Personalized IDs - Executive Summary ==================================== Recommendation -------------- The Director of Development and the Development Committee recommend that an option of "Personalized IDs" (PIDs) be made available as part of NCF's Donor Recognition Program in connection with contributions of volunteer work as well as financial contributions. Background ---------- A PID involves assigning a unique alphanumeric "alias" to a Member's account. The PID is chosen by the Member to appear in place of the "xx999" portion of their address and is usually, but not necessarily, based on their name -- for example, "au167@freenet.carleton.ca (Gordon Pearson)" might be changed to "gpearson@freenet.carleton.ca (Gordon Pearson)". Over the past year, many Members have suggested, both through postings in the Funding Area and by e-mail to the Development Office, that "personalized" IDs would be an excellent way for NCF to raise funds and give recognition to certain Donors. Other Freenets have successfully implemented PIDs as a Donor incentive. In our "1995 Development Plan", we promised that the Development Committee would examine the matter this year. Appropriate recognition of Donors and recognition of Volunteers as Donors are key elements in the Development Plan. Our Fundraising Ideas Group appointed a taskforce to prepare a Report on the subject. The Report - written by Michelle Dean (ac676), Donna Shaw (aq652) and Steve Morrison (bd577) - was approved by the Development Committee at its last meeting. Development/Fundraising Factors ------------------------------- Government grants are evaporating -- sustaining funds do not exist and project funds are scarce. Competition for private sector support is heating up as the traditional recipients of public money seek to replace grants with corporate sponsorships and charitable donations. NCF's largest source of cash is donations from its Members, particularly new registrants. While efforts to broaden NCF's funding base through grants, corporate sponsorships and benefit projects must continue, it is essential to recognize that new registrants and current members represent the greatest potential source of new and renewable revenue for NCF. The principle of "quid pro quo" is fundamental to successful fundraising. At its most basic, it means thanking people for their contributions and giving them something extra, usually recognition, in return. This encourages people to contribute and makes an important statement about the kind of organization FreeNet is -- one which appreciates the support it receives and honours those whose commitment and generosity keep it running. The Personalized ID is a good example of a token of appreciation which is publicly visible, inexpensive to provide and easy to administrate. Revenue Analysis ---------------- An examination of NCF's donation records January through May 1995 reveals that 0.47% of Donors contributed $100 or more. Half of those were new registrants. NCF activates about 20,000 new accounts annually...new accounts are NCF's most significant "renewable resource". At the Toronto FreeNet, 4.5% of new registrants donate $100 or more and have received Personalized IDs (TFN has 27,000 active accounts so far). There are no projections on the "net gain". That is, we do not know what amount, if anything, the $100 Donors would have given without the PID program. A similar pattern at NCF would result in cash donations of $90,000 per year from new registrants (up from $5,000 per year currently). In addition, an informal survey by our own PIDs taskforce supports the notion that current Members, as distinct from new registrants, would also be encouraged to donate more if PIDs were offered. Implementation -------------- PIDs do not require changes to the FreePort directory structure -- accounts are maintained in the xx999 format but given an alias. The Toronto FreeNet has developed software that handles this during the registration process and makes it simple for the Office to activate accounts using the PID or rename existing accounts for Donors who request it. Although there is no administrative burden in maintaining the system, there is an up-front programming cost estimated by NCF's System Administrator at one full week of programming time. Guidelines exist for vetting or approving PIDs. In practice, almost all Donors on other free-nets choose a PID based on their name. In the odd case where a questionable PID name has been reserved, the donation cheque never arrives. NCF Philosophy -------------- Our Committee believes that arguments about PIDs fostering a "class system" or a "user pay system" on FreeNet are off target. PIDs are a donor recognition tool...a means of