > income for us and we don't have plans to develop it (we prefer focusing > on getting more members). Furthermore we already have 3 different ways > to accept payments (including paypal) and it's a lot of work to keep up > with everything, so we're currently trying to simplify it and handling > bitcoins does not seem simple at all :) Depends on your viewpoint: 1) Create a wallet 2) Post an address to receive payments 3) Exchange it for real money on existing platforms. Surely the blocking part... -- Michael
On 04/11/2014 04:28 PM, Andrew Dunstan wrote: > > On 04/11/2014 05:10 PM, damien clochard wrote: >> Le 11/04/2014 15:19, Michael Paquier a écrit : >>> Hi all, >>> >>> While looking at the donation page of Postgres, I noticed that there >>> is nothing to be able to give donations in bitcoins. I imagine that it >>> could be nice to add a bitcoin wallet address that people could use to >>> send donations to the PostgreSQL project, and have of course the >>> wallet being managed by the same entity/people as the other money >>> donations. Bitcoin public addresses have the disadvantage to show how >>> many bitcoins a given address has received, but receiving even a >>> little is better than nothing. The wallet address published on >>> postgresql.org could also be changed periodically if showing the total >>> amount received since the existence of the address is a problem. >>> Thoughts? >>> >>> Regards, >>> >> I think this question should be asked to the various non-profit >> organizations among the community (SPI, PGUS, PG Europe, etc.) and each >> one may have a different answer depending on how they want to handle >> donations and money in general. >> >> Speaking for the PGFR association, donations are not a primary source of >> income for us and we don't have plans to develop it (we prefer focusing >> on getting more members). Furthermore we already have 3 different ways >> to accept payments (including paypal) and it's a lot of work to keep up >> with everything, so we're currently trying to simplify it and handling >> bitcoins does not seem simple at all :) >> >> > > > My own thoughts are that the organizations should accept legal tender, > and not anything else, such as bitcoins, beads, shells, or cowhides. But > then it's not my decision to make. +1 > > cheers > > andrew > > -- Adrian Klaver adrian.klaver@aklaver.com
> >> Speaking for the PGFR association, donations are not a primary source of >> income for us and we don't have plans to develop it (we prefer focusing >> on getting more members). Furthermore we already have 3 different ways >> to accept payments (including paypal) and it's a lot of work to keep up >> with everything, so we're currently trying to simplify it and handling >> bitcoins does not seem simple at all :) > Depends on your viewpoint: > 1) Create a wallet > 2) Post an address to receive payments > 3) Exchange it for real money on existing platforms. Surely the blocking part... > No the tricky part is that when you're a non-profit organization you need to provide a balance sheet and profit/loss report every year to your members and possibly to the public administration if that's required by the laws of your country. Writing these documents (and the overall accounting work) requires a lot of time and skills. And if you accept different currencies, basically you need to do that work twice. Trust me I've done a lot of paperwork and not-so-funny accounting work for the PGFR association and at some point I wished I could have spend my time to some more direct and ego-rewarding contributions :) But most of all the main reason why I think it's not worth spending time to get more money is precisely because PGFR association has much more money than it can spend. Of course we're not refusing money, but what we really need is more time and more members. We have a lot of great projects that we can't launch. And money is not the problem. I don't know the context of the other PostgreSQL non-profit organization but I bet you'll find the same situation everywhere : If you find enough time and people to organize an event or start a project about PostgreSQL, most of the time the money will follow. We're very lucky, it doesn't work like that for most of the non-profit associations I know ! But PostgreSQL is attracting so much interests and resources, that our free time and our imagination seems to be our main limits :)
> > On Sat, Apr 12, 2014 at 6:10 AM, damien clochard <damien@dalibo.info> > wrote: >> Le 11/04/2014 15:19, Michael Paquier a écrit : >>> Hi all, >>> >>> While looking at the donation page of Postgres, I noticed that there >>> is nothing to be able to give donations in bitcoins. I imagine that it >>> could be nice to add a bitcoin wallet address that people could use to >>> send donations to the PostgreSQL project, and have of course the >>> wallet being managed by the same entity/people as the other money >>> donations. Bitcoin public addresses have the disadvantage to show how >>> many bitcoins a given address has received, but receiving even a >>> little is better than nothing. The wallet address published on >>> postgresql.org could also be changed periodically if showing the total >>> amount received since the existence of the address is a problem. >>> Thoughts? >>> >>> Regards, >>> >> >> I think this question should be asked to the various non-profit >> organizations among the community (SPI, PGUS, PG Europe, etc.) and each >> one may have a different answer depending on how they want to handle >> donations and money in general. > Sure. Makes sense. > >> Speaking for the PGFR association, donations are not a primary source of >> income for us and we don't have plans to develop it (we prefer focusing >> on getting more members). Furthermore we already have 3 different ways >> to accept payments (including paypal) and it's a lot of work to keep up >> with everything, so we're currently trying to simplify it and handling >> bitcoins does not seem simple at all :) > Depends on your viewpoint: > 1) Create a wallet > 2) Post an address to receive payments > 3) Exchange it for real money on existing platforms. Surely the blocking > part... Remember that there is paise who can not use a particular currency, and any other variant may be validates, in support the promotion of PostgreSQL. Saludos, Gilberto Castillo La Habana, Cuba --- This message was processed by Kaspersky Mail Gateway 5.6.28/RELEASE running at host imx3.etecsa.cu Visit our web-site: <http://www.kaspersky.com>, <http://www.viruslist.com>
Michael, > While looking at the donation page of Postgres, I noticed that there > is nothing to be able to give donations in bitcoins. I imagine that it > could be nice to add a bitcoin wallet address that people could use to > send donations to the PostgreSQL project, and have of course the > wallet being managed by the same entity/people as the other money > donations. SPI looked into bitcoin donations a while ago, and there's some serious issues with accepting bitcoins for a US 501(c)3: 1. Accepting bitcoins would greatly increase the chance of an audit by the IRS's anti-money-laundering team, which would be very expensive in volunteer/CPA time. 2. Accepting donations in a "currency" whose relative value fluctuates rapidly raises a number of problems with providing donors with accurate tax statements. If bitcoin became more accepted and stable, then it would be worth reconsidering SPI's position. For now, though, SPI does not accept bitcoin. If people are really interested in accepting bitcoins in order to donate to PostgreSQL, my suggestion would be for some commercial entity to accept and convert them, and then donate them. This is the same thing we do with "unrelated business income" such as tshirt sales. -- Josh Berkus PostgreSQL Experts Inc. http://pgexperts.com