We’ve posted a few times about Group Jive, the only component available for Joomla that allows site members to create their own social networking groups. I’ve called it a vital extension if Joomla hopes to compete as a social networking platform, but the project has had a checkered history and unfortunately it seems that its stumbling again. They’re on MicroPledge.com looking for donations to help make the component work natively on Joomla 1.5.
Rocketwerx recently did something very similar and raised over $2500 towards finishing their Joomla 1.5 and phpBB3 Bridge. That caused a mixed reaction from members of their forum but its possible that this fundraiser may breathe new life into the Group Jive effort.
What Work Will the Group Jive Fundraiser Support?
- Update the GroupJive component to be Joomla 1.5 native compatible.
- Include support for Fireboard forum integration and adding events to the group from EventList 0.9.2.
- Add a plugin api to the component similar the the plugin system for Community Builder .
Alternative Fundraising Methods for Non-Commercial GPL Projects
- Donations. Unfortunately anyone who has tried this will tell you it doesn’t work. Very few people donate and when they do its often 10 cents from which PayPal will kindly donate 50 cents.
- Advertising. If you have a very popular product, it is possible to make a few hundred dollars per month using Adsense. Its also possible to sell ads to other developers as BestofJoomla.com are doing.
- Value-Added Extras. Community Builder charges for extra documentation although not support which is free on its forum.
- Partners. Nooku has a partners program giving first access to new features and officla certification to developers using the product.
- Commercial Extras. Community Builder will soon start selling a commercial package that allows people to subscribe to Joomla sites.
Over to You …
- You may recognize a lot of these business models from our discussions about the commercial GPL. Does the GPL inevitably lead to blurring of the lines between commercial and non-commercial software and is that a bad thing?
- Are there other ways that projects like Group Jive could raise funds?