Various wordsmith, rewrite and new content for membership area of the

site.

www/conservancy/static/members/apply/index.html

@@ -0,0 +1,168 @@
+{% extends "base_members.html" %}
+{% block subtitle %}Member Project Services - {% endblock %}
+{% block category %}members{% endblock %}
+{% block submenuselection %}Services{% endblock %}
+{% block content %}
+
+<h1>How To Apply to Become a Member Project</h1>
+
+<p>New applications for project membership with Conservancy are considered
+  twice a year.  The deadlines for submission of application materials are
+  1 February and 1 September each year.</p>
+
+<p>The application process is somewhat informal.  New applicants should
+  write
+  to <a href="mailto:apply@sfconservancy.org">&lt;apply@sfconservancy.org&gt;</a>
+  with a very brief description of their project and a URL to their
+  project's website.  We'll send back initial questions if we have any,
+  and after that, we'll send the full application materials.  Applications
+  should be submitted in plain ASCII text via email.</p>
+
+<p>Projects are reviewed by Conservancy's Evaluation Subcommittee (which
+  is a subcommittee of Conservacy's Directors), and the subcommittee's
+  recommendations are submitted to
+  Conservancy's <a href="/about/board/">Board of Directors</a>, who make
+  the final decision to offer membership.</p>
+
+<h1>Project Membership Application FAQs</h1>
+
+<p><b>What are the key criteria our project must meet to join?</b></p>
+
+<p>In order to join, projects need to meet certain criteria, including the
+requirement that the project be exclusively devoted to the development of
+FLOSS and that it be consistent with the Conservancy's tax-exempt purposes
+and the financial requirements imposed by the IRS.  Most FLOSS projects
+will meet these requirements.</p>
+
+<p>Additionally, the project must be licensed in a way fitting with
+  software freedom principles.  Specifically, all software of the project
+  should be licensed under a license that is listed both as
+  a <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html">Free Software
+  license by the Free Software Foundation</a> and as
+  an <a href="http://www.opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical">Open Source
+  license by the Open Source Initiative</a>.  All software documentation
+  for the project should be licensed under a license on the preceding
+  lists, or under Creative
+  Commons' <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/">CC-By-SA</a>
+  or <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">CC-By</a> or
+  <a href="http://creativecommons.org/choose/zero/">CC-0</a>.</p>
+
+<p>While any project licensed under FLOSS licenses can apply, the
+  Conservancy seeks in particular projects that are well-established and
+  have some track record of substantial contributions from a community of
+  volunteer developers.  The Conservancy does gives higher priority to
+  projects that have an established userbase and interest, but also tries
+  to accept some smaller projects with strong potential.</p>
+
+<h2>Is our project required to accept membership if offered?</h2>
+
+<p>Not at all.  Many projects apply and subsequently decide not to join a
+  non-profit, or decide to join a different non-profit entity.  Don't
+  worry about &ldquo;wasting our time&rdquo; if your project's developers
+  aren't completely sure yet if they want to join conservancy.  If
+  membership in Conservancy is currently a legitimate consideration for
+  your project, we encourage you to apply.  We'd rather that you apply and
+  turn down an offer for membership than fail to apply and have to wait
+  until the next application round when you're sure.</p>
+
+<h2>What will the project leaders have to agree to if our project joins?</h2>
+
+<p>Once you're offered membership, we'll send you a draft fiscal
+  sponsorship agreement.  These aren't secret documents and many of our
+  memer projects have even chosen to put theirs online.  However, we wait
+  to send a draft of this document, until the application process is
+  complete, as we often tailor and modify the agreements based on
+  individual project needs.  This is painstaking work, and it's better to
+  complete that work after both Conservancy and the project are quite sure
+  that they both want the project will join Conservancy.</p>
+
+<h2>What benefits does our project get from joining?</h2>
+
+<p>We maintain a <a href="/members/services">detailed list of services
+    that Conservancy provides to member projects</a>.  If you have
+    detailed questions about any of the benefits, please
+    ask <a href="mailto:apply@sfconservancy.org">&lt;apply@sfconservancy.org&gt;</a>.</p>
+
+<h2>If my project joins the Conservancy, how will it change?</h2>
+
+<p>Substantively, member projects continue to operate in the same way as
+they did before joining the Conservancy.  So long as the project remains
+devoted to software freedom and operates consistently with the
+Conservancy's tax-exempt status, the Conservancy does not intervene in the
