Drupal Association blog: #DrupalCares - Sustaining the DA through the COVID-19 crisis

Today we officially launch the #DrupalCares campaign on Drupal.org to organize the fundraising effort across our Drupal Community.

Our goal is to raise $500,000 to secure the future of the Drupal Association.

As the leadership team over here at the Drupal Association, we've decided to rotate the opportunity to provide these regular updates to our community. As the longest serving member of the leadership team at the Drupal Association, I wanted to take on this update in particular.

How did we get here?

As we've written in our previous updates, the COVID-19 crisis is having wide-reaching impacts all over the world, in our personal lives, and also here at home for the Drupal community. I have a very dear friend in Seattle who was exposed to COVID-19 very early on, and she, her wife, and their young daughter all contracted the disease. Thankfully they are all recovering. But I've heard stories from many of you who are also experiencing the pain of this crisis, both in your personal and professional spaces.

As an association - we're facing a significant financial shortfall of at least $500,000 because it simply would not be safe to host DrupalCon as planned in May.

To be abjectly and painfully honest, this is not where I want to be. As an individual, I don't want to be in fear for my family. As a member of the DA staff, it wounds me deeply to see all of our hard work at risk, only a few short years after recovering from a financial retrenchment. And as a member of our community, I worry about the impact this will have on all of the wonderful people who make this project what it is.

And yet here we are. And despite the gravity of our situation, what stands out to me the most is not the fear of this crisis.

What stands out to me is the hope. You as a community stepped up to support us in a variety of ways, even before we created this #DrupalCares campaign.

You have once again reminded me that we're stronger together.

Why is this important?

Many of you reading this already understand the value of the Drupal Association, so bear with me for a moment. Understand that this message is mostly for those who haven't yet engaged deeply; those who use Drupal as a tool but have yet to come to know Drupal as a community.

Drupal is used to build the best, most ambitious digital experiences on the web. And even now, Drupal is being used in the fight against COVID-19 by organizations like the NIH, the CDC NPIN, Unicef, and many, many more.

The Drupal Association is responsible for three key program areas which accelerate the Drupal project:

Drupal.org - which not only hosts the code and collaboration tools for our community, but is also a key service for Drupal, providing updates, security advisories, localization and more.
DrupalCon - which brings the community together, onboards new users and contributors (with an average of 30+% new attendees each year!) and provides both business and professional development opportunities to keep the ecosystem thriving.
The Drupal Community - which we foster with grants and scholarships, open-source promotional materials, and diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, all of which serve to grow the Drupal contributor-base and make the project stronger.

Without the Drupal Association and these programs Drupal itself would survive, of that I am certain, but it would not thrive.

How can you help?

DrupalCon Sponsors…

… can commit to pledging your full sponsorship to the Association, regardless of what shape DrupalCon takes this year.

Drupal Businesses…

… Can join the supporting partner program, or increase your partner level. Organizations can also make tax deductible donations above and beyond their partnership tier.

Individuals…

… Can join or renew the Drupal Association membership program, or make tax deductible individual donations.

Everyone…

… can help us get the word out! The Drupal Association has deep, deep roots within the community, and tight relationships with those of you who build your livelihoods on Drupal. Unfortunately, there are 10 times as many end-users of Drupal out there who may not even know that the Association exists. Would you leverage your networks to help us reach them?

Thank you for your support

This is why we're launching the #DrupalCares campaign, to mobilize and empower the Drupal community to help sustain the work of our beloved non-profit association.

There are so many who have reached out to us in recent weeks. We want to thank all of the organizations and individuals who went above and beyond “business-as-usual” to provide critical additional support in this time. Each of these organizations and individuals is being recognized with the #DrupalCares badge. As of today, we are at 4% of our fundraising goal. Will you join the growing list of supporters?