[hackerspaces] Fundraising for FLOSS non-profit accounting software
James Carlson
james at schoolfactory.org
Thu May 2 18:35:53 CEST 2013
The School Factory and Space Federation would gladly help sponsor this
activity--it's such an important component! Access control, member
management, and accounting are all the challenging things.
On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 11:32 AM, Joshua Pritt <ramgarden at gmail.com> wrote:
> Would it work better if we create a hackerspaces group of software
> engineers (aka code monkeys, code poets, and source ninjas) to start up a
> sourceforge/github/google/SVN repo project and create our own non-profit
> accounting web app? Or should we all just put in a few hours here and
> there from our spaces and do work on this Conservancy project?
> I've always wanted to see how large of a software powerhouse we could make
> out of all the coders from all the hackerspaces spending just a few minutes
> or hours a week on a project.
>
> I imagine just creating a simple task list where each person takes a task
> for themselves and divide and conquers it that way.
>
> I dunno, maybe it's not possible but I bet we could tackle almost any
> software project with ease, especially something like a non-profit
> accounting web app or even just plugins for GNUCash, etc.
>
> DISCUSS!
>
>
> On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 11:11 AM, Kevin Conner <kevin.r.conner at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> OpenERP is an option I've been using. It's not focused specifically on
>> non-profit entities, but being open source I'm sure modules are available
>> or could be made without having to start from scratch.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 8:32 AM, Pete Prodoehl <raster at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>> We've got software we use for billing our members, as we as keeping
>>> track of rentable storage space.
>>>
>>> https://code.google.com/u/jason.gessner/p/mkemakerspace-tools/
>>>
>>> Right now I think Milwaukee Makerspace is the only one using it, though
>>> I believe jason g. (lead developer) has talked with some people at Pumping
>>> Station: One and Workshop 88 about it.
>>>
>>>
>>> Pete
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 5/2/13 10:07 AM, Edward L Platt wrote:
>>>
>>> We used to use GNUCash at i3 Detroit, but wound up switching to the
>>> proprietary software that shall not be named.
>>>
>>> The major limitations of GNUCash were:
>>> * Not a web app - prevented dividing tasks among multiple pepole
>>> (receipt/payment entry, reconciliation, billing, etc.).
>>> * No way to track vendors/customers. We wound up creating a sub-account
>>> for each member, which was really unwieldy, especially since GNUCash didn't
>>> alphabetize them, and wouldn't total them in our reports.
>>> * Clunky interface.
>>> * Learning curve too steep for volunteers.
>>>
>>> Also here's a feature request that I've never been able to find in
>>> *any* accounting software:
>>> * See the statement date for which each transaction was reconciled.
>>>
>>> If anyone starts an open source bookkeeping web app, I'd love to get
>>> on the dev list.
>>>
>>> -Ed
>>>
>>>
>>> On Thu, May 2, 2013 at 9:46 AM, Doug Philips <doug at hackpittsburgh.org>wrote:
>>>
>>>> I wonder if they have looked at ledger (http://www.ledger-cli.org/).
>>>> They're on the cusp of releasing v3,
>>>> but that'll be soon enough.
>>>> -=Doug
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On 5/2/13 9:20 AM, Tim Butram wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I don't think that GNUCash has all of the required features that they
>>>>> need. From their list I don't think that GNUCash can do:
>>>>>
>>>>> * Tracking and reporting of non-profit income types (related
>>>>> business income, unrelated business taxable income, donations, etc.)
>>>>> * Basic annual audit preparation reporting
>>>>> * Ability to easily handle all these features on a
>>>>> project-by-project subset of the accounts, and to easily export and excise
>>>>> that subset from the system. (i.e., support for temporarily restricted
>>>>> assets, earmarked for fiscal-sponsored projects)
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Unless these are just features are unknown to me. Either way, they
>>>>> were not ruling out contributing to some project, so it could end up being
>>>>> that GNUCash gets some more features.
>>>>>
>>>>> Tim Butram
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, May 1, 2013 at 6:27 PM, Joshua Pritt <ramgarden at gmail.com<mailto:
>>>>> ramgarden at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> I'll donate some of my free time to work on this software! I have
>>>>> had to help with issues with proprietary software such as Exceed! Basic.
>>>>> Is Conservancy trying to do the same thing as GNUCash?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> On Wed, May 1, 2013 at 5:15 PM, Danny O'Brien <danny at spesh.com<mailto:
>>>>> danny at spesh.com>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>> I thought this might be something that many here would see as a
>>>>> worthwhile project to donate money toward:
>>>>>
>>>>> http://sfconservancy.org/campaign/
>>>>>
>>>>> Conservancy has a plan to help all non-profit
>>>>> organizations (NPOs)
>>>>> by creating an Open Source and Free Software accounting
>>>>> system
>>>>> usable by non-technical bookkeepers, accountants, and
>>>>> non-profit
>>>>> managers. You can help us do it by donating now.
>>>>>
>>>>> To keep their books and produce annual government
>>>>> filings, most NPOs
>>>>> rely on proprietary software, paying exorbitant licensing
>>>>> fees. This
>>>>> is fundamentally at cross purposes with their underlying
>>>>> missions of
>>>>> charity, equality, democracy, and sharing.
>>>>>
>>>>> You can help Conservancy fix this problem by donating
>>>>> now. We seek
>>>>> to raise $75,000 to employ a developer for one year to
>>>>> make
>>>>> substantial progress on this project.
>>>>>
>>>>> Note that this first year will concentrate on US non-profit
>>>>> requirements, "Conservancy seeks to lead an international
>>>>> effort, and
>>>>> welcomes contributions and input from everyone in the
>>>>> non-profit
>>>>> community from around the world. Conservancy has created a
>>>>> mailing list
>>>>> for discussion of this project and encourages interested
>>>>> parties from
>>>>> around the world to join the mailing list and contribute to the
>>>>> project!"
>>>>>
>>>>> http://lists.sfconservancy.org/mailman/listinfo/npo-accounting
>>>>>
>>>>> Donation sidebar is on the main page:
>>>>> http://sfconservancy.org/campaign/
>>>>>
>>>>> d.
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Discuss mailing list
>>>>> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org <mailto:
>>>>> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org>
>>>>>
>>>>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Discuss mailing list
>>>>> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org <mailto:
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>>>>>
>>>>> http://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Discuss mailing list
>>>>> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
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>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> _______________________________________________
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>>>> Discuss at lists.hackerspaces.org
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Edward L. Platt
>>> http://elplatt.com
>>> http://civic.mit.edu/users/elplatt
>>> http://i3detroit.com
>>> @EdwardLPlatt <http://twitter.com/EdwardLPlatt>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Discuss mailing listDiscuss at lists.hackerspaces.orghttp://lists.hackerspaces.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>>
>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>
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>>
>
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>
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