I’m pleased to announce that, thanks to a pledge from Enova Financial at the newly-minted “Patron” level, we have achieved our fundraising goal of $25,000. Thanks to Jim “Decibel!” Nasby for putting together the contribution that put us over the top!

I’m thrilled to find that this approach to getting a project going actually works. I’ve had the idea for PGXN for a long time, but knew that I was never going to be able to make it happen unless I could get help. So putting things together, writing a spec and project plan, and putting together the fundraising site with a prominent “fundraising thermometer” and contribution levels…well, it really paid off.

So for others of you with ideas of projects you’d like to take on, but don’t have the tuits without financial assistance, take heed! With a bit of work up-front and a the design of some compelling rewards for contributors — as well as a simple way for folks to donate (perhaps use Kickstarter or FOSSExperts)— you too can make your dream a reality. Well, that and personally seeking out potential funders and lobbying them. It takes some doing, but the payoff is well worth it.

And the payoff here is that I’ll actually be able to make PGXN happen. We already have the upload site up and running (with more features in the works), and now we have the funds for me to make the final design become a reality, as well as the command-line client.

And it was made possible by everyone who has supported us:

• myYearbook
• PostgreSQL Experts, Inc.
• Dalibo
• Enova
• Etsy
• United States PostgreSQL Association
• Command Prompt
• Marchex
• Richard Broersma
• TigerLead
• Thom Brown
• Hitoshi Harada
• 25th-floor
• Hubbell Group
• John S. Gage
• Greg Smith
• UrbanDB.com
• depesz
• Jim Nasby
• David Golden
• Jeff Davis
• Estately
• Chris Spotts
• Kineticode
• CxNet (Chile)
• Schemaverse
• Fábio Telles Rodriguez
• Michael Nacos
• August Zajonc

And special thanks to Josh Berkus for suggesting the fundraising approach, and to making suggestions and helping out as I created the infrastructure to make it happen. And also to Gavin Roy for the founding contribution from myYearbook that really got things kicked off.

Other folks who have helped with feedback and comments as development has got underway include

• Aριστοτέλης Παγκαλτζής (Aristotle Pagaltzis)
• David Golden
• Tatsuhiko Miyagawa
• Matt S Trout
• Graham Barr
• Jarkko Hietaniemi
• Andreas J. König
• Other folks I’ve forgotten (sorry, remind me!)

My thanks to you all! Watch this space for further developments. I aim to have the project complete this winter, with a formal launch no later than PGCon.

This project started when I wrote up the specification and got general approval from pgsql-hackers. Then, at PGCon, it made the list of development priorities for PostgreSQL 9.1 (when I was then calling it “PGAN”). It was when MyYearbook.com’s Gavin Roy pledged a founding contribution of $5,000 (also at PGCon) that I was able to put in the time to create the fundraising site and start soliciting donations. I’m really grateful to Gavin for stepping up like that, putting his money on the line on the assumption that I would be as good as my word and get the work done.

Since then, we’ve done quite well, and are getting closer to our goal every day. PostgreSQL Experts soon committed to cover $5,000 in expenses, Dalibo pledged €5,000 last month, and just yesterday Etsy promised $1,000. We’ve also received contributions from:

• Richard Broersma ($250)
• TigerLead ($250)
• Hubbell Group Inc. ($100)
• John S. Gage ($100)
• Damian Soto-Renou ($100)
• Thom Brown ($100)
• Kineticode, Inc. ($25)
• CxNet (Chile) ($25)
• Schemaverse ($25)

So far, we’ve raised $18,359. Yay! I’m really happy with how well this is going. But we still need to raise another $6,641 to meet our goal. I’m hoping to get that done in the next couple of weeks. Can you help out?