[Dspace-general] Launch of DSpace Foundation sponsor program

[Michele Kimpton]

Dear members of the community,

This week the DSpace Foundation has launched a sponsor program that  
enables organizations interested in supporting the mission and role of  
the DSpace Foundation to contribute directly to the non-profit  
organization.

Over the next several weeks many of you ( or your Director) will be  
receiving a mailing from the Foundation asking for your support, and  
becoming a sponsor to the Foundation. Over the last year the DSpace  
Foundation has been graciously supported by HP labs and M.I.T. During  
this time we have put together a small team to begin working with the  
community to provide support, infrastructure, coordination, and  
guidance. We have developed partnerships with other organizations that  
bring value to the community.  We have several key initiatives the  
Foundation is actively working on based on your feedback through  
surveys and direct communication which include:

-Leadership and funding to achieve DSpace 2.0
-Broader input into the development process from the community ( we  
are launching a feature tracking tool called JIRA, and have formed a  
global outreach committee within the community to help inform and lead  
this process)
-Improved documentation and training
-Integration and support for add ons to the platforms
-Strategic partnerships with others that can add value and help in any  
of these initiatives

In order for us to continue our work we need to raise additional  
funding. We hope to get support from the community through our new  
sponsorship program. This will be one of several components in  
building a sustainable organization for the future.

The details of the sponsorship program can be found on the website(http://www.dspace.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=914&Itemid=276 
). At this date we have mailed a brochure, personal letter and  
sponsorship form to every organization we have contact details for. If  
you did not receive a mailing and would like to receive one, please  
email me your details and I will send one out. We appreciate your  
support.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions on the  
sponsorship program.

best,
Michele Kimpton
Executive Director, DSpace Foundation