In the next couple of weeks we'll be launching a new sponsorship opportunity for Drupal Supporters on the homepage of Drupal.org.  The following is background information and a proposal for the program.  We would like a period of public community feedback. Feedback is open until the 6th of July. At that time, we will incorporate the feedback into the sponsorship program plan.

Background

The Drupal Association has been creating advertising programs on Drupal.org in an effort to do more to serve our mission, and to take the pressure off of DrupalCons to perform financially.  We’ve been working to develop advertising products that are meaningful for advertisers, deliver value to the community, and are respectful of users contributing to the project. 

About the Program

The Homepage Sponsorship will highlight partners who support the community through Drupal Supporter Programs.  This includes Supporting Partners, Hosting Supporters and Tech Supporters.  The sponsorship will display in the 300 x 250 ad block that already exists on the Drupal.org homepage.   The creative template is designed and maintained by the Association.  The featured supporter will provide a logo, body copy, button copy, and a link to that will direct to their website.  We will display the partner’s supporter badge, and eventually, pass in any applicable organization credits.

The idea for the Homepage Sponsorship originates from the rewards mechanism that Dries discussed in his DrupalCon Amsterdam 2014 Keynote.  His vision involves building a system that creates an incentive for Drupal companies to contribute to the project by rewarding them with benefits and giving recognition. 

There is a larger project in motion which includes the Drupal Association building commit credits for organizations, and developing the algorithm to apply a value to the credits.  The Homepage Sponsorship is one potential reward that will eventually feed into the system.  Until that larger project is complete, the Homepage Sponsorship will be available for purchase by Drupal Supporters.  It will be sold in one week increments, giving the partner 100% of the page views during the campaign.  The program will expand recognition for those organizations who already give back, and will encourage more organizations to participate in Supporter Programs.

Homepage Sponsorship Mock

Advertising Guidelines for Drupal.org

The Drupal Association interviewed representatives of the Drupal Community to help guide our advertising strategy and ensure a positive advertising experience on Drupal.org.  We developed informal guidelines; for example, advertising is not appropriate in issue queues, and when possible, products should monetize users who are logged out and not contributing to the Project.  After we received feedback on our most recent program - Try Drupal, we started work on formalizing these guidelines for advertising on Drupal.org. 

We created an issue to share a draft advertising policy developed by the Association and Drupal.org Content Working Group.  The policy will set guidelines for how we advertise - addressing issues like the labeling of ads, content guidelines, etc. with the aim of providing an advertising experience that complements Drupal.org and supports our community values. Whatever decisions are made in that policy will be applied to existing programs, including the Homepage Sponsorship and Try Drupal program.

Talk To Us

We want your input about the Homepage Sponsorship.  Please comment on this post, or in the issue, with your questions and insights.

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