NOSI wants YOU!

As you know, a couple of months ago, we released the updated version of the NOSI Primer, which we produced with the generous support of IBM. We added many more case studies and compiled a great list of organizations that support Free and Open Source Software. We collaborated with Aspiration to pull a live feed of FOSS tools that nonprofits can use, so our tool list will be up to date as long as Aspiration's Social Source Commons is an active community. It won't be stale in six months. We updated the content to reflect current nonprofit technology realities and the dramatic changes in FOSS options for nonprofits since our groundbreaking first primer.We're not done, though.We hope to continue to update the primer on a quarterly basis, adding new case studies and knowledge.We'd like to re-invigorate the old case study database so that all kinds of nonprofits can find organizations that have shared similar challenges to theirs and found free and open source solutions that worked.We're planning ...

• a 'State of the Sector' survey of the use of FOSS in the nonprofit sector.
• a usable database of organizations and consultants that support FOSS.
• to continue to convene and co-convene events that bring the nonprofit technology community together with free software developers and with organizations looking to understand free software.
• to ramp up our presence at nonprofit oriented conferences where we can introduce nonprofits to the strategic and missions based advantages that free and open source software can bring to their work.

NOSI, throughout our history, has survived on minimal funding, coming almost exclusively from IBM's funding for the primer projects, with a handful of nonprofit technology assistance providers devoting staff time, and a few dedicated independent consultants putting a lot of work into keeping this community and resource vital and viable. Fundamentally, it has been a volunteer effort.Today, NOSI is moving into a new phase, phase of being a sustainable organization that can be the focus of a community of practice around the use of FOSS in the sector, an advocate for the use of FOSS, a thought leader in the nonprofit technology field, and a provider of concrete resources for nonprofit organizations so that they can better choose and use FOSS.In addition, in 2008, NOSI will be going through the process ofincorporating, and getting its own 501(c)(3) status. All of these take resources - both financial and practical.We need your help. How can you help?You can give what you can. We've actually never raised money from our community, but we hope that what we've accomplished over the years has been of use to you and that the activities we have in mind in 2008 will be of even more use. We need your donations.You can help by getting involved. Our hope is that as we becomesustainable, we can find many more ways to get people who are interested involved in NOSI. Already, we've been looking for new bloggers. We could use help in the process of incorporation and getting tax-exempt status.Look for other ways to get involved in the coming months.Please donate and help NOSI become an organization that can be the advocate and resource that you've been dreaming of.