I haven't come up with any new ideas, but I thought it was worthwhile to keep this topic up towards the top. Instead of being about to go to page 2.

Nice one. Don't know whether the following is sensible............

How about 2 special donation drives, Individual & company.

The company that donates the most being given free advertising on the main seti page for a year & the individual that donates the most in a year given a unique gift from the project.

Wonderful idea, but the University strictly regulates advertising on University properties -- like the SETI@Home web site.

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Would that also include the boinc program? Couldn't we put something for the top company in the seti graphic?

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I haven't come up with any new ideas, but I thought it was worthwhile to keep this topic up towards the top. Instead of being about to go to page 2.

Nice one. Don't know whether the following is sensible............

How about 2 special donation drives, Individual & company.

The company that donates the most being given free advertising on the main seti page for a year & the individual that donates the most in a year given a unique gift from the project.

Wonderful idea, but the University strictly regulates advertising on University properties -- like the SETI@Home web site.

I thought it might be that. However, what about providing a sponsored link page showing the companies that donate & on that page provide links to each company? Surely, that can't be construed as advertising?

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Would that also include the boinc program? Couldn't we put something for the top company in the seti graphic?

IANAL, but yes, I believe it would.

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I thought it might be that. However, what about providing a sponsored link page showing the companies that donate & on that page provide links to each company? Surely, that can't be construed as advertising?

They can acknowledge donors, but there are limits. It doesn't provide a whole lot of value in the same way actual "advertising" would.

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I thought it might be that. However, what about providing a sponsored link page showing the companies that donate & on that page provide links to each company? Surely, that can't be construed as advertising?

They can acknowledge donors, but there are limits. It doesn't provide a whole lot of value in the same way actual "advertising" would.

Thanks Ned. Oh well, have to get my brain cells thinking again. ;)

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Hello fellow crunchers.

I read this whole thread and now I want to give my opinion, too.

Most crunchers don´t only have SETI attached in their BOINC Client, but one ore more other projects. If SETI can´t produce enough work for all the processing power out there, it´s NOT a problem, the clients will do other projects.

I´m correct, that - for example:
http://boincstats.com/stats/user_graph.php?pr=sah&id=585873
is NOT a Seti-Stats Page, but a page somebody set up to use Stat-Data from SETI - and of EVERY other project run on the boinc Client?

If you know what computing hours on a supercomuter would cost - you get an idea how much all the users already donate to the project!
If someone decides to make a finanical donation on top of that, then that really earns my respect and should be gladly accepted as bonus.
To even think about getting a anual fee from us crunchers, or a payage for the statistics, that are - in my opinion - some kind af "reward" for the done work and help to the project and a steady motivation to continue, is a really bad idea.

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Now I have some suggestions what we could do to really help the project.
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Some really good (imho) ideas already surfaced in this post:

-Make a calender with a universe related theme (eventually one month with a picture of a seti Classic WU with fancy spikes and gaussians -- one month with pictures of the working staff, or the eqipment of the project) -- and others shown planets or something related.

-Sell unique SETI-merchandise like caps and shirts (eventually with an autogramm of the staff on it?) - eventually done through a partnership with a company - something like ThinkGeek.com that sells the stuff with the seti logo and pays/donates 1$ or so for every item sold.

-If the project need hardware, make it a money-donation theme. For example:
20 Harddisks 1TB (2000€), 10 SATA Controllers (100€) uswusw.
You would get a summary of money that is needed to push the project forward. -- in this example it would be 2100€ (+ the money that goes to Berkley -- so in reality ~3000€ ore more would be needed in this case...ok, it´s just an example).
The donators would have a goal, how much money is needed - and they would see the direct effect where the money did go -- after a new server boots up and starts to show himself an the server-stats page.


Regards, KyleFL

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I haven't come up with any new ideas, but I thought it was worthwhile to keep this topic up towards the top. Instead of being about to go to page 2.

