Hey there,
a short summary of the discussion @christianm, @sebastian and I had at the sprint in Dresden:
Short term goal
Have a funding platform up and running as Neos Foundation CIC before end of 2018.
Suggested approach
Copy the current platform as is:
- Register our Foundation at Braintree, Security Metrics, Taxamo (maybe not required, as we are currently below the UK VAT threshold of ~80k£)
- Move the code to a private Github repository
- Setup a staging environment to test
- Setup a production environment
We do need to invest some development hours, but with this approach that should be ok (e.g. change the website CI, change email texts, adjust to UK VAT laws, data protection update…).
Benefits
- less effort and we have experience with the setup
- probably quick to achieve
- we keep all the features we already have (badges, API etc.)
- we get feedback quickly if people are more likely to support Neos via the Foundation compared to via Sandstorm
Drawbacks
The same as we currently have
- only credit card payments (unless we open payment via Paypal)
- no customer accounts, but rather a new set of (duplicate) data for every purchase
- it’s not so easy to post new badges
Further down the road
- We think there should not be an issue having both platforms run in parallel for a while, so that we don’t cut off existing supporters who have not yet migrated to the Foundation.
- Any money still in the custody of Sandstorm should be spent, so that we don’t get taxed twice (if we transfer it to the Foundation it’s income that gets taxed there).
- It will hopefully be easier to enhance the funding platform if the whole team can do it.
- If we notice issues with the funding platform we can think about a new solution later on.
Vote
I think this is a flavor M decision and therefore ask for a vote on the proposed approach which is open until 3rd July 2018:
- Yes, move current funding platform to the Foundation.
- No, don’t move the current platform.
- Abstain.
- I need more discussion.
0 voters
Thanks for your time! 