Re: VMs: "The VMs Research Foundation"...?

[dangibson@xxxxxxxxxxxx]

Location is a key issue when considering fund raising. If there are major 
research funds that might be available in the USA, then a USA based 
foundation makes sense. The manuscript is housed in an American Institution, 
and anyone doing physical studies of the manuscript would have to be located 
in the USA. But how many interested people are located in the USA? As far as 
I know, it is quite easy to set up foundations in any western nation. The 
questions should rather be, is there a location where we can get 5 - 8 
people together, to sit on the board. The board of directors will be the key 
to getting a foundation going. The board will have to meet several times a 
year during the initial stages of setting up a foundation. After that, it 
might suffice for the board to meet once a year. The board members will all 
have to operate at "arms-length" from the foundation. That means that none 
of them can receive any financial or other benefits from the foundation. In 
essence, the board members need to have enough interest in the VMS to give 
time to running the foundation, but they cannot be the researchers. 
Researchers need the time and resources that the foundation supplies. The 
board members are the trustees for the resources, and they are the ones 
responsible for raising funds.

I've been involved in a number of these, and you need to know that there is 
a lot of work that needs doing. Several hurdles need to be crossed.
1. Find a location where 5 - 8 people can function together as a board.
2. Find the 5 - 8 people
3. Discuss how and where funds can be found
4. Register the foundation
5. Find a volunteer accountant who will get payment once funds start pouring 
in.
6. The board members start raising funds, applying for grants etc.
7. When enough money comes in, an administrator is hired (usually part time 
at first)
8. Brochures, Website, etc., are put together
9. Researchers apply to the foundation to get funds for their research.

There are several ways of getting funds. The first one is the list-group. 
How many of us would cough up $30 - $50 a year for membership/subscription 
to info etc. This membership or subscription should have some benefits, such 
as access to the member's side of the website, and perhaps first dibs on 
applying for a research grant. And also access to the information that the 
research reveals. Once membership/subscription fees start, then the money 
can be used by the office to research other grants or funds that may be 
available. There are people out there who will give funds to research, but 
they want to make sure that we are serious, and that we are accountable.

After all this gets started, the board will have to figure out where to put 
their resources first. For instance, not all of us are convinced that the 
VMS needs "deciphering." But I think all of us are interested in the history 
of the manuscript, and who had it when. So research needs to be prioritized, 
and someone needs to collect the research together and post it in one 
specific location. A website available to members is probably the best 
place. It might even be possible to have members post their research papers 
there for other members to read. These need not be fully academic papers, 
but they can be ideas that are laid out for others to read.

Does that mean that this list-service should stop. By no means. This is how 
we found each other, and the discussion should go on here. But papers that 
are researched or ideas that are fleshed out need to be posted in a safe 
environment, where other members can read them. Folk on this list service 
should be encouraged to become members, so that they can access the 
information.

A good "first project" might be hiring a student to collect all the 
information on the list service, and paste it all together under various 
topics such as:
VMS History
VMS Plants
VMS Pictures
VMS Zodiac
VMS Language Ideas
VMS Deciphering
VMS Physical Manuscript
etc.

There is lots to be done, but most of us have little time and money. 
However, if we collected a bit of time and money from everyone, do we have 
enough to get a foundation off the ground and rolling?

Dan 

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