encouraging and thanking members who donate time or money in support of NCF so that NCF can remain free and accessible to all. Respectfully submitted, Director of Development ============================================================== PIDs TASKFORCE REPORT ======================= INTRODUCTION This report has been prepared by Donna Shaw (aq652), Michelle Dean (ac676) and Steven Morrison (bd577). This report covers issues and concerns, raised by the NCF Board of Directors, Development committee members, and the opinions of NCF users who have expressed their views. The concept of allowing the user base of a FreeNet system to alter or change their account identification has been employed in other FreeNets in Canada and the United States. This report will deal generally with the application, installation, and system maintenance problems and benefit of Personalized Id's vis-a-vis the Toronto FreeNet, as the demographics of their user base are similar to those of the NCF. This report hopes to demonstrate the advantages to this proposal, while showing both its shortcomings and solutions to those problems. TABLE OF CONTENTS - Definition of Personalized ID - Consistent with NCF "Charter" - Donation Levels - Cost Effective Fundraising - Appendix I - PID Guidelines on the Detroit FreeNet - Appendix II - PIDs Questionnaire response from the Toronto FreeNet - Appendix III - Programming time estimate - Appendix IV - A Survey of PIDs on Freenets in Canada and the USA What is a "Personalized ID"? A Personalized ID as defined by this task force is a replacement of a user's current userid in "xxnnn" form with another alpha-numeric sequence of the user's choice, preferably a derivative of said user's name. For example, Robert E. Smith could become resmith, robsmith or roberts. It is possible that in some instances a "granted" or "earned" title could be included, for example, "revresmith", "majsmith" or "drsmith", however this is beyond the mandate of this task force and is only mentioned for future consideration. Does a Personalized ID system allow users to change their account ID to anything that they wish? This also is beyond our mandate, but all members agree that if the proposal allowed for the inclusion of non-name ID's, the potential to raise funds would be greatly enhanced. An informal survey conducted by task force members showed that many people would like to choose something other than a derivative of their name for their Personalized ID, particularily users on the NCF IRC system. Concern has been raised, however, that there would then have to be a bureaucracy set up on the NCF to decide whether one user's chosen PID is more offensive than another's. TFN has in place a system whereby persons can choose the "nickname" by which they are known. TFN has not experienced any appreciable amount of trouble with this system since most users choose a derivative of their name. By arbitrarily excluding the use of IRC "nicks" the revenue potential of this program is greatly reduced. This task force suggests following a specific code of morality which is made available to all users in reference to Personalized IDs should it be decided that the user may choose any sequence for his or her own PID, similar to the code of morality for Personalized IDs of the Greater Detroit Free-Net. (details about the GDFN's PID program can be found in Appendix I). Does this proposal in any way violate the NCF charter in word or spirit? There is appreciable debate on this issue. TFN believes that the Personalized ID proposal does not violate their charter (more details from the Toronto Free-Net are provided in Appendix #). It is the opinion of this task force after some debate that this system, being strictly voluntary, and based on donations, does not violate the charter in any manner because no one is persuaded to change their present userid, the program is offered as an incentive to donate only and will be offered only as recognition of support of the NCF. Does this proposal create a special class of users on NCF? It is the opinion of this task force that the Personalized ID program would in no way create a tiered society on the NCF. Personalized IDs will be granted as a recognition of a generous monetary donation, as programs such as the volunteer recognition party have recognized generous donations of time on the part of volunteers. Users with Personalized IDs would gain no technical advantage over users with the standard userid. They would get no extra time online or staff support. What would be the required donation for a user to be recognized with a PID and what would be the required "follow-up" donation? TFN requires a one time donation of $100 in order to activate a PID and there is no follow up donations required to keep it active. This proposal suggests that NCF follow that model. What are the acceptable methods of donation? Primarily, payment will be done with cash and cheques, but we are proposing some rather innovative methods of payment as well. 1) Volunteer Services: Eventually we would like to see a system set up where volunteers receive a certain amount in "FreeBucks" for every hour they spend working for NCF. This "money" could be put towards programs such as the Personalized ID program. 