Who Benefits from Plugin Sponsorship?

Bloggers Benefit

There is no doubt about who benfits most from the continued development of free plugins: bloggers. The number of plugins available for expanding and enhancing the core capabilities of WordPress is growing every day, but so is the number of plugins being abandoned by developers who can no longer afford to provide their talents entirely for free. Sponsorship helps the universe of plugins — a universe which is actually far larger than WordPress itself — continue to grow in a sustainable fashion.

Sponsors Benefit

Sponsors likewise benefit by associating themselves with the continued development of quality plugins designed to enhance the WordPress blogging experience.

Sponsors enjoy an unparalleled opportunity to reach the real movers and shakers of the independent blogging community — the people who actually run blogs. No other mechanism offers sponsors such an unprecedented level of direct exposure to the opinion-formers and influencers of the blogosphere.

Plugin Developers

Plugin developers regularly donate dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of unpaid hours coding and supporting their plugins. Those are hours during which they are not at their jobs, with their families, or pursuing other personal interests. Direct contributions from plugin users are much appreciated, but most plugin authors report that they are also few and far between. So even modest levels of financial incentive in the form of sponsorships can help convince a developer that their talent really is appreciated and their plugin efforts really are worth continuing.