Terms of Hosting

DRAFT - DRAFT - DRAFT - DRAFT - DRAFT - DRAFT

Terms of Hosting with E-Democracy.Org

Costs:

E-Democracy.Org continues to discuss and debate how we can best provide support and encourage the growth and development of local Issues Forums around the globe, while keeping the costs of those services at a minimum to local communities.

Currently, it is FREE to set-up and maintain your forum on our site. HOWEVER, as a member of the network, we maintain the right to solicit voluntary donations from the individual members of all forums (in our network) as a means of supporting the entire network.

Currently, most of our financial support comes from three basic streams of income:

1. Grants - from foundations or government agencies - usually tied to specific projects or programs
2. Funded Start-Ups - we sometimes contract directly with local governments or community organizations to take an on-the-ground leadership role in the launch of a local Issues Forum. In such a case, we might offer extra on-site training and staff time.
3. Member Donations - we expect that about 1/3 of our budget will be donated by individuals who are members of the various forums in our network. About 20% of each individual donation flows directly back to the local project, with the remainder covering technical costs, participant support (tech support), site management, and volunteer support.

Other Terms of Hosting

E-Democracy.Org maintains the right to terminate, with due warning, our hosting relationship with any local group that fails to meet the following conditions or criteria.

1. That the management of the forum remain non-partisan and that participation in forums be open to anyone, regardless of race, religion, or partisan affiliations - provided that those individual participants adhere to the forum rules.
2. That each local project maintain an active steering committee with at least 5 members and meet (either in person or via conference call) at twice a year.
3. That each local project support and participate in two pledge drives per year (no more than 7 days each). This includes active encouragement of participants to pledge individual contributions and access to the forum, by E-Democracy.Org organizers, for reasonable level of communications about the pledge drive. (In the future, E-Democracy.Org reserves the right to set "fundraising targets" for local groups as a condition for ongoing presence on our site. We hope to avoid this, if possible.)
4. That each individual project adhere to and support the mission and goals of E-Democracy.Org.
5. That each local project is responsible for identifying and supporting a Forum Manager to manage their local Issues Forum.
6. That local projects make good faith efforts to identify volunteers willing and able to participate in E-Democracy.Org task forces or committee's, as needed or called for the by the E-Democracy.Org board of directors.