2) Banking: We can arrange for the user to sign for a withdrawal of a certain amount, such as $10, every month from his or her bank account. Is this proposal a cost effective and reasonable method of fundraising? It is the opinion of this task force that this could be a very effective method of fundraising. The task force placed a vote option in the vote area of NCF on this proposal to get an idea of what percentage of the regular users of NCF would use this program. The number that came up was 24%. Assuming that users who use the vote option are a fairly accurate view of regular NCF users, and that there are 13 300 regular users of NCF (by this we mean users who have used their accounts at least twice a week), 13 300 users x .24 = 3192 users who would apply for PIDs. 3192 x $100 = $319 200 What are the programming costs of this proposal? As indicated by our System Administrator, Ian! D. Allen, in Appendix III, setting up Personalized IDs on the NCF would take a week or two of uninterrupted programming. Depending upon who performs the task and their workload, that amount of time could translate into anywhere from the stated 1-2 weeks to 2-3 months. For the System Administrator's actual words on the subject, please refer to Appendix III. What are the administrative costs of this proposal? With the price scheme outlined above, we feel that the administrative burden will be minimal. A number of users have expressed interest in volunteering their time to the task of the maintenance of paperwork and data entry that would accompany the implementation of Personalized IDs. Another administrative cost would be incurred if the user decided to cancel their PID or change it. A token fee of $5 to $10 would be required, except in "legal" cases (adoption, marriage or divorce). APPENDIX I: PIDs ON THE GREATER DETROIT FREE-NET Taken from the "About..." message in the PID menu of the Greater Detroit Free-Net: Personalized Account Program Many of our users have expressed interest in personalized accounts here at GDFN. However, creating a personalized account takes far more processing than a standard account (llnnn). So to accommodate everyone and account for the extra processing, we now offer personalized accounts in exchange for a $50 donation. The donation will go towards GDFN's MichNet affiliate fees or possibly the purchase of dial-in modems for GDFN users alone. Our goal is to involve 200 users in this program, giving us the necessary funds to support our communication costs for a year. The guidelines for the Personalized Account Program are: * You must have a valid account already established in order to also have a personalized account. * Your personalized name with be held for 1 year, after which time you need to renew it again or your account will revert back to your FreePort account number. You will be notified when the time limit is about to expire. * The possible characters you may use to form your name include A-Z, a-z, 0-9, hyphen (-) and underscore (_). No spaces can be embedded in the name. * The length of your name cannot exceed 12 characters. * The only part of your e-mail address that can be customized is what falls to the left of the "@" (ChuckJones@detroit.freenet.org is possible, whereas ChuckJones@somewhere.in.inkster is not). * No two accounts can differ only in letter case (smith vs. Smith). All names must be unique. * Requests are processed on a first-come-first-served basis. In the case where 2 users vie for the same name, the first user request received will get it. * GDFN reserves the right to reject any names based on technical conflicts or moral objections. Keep in mind that you may declare a donation as a deduction on your taxes. To apply, print out the form under the menu item Personalized Account Form, fill it out completely and return it to: Greater Detroit Free-Net Personalized Account Program P.O. Box 5068 Warren, MI 48090-5068 You will receive an e-mail notification when your new name has been enabled. APPENDIX II: PIDS ON THE TORONTO FREE-NET The following is a list of questions and answers. The questions are from a member of our Task Force, Steven Morrison, to the president of the Board of Directors of the Toronto Free-Net, Richard Malinski. 