I agree with Moritz that maybe we should step back and think about the real goal here (i.e., creating a self-sustaining, community-driven entity to support OScH initiatives while remaining accountable to the GOSH values). Obviously there are many different kinds of “support” (collaboration, mentorship, etc.), but the type that requires a new legal “entity” and one that seems to be seriously lacking in our community so far, is an organization that provides “financial” support (e.g., grants, salaries, residencies, etc.) to achieve community-defined goals.
If there is a need and desire to create such an entity, then we can talk about:
- how to make it sustainable (i.e., where does the money come from)
- how it should be governed (i.e., how to decide how to allocate funds)
The ideas of selling hardware through some kind of online store and/or providing services to help commercialize/scale GOSH-community projects at ideation, design, manufacturing and/or distribution phases are just potential solutions to part 1. My personal view is that there are many ways to sell/promote OScH and/or offer commercialization services without having to create a brand new legal entity. Existing GOSH companies could certainly do a better job at cross-distributing and cross-promoting each other’s products and by offering similar services/partnership opportunities as those provided by companies like SparkFun and SEEED.
I’m more interested in part 2 (developing an organization, governance structure for the community to decide where/how to allocate financial resources). Co-operative models seems like a great fit here, since by definition, they are organizations that exist to help people co-operate on shared objectives. My vision for the easiest way to bootstrap/fund such an organization is based on an example from the environmental movement, 1% for the planet. Basically, companies and individuals who want to become members pledge to donate 1% of their sales (for companies) or income (for individuals) to the organization which then distributes funds to further the movement. These contributions do not have to be entirely financial (e.g., some portion can be volunteer or in-kind). For an individual, that could be volunteering 4 days a year. Becoming a member means that you get to have a say in how the funds are distributed, and companies also get some good PR and a logo/certification to demonstrate their commitment/support of OScH.
I think this could be a powerful model for collectively supporting/growing OScH. Personally, I am on a mission to learn as much as I can about different models/case studies for sustainably financing collective action. If anyone has other good examples or books to suggest, please let me know. There are already some good ones on the GOSH book club list.