I'm a little overwhelmed by this thread and the private messages I've 
received, seeking ways of making donations to our project!  I'm used 
to "begging" for money (via proposals), so I deeply appreciate the 
OFFERS of funding for our work!

Here are my suggestions and what I've found out about Georia Tech's 
mechanisms for accepting donations.

First, the easiest thing to do to support our work is to simply buy a 
copy of the Guzdial & Rose book (the one whose chapters are at 
http://coweb.cc.gatech.edu/squeakbook).  I tried to make half of the 
royalties go directly to our work, but both sides said the paperwork 
was too much, so I'll be using the second mechanism (below) myself. 
So, purchases of the Guzdial & Rose book will help fund our research.

Second, the Georgia Tech Foundation *can* accept donations for our 
research, no matter how small.  If you would like to contribute, 
please send a check (or cheque) to:

Joan Morton
College of Computing/GVU Center
Georgia Institute of Technology
801 Atlantic Drive
Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0280

Here are the key parts:
- The check must be made out to the "Georgia Tech Foundation."  If it 
just says, "Georgia Tech," the money goes into the general pot and 
probably pays for new football uniforms.
- Please attach some kind of note or cover letter stating that the 
contribution is "for the UNRESTRICTED support of Mark Guzdial's 
research on SQUEAK or SWIKI."  I'm told that the "Unrestricted" part 
is what makes it a philanthropic contribution, and (I believe) should 
be tax-deductible (at least in the U.S.)  The rest ("Mark Guzdial's 
research on SQUEAK or SWIKI") is what helps route the funds to an 
account that we can use.  The Georgia Tech Foundation's rules allow 
us to spend the money on things like server hardware, research 
assistant support, travel to conferences, and even feeding the 
students bagels and pizza, and prevents it from being spent on things 
like hot tubs and happy hours.

The rules on "unrestricted" contributions prohibit us from promising 
a particular deliverable or outcome from the contribution, except for 
a letter of thanks from me (and perhaps from the Foundation as well).

Again, my thanks for all the supportive comments from the list!
   Mark

>Hi Gang,
>    I'm in the same position as Jerry. OTOH Mark, can GaTech accept
>small donations from individuals or corporations that are earmarked
>for a specific project? If enough people cough up $10 or $20, Mark
>could raise a LOT of money. Remember: peanuts can be filling. Just
>a thought.
>    As a MacZealot of sorts, I'm all in favor of keeping a Mac Swiki
>in operation. MacOS X, being based upon FreeBSD, should solve a lot
>of the current MaOS's problems.
>    In closing, I also want to express my deep appreciation for the
>work that Mark Guzdial & team are doing. Keep that minnow swimming
>around and healthy! :-)
>Cheers, Roger.....

--------------------------
Mark Guzdial : Georgia Tech : College of Computing : Atlanta, GA 30332-0280
Associate Professor - Learning Sciences & Technologies.
Collaborative Software Lab - http://coweb.cc.gatech.edu/csl/
(404) 894-5618 : Fax (404) 894-0673 : guzdial at cc.gatech.edu
http://www.cc.gatech.edu/gvu/people/Faculty/Mark.Guzdial.html