1) How did the TFN apply Personalized ID's (PIDs), without creating a notion of an elitist, or privileged group? RM: We simply stated that with a donation of $100 or more you could decide on and use a personalized id. Some of the volunteers too have personalized IDs. There are no extra privileges other than the use of that personalized ID. Do you see that developing into elitism or a privileged group? 2) Was there any "moral" argument based of the Free-Net charter's provision, promoting equal and fair access to all? RM: We are promoting equal and fair access to all! We didn't deal with the "moral" side of the issue. Perhaps you would explain the moral issues to me? 3) How did the TFN Board of Directors, reconcile the issues of awarding ID names, was it on a first apply-first awarded system? RM: The first person to donate more than $100 and pick a particular name were given that name. Other people had to choose other names. 4) What was the Board final vote for and against the system? RM: As I remember it we were all in agreement. 5) What are in your opinion the three main faults with the PID system at TFN? RM: Well, some people do choose a name but don't make the donation or want their name activated. That seems to be the main problem. 6) What in your opinion are the three main benefits with the PID system? RM: It has brought in a lot of money for our operations. 7) What price or donation level did the TFN deem as a threshold figure for the granting of PIDs? RM: As noted above we decided on $100 or more. 8) Has the TFN considered awarding PIDs to volunteers in recognition of services rendered? RM: As noted above there are some volunteers with PIDs. 9) What was the total amount of donations from PID purchases for the first three months? RM: I don't have those figures but Michelle has the up-to-date ones. *It should probably be noted that these figures have been lost, but we are trying to retrieve them. 10) Has there been a significant change in the number of PIDs granted monthly after the initial three month period? RM: I don't have a figure for you but my observation is that the first 3 months probably saw 80% of the PIDs taken. 11) How long is the period that the TFN Users have PIDs in effect (Is the PID permanent)? RM: The PIDs are permanent. 12) Has the TFN instituted a annual donation (renewal fee) to keep active the users PID? RM: Nope! 13) If so, what percentage of the initial fee is the renewal fee? RM: NA 14) How many person hours were required to install the PID program? RM: We didn't keep the hours of this task. 15) How many person hours are required to maintain the system per week? RM: It is all part of our registration system and doesn't present any additional problem. 16) How many person hours were expended to initially administer the set-up period? RM: I assume you mean the PID system. See 14. 17) How many person hours are required administer the "paperwork" per week? RM: If you mean the PID system, it is part and parcel of our registration system. That job is a full time occupation. 18) Has any major problem been encountered in mail services? RM: Yes we've had problems and are addressing them. This is rather vague but your question is too. 19) Has any major problem been encountered in news subscriber services? RM: Wow! Is the Pope Polish? :) 20) What is the cost/return ration of the PID system. Installation to Funding? RM: We've not done any number crunching but to date the costs have been minimal and the returns maximal. There is a lot of work to follow up the PID requests that haven't sent in their donations and therefore haven't been activated. Our Development team is just starting this. 21) What percentage of the TFN active user base have PIDs? RM: Off the top of my head, I'd say 20% but I'll check and get back to you. 22) Does the users real name appear after the Personalized account? RM: That depends on what they want within the 8 character limit. (Does this seem unclear to anyone else?) 23) If not, is a special menu area provided to access the users real name? RM: We have a menu item that allows searching for a members name. 24) If not does the PID function as a blind mail address? RM: Nope! 25) In posting areas does the Subject line and the PID appear on the parent menu, if so does the users real name appear in the actual post? RM: The regular pine header is there. Look at my response. 26) Have any users who went from a regular "llnnn" account to a PID complained of poorer service? RM: There have been 7 people in total who have asked for their money back and only 2 or 3 have been with PIDs. 27) Have any complimented any improvement of service? RM: You've got the wrong impression of our use of PIDs. There is no extra privilege!! 