+project's development other than to provide administrative assistance.
+For example, the Conservancy keeps and maintains books and records for the
+project and assists with the logistics of receiving donations, but does
+not involve itself with technical or artistic decision making.  Projects
+are asked, however, to keep the Conservancy up to date on their
+activities.</p>
+
+<h2>Once our project joins, who holds its assets (money, copyrights, trademarks, etc.)?</h2>
+
+<p>The Conservancy holds assets on behalf of its member projects and
+manages and disburses those assets in accordance with the wishes of the
+project's leadership.  Funds received by the Conservancy on behalf of a
+project are kept track of separately for each specific project and the
+management of those funds is directed by the project.  For example, if a
+donor wanted to contribute $100 to Project Foo, they would formally make
+the donation to the Conservancy and identify Project Foo as the desired
+project to support.  The Conservancy would then deposit the check and
+earmark the funds for use by Project Foo.  Project Foo would then tell the
+Conservancy how that money should be spent.</p>
+
+<p>Similarly, any copyrights, trademarks, domain name or other assets
+transferred to a project can also be held by the Conservancy on behalf of
+the project.  A significant service that the Conservancy provides its
+members is a vehicle through which copyright ownership in the project can
+be unified.  There are several advantages to having a consolidated
+copyright structure, including that it makes enforcement activity easier
+and more effective.  However, copyright, trademark, and domain name
+assignment is not a requirement in order to join the Conservancy, rather,
+it is an option for those projects that ask for it.</p>
+
+<h2>If our project joins, must it be a member project of Conservancy forever?</h2>
+
+<p>All agreements between member projects and the Conservancy stipulate
+clearly that the member project can leave the Conservancy at any time.
+Federal tax exemption law, though, states that projects must transfer
+their assets from the Conservancy in a way that is consistent with the
+Conservancy's not-for-profit tax status &mdash; meaning the assets cannot
+be transferred to an individual or a for-profit entity.  Generally, a
+project would either find another fiscal sponsor or form their own
+independent tax-exempt non-profit.</p>
+
+<p>We fully expect that some Conservancy projects will ultimately wish to
+  form their own non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations; that's why we design
+  our agreements with projects to allow them to leave to another 501(c)(3)
+  organization.  Typically, projects join Conservancy because the project
+  leaders don't want the burdens of running a non-profit themselves.
+  Often, as projects grow, leaders get interested in the non-profit
+  management and organizational side of the activities and are then
+  prepared to take on the additional work themselves.</p>
+
+<h2>How are &ldquo;product leaders&rdquo; defined with respect to Conservancy?</h2>
+
+<p>How leaders are chosen for projects varies greatly from project to
+  project.  Our goal is to do our best to embody the &ldquo;natural&rdquo;
+  leadership structure that evolved in your project into the formal
+  agreement with Conservancy.  As part of the agreement drafting, we work
+  carefully with you to understand your project's governance and write up
+  formally with you the decision-making process you use. Most project
+  contributors find this process of formalizing the leadership structure
+  helps them clarify in their own minds the governance of their project,
+  even though the process can be difficult.  Since it can be a complicated
+  process, we suggest that you prepare your project community for this
+  discussion once your project is accepted.</p>
+
+<h2>How much does will it cost us financially to join Conservancy?</h2>
+
+<p>After your application is approved, as part of the negotiation of the
+  formal agreement, we'll discuss this issue.  Typically, we ask that
+  member projects voluntarily choose to donate some percentage of their
+  donations received to support Conservancy's general operations servicing
+  all its member projects (including yours).  We do understand that,
+  particularly for small projects that only receive a few small donations,
+  that donating a percentage of your income back to Conservancy can be a
+  high burden.  Therefore, this is not a mandatory requirement.  We thus
+  suggest that you be prepared to discuss this issue with us in detail
+  after your application is approved.</p>
+

www/conservancy/static/members/current/index.html

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {% extends "base_members.html" %}
 {% block subtitle %}Current Member Projects - {% endblock %}
 {% block category %}members{% endblock %}
+{% block submenuselection %}Current{% endblock %}
 {% block content %}
 
