From: richard@ex-parrot.com   
      
   On 31/07/18 22:04, J. P. Gilliver (John) wrote:   
      
   > I can think of three possibles:   
   > 1. the administration of such a scheme (handling of credit card details,   
   > etc.) might cost more than it raises.   
      
   I know this isn't true as I've designed and implemented similar   
   donations systems outside genealogy and the administrative costs have   
   proved small compared to the amount of money passing through the system.   
     On one of the systems I'm involved with, the average donation size is   
   about £3.50; on a register transcript system, I'd envisage a minimum   
   pledge of around £5, meaning costs would be proportionately lower.   
      
   > 2. There might be something written into the articles of association (or   
   > whatever) of FreeXXX that prevents their taking any money.   
   >   
   > 3. There might be some interfering clause in the numerous contracts   
   > between the various archives, Ancestry, FindMyPast, and/or other entity   
   > that blocks it.   
      
   If either of these are the case, which I doubt, it could be run entirely   
   independently of FreeReg.  If either FreeReg or one of the data   
   providers wanted to prevent volunteers from receiving payment for their   
   work from third parties it would have to be in the agreement that   
   volunteers commit to when signing up, but there's no such language   
   there.  Absent that, I can't see how such a restriction would be   
   enforceable.  But I also can't see why any of the parties involved would   
   want to stop volunteers from accepting payment.   
      
      
   > I don't _think_ 1. is likely to be true, as other crowdfunding   
   > arrangements exist.   
   >   
   > I _hope_ 2. and 3. aren't true either - because it sounds like an   
   > excellent idea!   
      
   Trying to think of reasons why this might not work, the main ones I can   
   come up with are:   
      
   1. There aren't enough genealogist who would be willing to sponsor a   
   transcript to make it worthwhile.   
      
   2. The volunteer transcribers are actively disinterested in accepting   
   payment.   
      
   3. Paying volunteers could result in greater numbers of less able   
   volunteers, resulting in a poor quality of transcript.   
      
   I think you could build in measures to mitigate each of these concerns.   
      
   In case (1), the scheme really only becomes worthwhile if you have   
   several pledges (or one large pledge) for some of the parishes.  That   
   works best if people pledge for quite a few parishes, but they may not   
   be able to afford to pledge that much.  You could mitigate this by allow   
   people to pledge money to the first N parishes to be completed from of a   
   longer list of parishes.   
      
   I think you can mitigate case (2) by making it easy to nominate a   
   charity to receive the donation instead of accepting it yourself.   
      
   You can mitigate case (3) with technical measures, such as double   
   entering the register and checking them against each other.  (I think   
   FreeReg does this anyway: certainly FreeBMD does.)  Only award the money   
   if this shows the transcript to be of a suitably high quality.   
      
   I'm pleased you think it sounds like a good idea!   
      
   Richard   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)