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Is it common for companies to sponsor free VPS/Dedi/CDN to open source projects?
I was thinking to email a few trust-worthy VPS companies and ask them if they are interested to sponsor a project of mine.
Do small companies like the ones featured on lowendbox give free stuff or are interested in any way in sponsoring open-source/non-profit projects? And even if they do, are they reliable?
Do big companies do something like that (give free dedi/VPS/CDN)? What is the best way to approach them?
My experience says that support@ wont do much and they ignore stuff like that. You would need somehow to get the email of a manager or VP. No idea how.
Whats your opinion on this?
Comments
Well, there are definitely providers out there that would sponsor a project in exchange for some minor recognition somewhere on the website or within the project. I've never requested something similar myself, so I can't give you any names as to who might be interested - sorry - but...
There are a couple ways you could, in theory, go about getting in touch with the right person(s). All of my suggestions include this fairly obvious advice: be specific with your requirements, specify what you'll give in return for the sponsorship/the expectations you have, and make it very clear what your project is (a lot of people fail to communicate this effectively, which shatters their chances of any assistance) and how your target audience is also theirs.
1) Post a thread, ask possible providers to contact you.
2) Send a personalized PM to one of the company's representatives on a forum.
3) Contact support@. As much as you say it won't get you anywhere, a lot of the LE* companies are running a very tight ship with only a few representatives (which, in my experience, gives them more flexibility to actually assist you and pass the message on to the 'boss')
Some of providers want to advertise only in specific field like Games,etc so If you have a gaming website and want a vps then maybe they will sponsor your site for advertisement.
Also maybe cost of sponsored advertisement is less then paid advertisement.
I know that we certainly sponsor a few open source projects. Did one just yesterday to be exact.
We do of course limit how many we give away
Sales handles the money, orders, activation issues, etc. and is generally in charge of something pretty vital to the operation of the company.. plus the owner or someone close to the owner, perhaps someone trusted in "marketing", could be the "sales manager" in the sales/billing department.
Keep contacting support. You'll find somebody to give you a sponsored VPS.
It happens and it depends on a few different things.
Some things to consider:
A host may already be sponsoring other servers/projects and may be limited in how many they are willing to sponsor at a given time.
Does the project/site get any traffic (will anyone see or even be aware of the sponsorship). If it's just something for you and your two friends than a host is less likely to sponsor it compared to if it is a project use my many and gets a decent amount of traffic.
Hosts get LOTS of requests for sponsorship and free stuff so always be sure to ask nicely and let them know what you can offer in return (this may be a company logo featured on the homepage, a mention in a footer, sending users to the host if they "outgrow" your service, etc). Don't feel bad if you get a "no", hosts cant give away everything.
Try to give as much detail as possible. How much resources do you really need? Sure you would love a 2GB server but can your project be hosted fine on a 512MB server? Just cause the resources are free doesn't mean they should be wasted. Let the host be aware of any problems they may run into by sponsoring your project. Are they likely to get abuse reports, network attacks, etc. Be honest.
The best situation is when the arrangement is beneficial for all involved: a great and useful project gets hosted and the host can extend their reach, brand in the process. Win-win.
Good luck
As a start up company we would be willing to sponsor a few projects if for nothing else just for the advertisement on the projects page. As is mentioned here there are limits to it and open communication would make it very easy for us to do and understand what will be required. As always a PM with the details and a request is the best way to start.
We've always considered requests for sponsoring projects.
Its a nice way to give back to the community, however we do look at the quality of a project and ensure its something that is going to be around long term.
Depends on the project, what's it about, etc.. we always consider.
We've also sponsored a couple of projects. As long as they are solid, interesting and worth it - I have no problem in throwing a free server, so feel free to contact me with more details
Hi,
We have, were are new in this neck of the woods so more than happy to help. contact me if your still looking.
I've supported/hosted some fairly large Open Source projects in the past. Unfortunately a great many don't get very far.
Personally it's very likely I would ignore any messages asking for sponsorship of free hosting/VPS/etc. from open source projects. At the most, a "Thanks for contacting us, unfortunately at this time we are not interested in pursuing partnership with right now."...
All of the ones we host I got in touch with them, not the other way around.