Do you depend on OSGeo projects?  Are you looking for ways to help further OSGeo's mission and programs?  Consider joining us as a sponsor or helping find others who would like to.

OSGeo has several sponsorship programs that it runs and in order to increase our activities we need to increase our number of sponsors.  For example, this year the OSGeo systems infrastructure that supports the projects, website, mailing lists, etc. is being upgraded.  The expense is high but the immediate benefits will be noticeable to all.

Likewise, having funding available for marketing and other purposes is increasingly important as the OSGeo reach is extended.

Here are two particular opportunities for you to help to make OSGeo sustainable and accomplish its mission effectively in 2010.

== Foundation Sponsorship ==

We have a great group of sponsors, shown at http://osgeo.org/sponsorship.
These are companies that value the work done by the foundation and in turn get talked about around the world during presentations and anytime we have a booth running at a local show.

There are annual sponsorhip levels starting as low as $3,000.  We invite you to get your name in lights or help connect us with others who might like to.  Our sponsors not only show their support for OSGeo but for open source software in general and underscores the importance of it, particularly in their business environments.

For more information see:
http://osgeo.org/sponsorship
Or contact Tyler Mitchell, Executive Director at tmitchell@osgeo.org


== FOSS4G Conference Sponsorship ==

FOSS4G 2010 (http://2010.foss4g.org) planning is well underway for the September event.  There are several sponsorship opportunities available for this unique opportunity.

The annual Free and Open Source Software for Geospatial (FOSS4G) Conference brings together the people who create, use, and support open source spatial software. No other event brings together members of the open source development, open data creation, and open standards promotion communities like FOSS4G. 

For more information see:
http://2010.foss4g.org/sponsorship.php
Or contact 2010 Conference Chair, Lorenzo Becchi at lbecchi@osgeo.org

== Volunteers ==
Volunteer members are the core of all our projects, conferences and activities.  Without them we would not have much to speak of and have a greatly reduced reach.  This is a big "thank you" to all those who have helped raise awareness about open source geospatial solutions around the world.  If you're still new to the community, I encourage you to sign up and introduce yourself on the discussion mailing list:
http://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss

If you have any further fundraising thoughts or questions, please don't hesitate to contact me.  I'd love to discuss ideas with you further.

Sincerely,
Tyler Mitchell
Executive Director, OSGeo
tmitchell@osgeo.org
+1-250-303-1831