28) Does the TFN have a policy towards the inclusion of titles as Doctor (Dr.) Reverend (Rev.) or Major (Maj.) in PIDs? RM: Nope! If the person wants this within the 8 characters, fine! 29) Has anyone questioned the legal and liability status of PIDs on the TFN? RM: Nope! Our lawyer has no problem with this. 30) Do you think that the TFN believes it has made the correct decision in the installation of the PID system? RM: Yes! APPENDIX III: Programming Projection from the System Administrator Taken from e-mail exchanged between the Director of Development, Gordon Pearson, and our System Administrator, Ian! D. Allen, with the permission of both: "It would take a day or two to track down all the places where existing format userids are expected, change them, then work out the bugs. "It would take a few days to modify the registration software to "reserve" personal ID's. (What happens if two registrants both try to get the same userid? Have to prevent that.) "It would take a few days more to write software so that the office could assign and modify personal ID's. "Realize that "a few days" means full, uninterrupted days by someone who isn't running a system for 46,000 users. "If *I* have to do it, it can take a week or two to get a full day's work in." APPENDIX IV: A Survey of PIDs on in Freenets in Canada and the USA FN = Freenet n/a = no access, not applicable or no addresses shown all user addresses will variations of Steve Morrison lynx = web format as opposed to CWRU format ***********************************CANADA******************************* Network Name User ID Notes and Identification CIAO Trail BC stevmaa1 First 4 letters first name and last initial, letter, letter and number. Prince George FN aa111 Sea to Sky aa111 (Squamish BC) Vancouver FN BC stevemor 3 - 8 characters, min. $25.00/yr All accounts Victoria FN BC stevemor Eight characters, 2.5% of users free opition. Calgary FN AB n/a lynx $15.00/yr. Edmonton FN AB n/a lynx $15.00/yr. Saskatoon FN SK n/a lynx $15.00/yr. Blue Sky Winnipeg MB MrSteve For a donation of $100. dollars or more, users can select "personalized IDs rather than randomly generated ones. Also they can be personalized for ones profession or be a nickname. They are granted for life. No fees for renewal. 807 CITY Thunder Bay ON n/a InfoNet with BBS service. Halton Community Network n/a InfoNet only. Halton Region ON Hamilton-Wentworth FN No Random generated IDs. Hamilton Region ON Niagara Peninsula FN Stevemor 3 - 8 characters, min donation Niagara Falls ON $50.00. Toronto FN ON Mr.Steve 3 - 8 characters, min donation $100.00. May be personalized to reflect profession or nickname. Chebuto Community Net n/a lynx Dartmouth NS St John's InfoNet n/a lynx St John's NF *******************************UNITED STATES****************************** Arizona AZTEC AZ srm11 First 3 character users initials 5 - 8 characters required Big Sky n/a Dillon MN Denver FN CO No Random generated IDs Los Angeles FN CA No $15.00/yr Seattle Community Network stevemor 8 characters required $25.00/yr Seattle WA Rio Grande Network No El Paso TX Sendit stevemor 4 - 8 characters Bismarck ND Twim Cities FN n/a lynx Minneapolis MN Milwaukee OmniFest stevemor 8 Characters required $25.00/yr Milwaukee WI Heartland Network stevemor 8 Characters required Peoria IL $10.00/yr, out of state addresses PrairieNet stevemor 8 characters required Champaign IL $50.00/yr, out of state addresses Columbia FN MO n/a Ozark Info Net n/a Springfeild MO Rural Area Info Net n/a Blacwater MO Cleveland FN OH srm 3 - 8 characters, in the event of duplication a number is added srm2 Dayton Area Fn OH No Lorain County FN No Elyira OH SouthEastern Ohio FN n/a Talawnda Learning Net n/a Oxford OH TriState OnLine stevemor 8 characters required Cincinnati OH Youngstown FN OH No $10.00/yr Jackson FN IN No Greater Detroit FN MI stevemor 5 - 8 characters required Grand Rapids FN MI n/a Traverse Cuty FN MI No Buffalo FN NY n/a National Capital Access stevemor 8 characters required Washington D.C. $25.00/yr. All accounts Chesapeake FN No 2 letters, 6 numbers Easton MD all posting show full name LibertyNet n/a Philadelphia PA Mindnet Columbia SC n/a 2 letters, 6 numbers Randomly generated Centeral Virginia FN n/a South east Virginia FN n/a Virginia Public Education n/a Network Alachua FN n/a Gainsville FL SEFLIN Fort Lauderdale FL stevemor 8 characters reequired Suncoast FN MrSteve 5 - 8 characters required Tampa FL May be personalized VANITY Ids $50.00 Tallahassee FN FL No $25.00/yr Our Community. Our FreeNet. Working together. "go funding" / "go helpers" Gordon Pearson (au167), Director of Development, National Capital FreeNet