 <h1>Current Member Projects</h1>

www/conservancy/static/members/index.html

@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+{% extends "base_members.html" %}
+{% block subtitle %}Project Membership in {% endblock %}
+{% block category %}members{% endblock %}
+{% block content %}
+
+<h1>Conservancy Project Membership</h1>
+
+<p>A major component of Conservancy's work to advance software freedom is
+  through its work to provide
+  non-profit <a href="/members/services/">infrastructure and services</a>
+  to
+  <a href="/members/current/">its member projects</a>.  Conservancy's goal
+  is to handle all the parts of advocacy, leadership, organization and
+  coordination other than actual development of the software and
+  documentation.  By handling all these details, Conservancy allows its
+  member project developers to focus on what they do best: writing,
+  improving and documenting FLOSS.</p>
+
+<p>Project leaders who believe that their project might benefit from
+  Conservancy's <a href="/members/services/">member project services</a>
+  are encouraged to <a href="/members/apply/">apply for
+  membership</a>.</p>

www/conservancy/static/members/services/index.html

@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 {% extends "base_members.html" %}
 {% block subtitle %}Member Project Services - {% endblock %}
 {% block category %}members{% endblock %}
+{% block submenuselection %}Services{% endblock %}
 {% block content %}
 
 <h1>Member Project Services</h1>
@@ -11,17 +12,27 @@
   following are the services and options that are available to FLOSS
   projects that have joined Conservancy as a member project.</p>
 
-<h2>Earmarked Donations</h2>
+<h2>Tax-Deductible, Earmarked Donations</h2>
 
 <p>Member projects can receive earmarked donations through Conservancy.
-  Donors can indicate that their donation should be used to advance a
+   Since Conservancy is a 501(c)(3) charity incorporated in New York,
-  specific member project, and those funds are kept in a separate account
+   donors can often deduct the donation on their USA taxes.  Additionally,
-  by Conservancy.  The project leadership can then indicate to
+   the donors can indicate that their donation should be used to advance a
-  Conservancy's leadership how the funds should be spent to advance the
+   specific member project, and those funds are kept in a separate account
-  project.  Generally, Conservancy permits these funds to be spent in any
+   for the member project by Conservancy.  This structure prevents
-  way that is appropriate activity under Conservancy's 501(c)(3)
+   developers from having to commingle project funds with their own
-  not-for-profit mission.  Some typical uses of earmarked donations by
+   personal accounts or having to set up their own project specific
-  Conservancy's member projects are:
+   account.</p>
+
+   <p>Since the Conservancy is a tax-exempt organization, there are some
+   limits that the law places on what member projects can do with their
+   assets, but those limits are the same as if the project was an
+   independent non-profit entity.  Usually, the project leadership can
+   then indicate to Conservancy's leadership how the funds should be spent
+   to advance the project and Conservancy permits these funds to be spent
+   in any way that is appropriate activity under Conservancy's 501(c)(3)
+   not-for-profit mission.  Some typical uses of earmarked donations by
+   Conservancy's member projects are:
 <ul>
 <li>funding travel expenses for project developers to attend relevant
   conferences.</li> 
@@ -78,6 +89,16 @@
 <p>Conservancy provides various tools and advice to member projects on
   methods of raising funds for their projects' earmarked accounts.</p>
 
+<h2>Avoid Non-Profit Administrivia</h2>
+
+<p>Member projects can continue to operate in the same way they did before
+joining the Conservancy without having to select a board of directors or
+any other layer of corporate management, without having to maintain
+corporate records and without having to do any of the other things
+required of incorporated entities.  The Conservancy handles all of that
+burden on behalf of its projects.</p>
+
+
 <h2>Leadership Mentoring, Advice and Guidance</h2>
 
 <p>Many of Conservancy's <a href="/about/directors">directors</a> are