There has been an increase in people within the project wanting to give back to Inkscape in the form of donating a percentage of their earnings from Inkscape courses, tutorials, artwork sales, etc.
It's my opinion that we should support this, however like any other public sponsorship of Inkscape, I believe donations of this sort should have some rules to ensure there is no conflict of interest.
Here is a brief summary of the sponsorship rights and responsibilities which I think should take effect if the Inkscape Project will be helping with promotion of sales where a percentage is going to the project:
1. Neutrality: The Inkscape project will not play favourites amongst internal and external sponsors who join as Friends of Inkscape.
2. Transparency: In the case of promotional releases (Facebook, Twitter, G+ etc.), the Inkscape project will make clear the rules and guidelines of using the Inkscape Project's namesake for promotion, keep a tally of funds donated by the sponsor on our website.
3. Non-endorsement policy: Verbiage for press releases should make it clear that the Inkscape Project does not necesarilly endorse the content or views of the sponsor, and the sponsorship is to be treated purely as a fund-raising exercise to benefit the project. Moreover that the sponsor is solely responsible for delivering the product.
4. Quality - The Inkscape project should, before accepting any co-sponsorship agreement, ensure that the products being offered or sold is of sufficient quality, and provide real value to the Inkscape community (basically that the items are worth buying, and not just a scheme to make as much profit as possible without offering sufficient value to the buyers).
5. Commitment - The sponsor should be able to follow up on what they are selling and maintain a good customer satisfaction rating on their chosen commercial platform. The Inkscape Project should take into account the history, ratings, and reviews for products sold by the sponsor to protect Inkscape users.
6. Ongoing - If the project determines at any time that the sponsor is not keeping up with their promised delivery of goods, or the quality or content of the products being sold is not adequate, the project reserves the right to cancel at any time, and for any reason the sponsorship agreement.
7. For-Profit Only - These terms only apply to sponsors who wish the Inkscape Project to advertise these co-sponsorship deals. For example an Inkscape press release could read: "Help raise money for Inkscape, while learning from the professionals! XXXX is generously donating 50% from this professional tutorial course to fund development of Inkscape! Thanks XXXX!) These terms do not apply to folks who just want to donate without any press releases from the Inkscape Project.
8. Honesty - Obviously, we should ensure that sponsors follow up on the promise to donate the stated funds to the Inkscape Project. We can encourage this with a running-total press release, for example: "Donations from XXXX's Inkscape course just passed the £10,000.00 mark! Our next hackfest is fully funded!" etc.
9. Ending a sponsorship - When the sponsor wishes to end the sponsorship deal, it should be made clear that funds are no longer going to the Inkscape Project. This can be done with a thank you press release, like this: XXXX has raised a total of £150,000.00 for Inkscape's development. On behalf of the Inkscape Project, we'd like to thank XXXX for this generous donation and wish them good luck on future projects.
Any thoughts are welcome. :)
Thanks for your attention! -C