How to encourage more Supporters?

[akapug]

Simbi needs 20x+ the number of paying voluntary Supporters in order to roughly break even in dollar terms on a monthly basis.

[akapug]

This is an open discussion for now -- there are lots of direct and indirect options, and we need to decide which will give us the best outcome! One thing we will have running soon is a new banner that encourage Supporter conversion for people who recently completed deals (i.e. got value from using Simbi). Need more ideas!

[Carzwell]

The first thing that came to mind when I started thinking on this:

Value: how can we improve the perceived value of a cash investment?
What is in it for me? Just a badge and happy feeling?
Maybe, what have been the reasons some have signed up so far?

I understand there is a fine balance in here: we wouldn't want folks paying for services (better stuff to advance their services), effectively gaming the system with cash.

It seems like we want people to care about the advancement of the organization and economy. My mind goes to story. Telling compelling stories that attract - well - love, actually. Spirit. I believe when people are moved, they will invest.

[akapug]

Value: the standard way to is hide features and capabilities behind a paywall. Initially, we launched the Supporter badge as entirely voluntary, since there is extreme member sensitivity around the basic service remaining free to use. When we launched the Orgs feature, we made non-nonprofit Org creation a feature that requires Supporter access.

Story is unquestionably important. But everyone is moved by different stories... (it's instructive to see the excellent job the previous simbi team did along these lines, with lots of member testimonials, etc. )