150 dollars

My gofundme project is up to 150 dollars in donations!  What should I do with all that money?

At a technology level, one of the first necessities is to get the  UI design concept drawn out, and to begin developing an architectural design for tying various backend dynamics to that UI with an "overall user experience" - how the elements of technology that create the stuff that works behind the scenes translates into the way that someone going to the website or mobile app or online tool will eventually experience all of that backend elements running in the best way possible along the lines of my vision of how waketrail.org will work.

At another level, there is a need for much broader awareness, both short term and long term.  PR and communications, marketing and outreach, project management, backlogs and agile sprints coinciding with timeboxes, timeframes and schedules - all of these need to be coordinated and presented in clear ways.  Also the main vision and a clear view of where any donations are going.

One nuts and bolts way to spread the word is through a bumper sticker...  Also, this would be one small way to thank people who donate to the project - because I've gotten a few questions from people about what little token of gratitude might be something to receive when they donate, and there have been some suggestions of incentives and there have actually been a few very specifically suggesting bumper stickers.  To tell the truth, I had not been thinking about bumper stickers.  I have been focusing on getting the concept into a first tangible visualization, so that there can be more clarity to where the project os aiming.

But I'll throw it out for some thoughts - if I'm figuring why not do something like a bumper sticker, would this be a valid use of donation money?  It makes sense, it's something fun, it's a way to give some thanks, and it would allow the project, and the site, to gain exposure in the long run.  Within the idea that everything abot The Waketrail Project needs to be done within the scope of available resources, and building awareness by using something like a bumper sticker might build awareness, should resources be allocated to this?  I'll work to develop the UI visualization and the website and in the meantime explore other awareness-building activities.  If anyone is willing to donate 120 dollars specifically to this I would appreciate it.

And of course, if there is anyone who would like to volunteer time, feel free to get in touch! Graphic design, coding the backend, designing and creating frontend features, interactive dynamics, a look and feel that aligns with some design principles that have yet to be created...   This is a software project, and I'm ending towards agile project management, an overall view of everything from basic design principles to architecture design to brand concepting and defining a framework for communications, outreach, gathering information about groups and projects in various countries or figuring out a way to crowdsource this, getting people working together within a community effort to discover and share everything possible, which would then lead to data input and other administrative activites; and then alongside this there is always the day to day realities of activities such as putting bumper stickers into envelopes and putting addressses and stamps onto the envelopes...

You can always write to me at gregory.smiley@gmail.com - I'd love to hear from you!

So here's putting it in perspective of awareness building as an investment into the ong term viability of the project.  One online bumper sticker site has an offer for 200 custom bumper stickers for 120 US dollars.  Not bad: each bumper sticker would cost about 60 cents.  If I were to say that every person who donates 20 dollars or more would receive a bumper sticker, there would be money left over.  The gofundme process takes about a 10% commission on each donation, so from 20 dollars, take away 2 dollars commission and about a dollar for the bumper sticker and shipping (which I guess needs to include an envelope), so that will leave about 17 US dollars for each 20 dollar donation.

The image above is where I see the bumper sticker beginning - a raven flying towards some mysterious space of potential.  So far it has evolved to this stage:

I'd like to see the raven flying above an ocean, which would allow some sense of a wake behind something moving across water, the idea of something going somewhere and leaving that wake, but also include some sense of the wake of waking up, an awakening sense of purpose.  I've sent these thoughts to one friend and asked for a sort of rough sketch of an idea of how he envisions all of this coming together with a bumper sticker space of visual playground...  Maybe others reading this might have some ideas?  Is this a bumper sticker you would feel good about having on your car?  Why or why not?  What could make it more dynamic, more lively, more fun, more purposefully engaging?

Ok; so if I end up doing this bumper sticker order, that would leave me with 30 US dollars.  With 30 US dollars I can maybe, hopefully, get someone to begin the UI design concept, which would set the stage for providing greater clarity into how I envision waketrail.org to look, which might allow greater clarity in to how I see it being used and how it might eventually become a space for sharing many things - again, aligning with the overall vision.