This is a case study of a successful example of how a development shop can partner with a nonprofit to meet their needs, and then share fruits of that collaboration, openly and freely, in the best spirit of Drupal and FOSS.

I will introduce how Street Roots, an Oregon nonprofit street newspaper and avid Drupal user, collaborated with OMBU, a development shop from Portland, Oregon, on a pro-bono/low-paid project to build our Street News distribution. This distribution was planned and created with the goal of sharing it openly and freely with other street papers around the world*.

There is no shortage of nonprofits and community groups looking for development help, and there are shops and individual developers looking to give back to the community. Pro-bono or low-paid projects can be a lifeline for a small nonprofit or community group. However, a well-meaning but ill-planned commitment can leave both parties worse off. With the right partnership, though, incredible things can happen. This is the story of a successful partnership.

This session is tailored to development shops and individuals who are considering donating time or development work to a nonprofit that they care about. It is also for any nonprofit staff who are considering soliciting pro-bono development.

I’ll speak from the nonprofit’s point of view (though as a fellow Drupalista). I have examples from my years in nonprofits and Drupal to compare, contrast, and illustrate just why and how this partnership with OMBU was good, important, and meaningful to my organization.

I will also share insight from the team at OMBU on what it was like for them--how and why they did it, their methods for managing the project, some cool technical details, things they’ve learned, and their advice to other development shops and individuals who are considering donating time and/or work.

Topics covered along the way: considerations when looking for a nonprofit or community project; understanding the needs and resources of the nonprofit; effective communication with nonprofits of varying technical sophistication; being realistic; choosing the right project to donate time to; warning signs for potential problems; evaluating that commitment and investment are right for both sides; planning projects as re-usable contributions rather than one-off sites; sharing work using distributions and install profiles; and of course the latest on the Street News distribution, which OMBU and Street Roots continue to collaborate on (now with our sister paper in Seattle, Washington!)

About:
I am a Drupal developer whose day job is Operations Director at Street Roots, a nonprofit street newspaper* in Portland Oregon USA. I have been working with open source technology for nearly 15 years and Drupal since 2007. I have been worked with a variety of nonprofits in areas of homelessness, poverty, mental health, and education since 2001.

*Street Roots is an award-winning nonprofit street newspaper in Portland Oregon USA that reports primarily on social justice and poverty issues. Our newspaper also provides income opportunities for homeless and low-income adults, who purchase the paper for $0.25 and sell it for $1.00, keeping all income and tips. Street Roots is part of the International Network of Street Papers (INSP) http://www.street-papers.org/, consisting of 126 street newspapers in 41 countries, serving 14,000 homeless and low-income individuals and 6,000,000 readers worldwide. La Calle is (was?) our sister paper in Bogota, Columbia. Street Roots currently runs four Drupal sites, three of which are shared as install profiles or distributions.

See the Street News distribution in action: http://news.streetroots.org