Nice one. Don't know whether the following is sensible............

How about 2 special donation drives, Individual & company.

The company that donates the most being given free advertising on the main seti page for a year & the individual that donates the most in a year given a unique gift from the project.

Wonderful idea, but the University strictly regulates advertising on University properties -- like the SETI@Home web site.

I thought it might be that. However, what about providing a sponsored link page showing the companies that donate & on that page provide links to each company? Surely, that can't be construed as advertising?

Like this one? Sponsors

I haven't come up with any new ideas, but I thought it was worthwhile to keep this topic up towards the top. Instead of being about to go to page 2.

Nice one. Don't know whether the following is sensible............

How about 2 special donation drives, Individual & company.

The company that donates the most being given free advertising on the main seti page for a year & the individual that donates the most in a year given a unique gift from the project.

Wonderful idea, but the University strictly regulates advertising on University properties -- like the SETI@Home web site.

I thought it might be that. However, what about providing a sponsored link page showing the companies that donate & on that page provide links to each company? Surely, that can't be construed as advertising?

Like this one? Sponsors

Oooooooooooops, thanks Richard. didn't realise there was one already. Will have to check site before new ideas crop into my head.

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My idea starts with a question. How much of a presence does seti have on the berkeley campus? I notice that there isn't a seti group on campus. Why not try to get some of the kids involved with the project and have them on campus raising funds?

Also, while looking around on the berkely site there are only two links on the entire site to seti. Maybe you guys should request a larger presence on the site.

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My idea starts with a question. How much of a presence does seti have on the berkeley campus? I notice that there isn't a seti group on campus. Why not try to get some of the kids involved with the project and have them on campus raising funds?

Also, while looking around on the berkely site there are only two links on the entire site to seti. Maybe you guys should request a larger presence on the site.

David Anderson said that the idea of a berkeley@home was voted down by the Berkeley U professors. Maybe they are not enthusiasts of the association of Berkeley U with SETI.
Tullio

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Some really good (imho) ideas already surfaced in this post:

-Make a calender with a universe related theme (eventually one month with a picture of a seti Classic WU with fancy spikes and gaussians -- one month with pictures of the working staff, or the eqipment of the project) -- and others shown planets or something related.

-Sell unique SETI-merchandise like caps and shirts (eventually with an autogramm of the staff on it?) - eventually done through a partnership with a company - something like ThinkGeek.com that sells the stuff with the seti logo and pays/donates 1$ or so for every item sold.

-If the project need hardware, make it a money-donation theme. For example:
20 Harddisks 1TB (2000€), 10 SATA Controllers (100€) uswusw.
You would get a summary of money that is needed to push the project forward. -- in this example it would be 2100€ (+ the money that goes to Berkley -- so in reality ~3000€ ore more would be needed in this case...ok, it´s just an example).
The donators would have a goal, how much money is needed - and they would see the direct effect where the money did go -- after a new server boots up and starts to show himself an the server-stats page.

I agree!!

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Current status:
Seti = free = 4 computers contributing 60% to seti, 40% to Rosetta
Proposed at start of thread status:
Seti = pay towards = 4 computers contributing 0% to seti, 100% to Rosetta

No issue, no need to think about. Just do it.

One could suggest that Rosetta could offer more to mankind that Seti.

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Current status:
Seti = free = 4 computers contributing 60% to seti, 40% to Rosetta
Proposed at start of thread status:
Seti = pay towards = 4 computers contributing 0% to seti, 100% to Rosetta

No issue, no need to think about. Just do it.

One could suggest that Rosetta could offer more to mankind that Seti.

Unfortunately, the project-side of SETI@Home needs some money, or your current status may be:

SETI = unfunded = 4 computers with 60% resource share, but no work available.

One could suggest that if SETI@Home runs out of money, they won't particularly care what other projects you find -- they'll be gone.

So, how about suggesting interesting and innovative ways to get money into SETI@Home so they don't have to consider a "pay" model?

