On-boarding new sponsors

[pgorod]

Got my first Sponsor today! Yay! 🎉

I was wondering what would be the best-practices for properly on-boarding the user.

1. How to do the first contact? I don't have his email.

2. Can I put him on some mailing list or some way to keep regular contact?

3. Should I send a questionnaire and gather some more info to better serve him?

4. How to actually share the code for the Sponsorware? (I think I heard in one of Caleb's podcasts or interviews that he just has a GitHub private repo for this purpose).

[stefanbuck]

Congratulations on your first sponsor 🎉 This is an amazing achievement.

1. How to do the first contact? I don't have his email.
2. Can I put him on some mailing list or some way to keep regular contact?

GitHub provides an update functionality within the GitHub Sponsors dashboard. You can send emails to either all sponsors or just a subset of sponsors. The UI is super simple and it's a great way to get in touch with your supporters. Head over to https://github.com/sponsors/[username]/dashboard/updates

3. Should I send a questionnaire and gather some more info to better serve him?

Good idea, but be prepared that the response rate will be low. Chances are 50/50 with one Sponsor so worth a try 😉 Having a good relation ship with your customers 😉 sponsors is key to shape your product. I do have contact with one sponsor on a regular basis and I really enjoy it all the time.

4. How to actually share the code for the Sponsorware?

Yes, exactly a private is the way to go. Although in addition to the private repo I also set up a public facing repository as so to say a landing page https://github.com/stefanbuck/pull-request-badge-app.

I hope this helps a little.

[pgorod]

Thanks, that helps. I didn't know about that Github feature to send email to sponsors, definitely it's a nice thing to have. It's a pity they don't have a way to reach only new sponsors, though.

I already have a "landing-page" on my blog so I will just make the private repos for the distinct tiers. Thanks a lot for your reply!

[kendocode]

Hi @pgorod! I'm happy to be your first sponsor, and it's heartening to see your concern for your sponsor base. I did your email but it directed me to the SuiteCRM forum to reply, so I will reply to you separately there regarding specifics. For the general case, it sounds to me like you're on the right track, and a private repo seems like the 'simplest thing that works' solution. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have going forward.

Best wishes!