This idea is about an alternative financial model. The tag I've used for developing the idea is CSB, which stands for Charity Share Brokerage. The basic idea is that I could support Firefox (or FOSS or journalism) by donating "charity shares" in various projects. Let me start with a couple of examples: If a new feature is being considered, then the CSB would make sure the project proposal is complete and also hold the money until enough donors agree the feature should be created. At that point the required money is released and the project begins. After the project is completed, the CSB will evaluate the project against the success criteria in the project proposal and report on the results to the donors (and to the world, too). But since the development costs are covered, everyone can use it. If there is some service that requires a server, then that would become an ongoing-service project, probably funded on one-year terms. In this case, I think special incentives could be offered for early donors, though critical services should be funded several years in advance. (Support and security services can be handled with similar ongoing-service projects, but security also requires some contingency funding that the CSB will have to handle with special priority.) Again, lots of people can use it and the donors get the minor bonus of appearing on the funding page (though some might prefer to be anonymous benefactors). Lots more details (because I've been thinking about this for a long time), but are you interested? Do you have suggested improvements? Or questions? I have lots of possible answers...
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