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I thought it might be that. However, what about providing a sponsored link page showing the companies that donate & on that page provide links to each company? Surely, that can't be construed as advertising?

They can acknowledge donors, but there are limits. It doesn't provide a whole lot of value in the same way actual "advertising" would.

Thanks Ned. Oh well, have to get my brain cells thinking again. ;)

Wondering, could they put the top corporate donor's logo on the home page? Link as they have now to the complete list of corporate donors. Not exactly advertising, but puts the profile a little higher.

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Had another thought. A gage on the home page for how much as been donated and how much they need for the budget. A simple way to call attention to the need for funds.

Gary

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That is definitely an idea to be considered...and I have just forwarded it to Eric

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Since these aren't credit cards, the usual credit terms don't apply. You give the company some money, and they give you a "credit card" with that limit.

Some are free (and make their money off of the "discount rate" merchants pay) and some charge a fee.

We'll be interested in anything you can report.

Received the Virgin Mastercard this morning & activated it. All I need to do now is to top it up which can be done free of charge from any post office.

Minimum top up is £5.00 & maximum single top up is £500.00. Maximum amount allowed on the card is £3,500.00. So for those in the UK without a CC, this is ideal.

I won't be in a position to top it up until the end of the month, but as soon as I do, a donation for October will be made directly to UCB - This sure beats Western Union!

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OK, i have also taken the time to read this whole thread, and here is my take on this. What i am about to suggest is a very viable option for raising a lot of money for SETI@home and it can be implemented if users and SETI@home management take the suggestion seriously. It will need the co-operation and consent of the SETI@home staff.

The Idea;

SETI@home raffle competition

The prizes;

Total prize fund of about $9,000 or $10,000, this can be debated. Prizes payed for by the ticket sales.

First prize - All expenses payed holiday for 2 people to visit the Arecibo radio telescope in Puerto Rico for 5 days. Full prize value to be determined, maybe $5,000 might cover flights and accommodation from anywhere in the world.

Arecibo visitors center; http://www.naic.edu/outreach/describe_fset.htm

Arecibo telescope; http://www.naic.edu/



Second prize - Top of the range PC to the value of $$$$(To be determined, maybe $2,000).

Third prize - Standard Dell PC to the value of $$$$ (To be determined, maybe $1,000).

Plus 10 runner-up prizes of $100 voucher for large Internet PC store like PC world in the UK or US equivalent.

Tickets;

I would estimate that with good prizes like these, tickets should be priced at about $25 or $30. This could be debated as we don't yet have a final price on how much the prizes will cost. People can buy as many tickets as they like. There are loads of ticket agents on the Internet that take a small cut for selling your tickets.

@ $30 each, we would need about 300 people to buy a ticket to cover the cost of the competition prizes @ $9,000.

Implementing this competition;

1. First general agreement needed from people that this is a good idea.

2. Consent needed from SETI@home staff namely David Anderson and Eric korpela to help support this as a serious fundraising activity. This might need advertising on the SETI front page news and maybe an email to all SETI@home users.

3. A group of people agree to research all the necessary information about average and maximum price of flights from around the world to Puerto Rico, hotel costs, spending money, computer prices, other prize costs, etc,etc

4. Once all the information has been researched, we decide if this is viable. If everything looks good, we go ahead with the competition. If it looks bad, we quit the idea before it starts.

Possible outcome and money that could be raised;

If this is organised properly, and an email sent to all users, i see no reason why we could not raise $50,000 or $75,000 or more!. At $30 a ticket, 1,000 tickets would bring in $30,000, 2,000 tickets, $60,000, etc,etc. All proceeds go to SETI@home staff wages, SETI@home science research or hardware for the SETI@home project.

I personally don't mind doing some PR for this competition in my spare time.

John in Ireland.

Images of the Arecibo visitors center;

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Absolutely excellent idea John.

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