From ffb7f316025b7df7327f2e3e193dfd67d43a6669 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Randy Fay Date: Fri, 27 Mar 2026 23:14:34 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] The Drop Times and Sponsorship Data --- .../blog/sponsorship-data-droptimes.md | 62 +++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 62 insertions(+) create mode 100644 src/content/blog/sponsorship-data-droptimes.md diff --git a/src/content/blog/sponsorship-data-droptimes.md b/src/content/blog/sponsorship-data-droptimes.md new file mode 100644 index 00000000..5ad74dc8 --- /dev/null +++ b/src/content/blog/sponsorship-data-droptimes.md @@ -0,0 +1,62 @@ +--- +title: "From a Single Chat to a Live Sponsorship Feed: DDEV's Sponsorship Data Story" +pubDate: 2026-03-27 +summary: "How a request from TheDropTimes to track DDEV sponsorship data led to a web component, a public data feed, and live sponsor displays across DDEV properties." +author: Randy Fay +featureImage: + src: /img/blog/2026/03/sponsorship-data.png + alt: DDEV sponsorship data displayed across web properties +categories: + - Community + - Announcements +--- + + +In January 2025, Anoop John of [TheDropTimes](https://www.thedroptimes.com/) sent a message that sparked something bigger than any of us expected: + +> "Happy New Year. I was thinking we could put a live sponsorship tracker for DDEV on TDT. We should ask for people for $5 per month and we need 1000 people to hit the target right? What do you think?" + +That single message set off a chain of events that ended with live, auto-updating DDEV sponsor displays on multiple web properties, a public data repository, and a reusable web component—all feeding from a single source of truth. + +## The Challenge + +DDEV's financial sustainability depends entirely on sponsorships (we have no other income). Communicating that need—and showing progress toward goals—requires getting accurate, up-to-date data in front of people where they already spend time. But manually updating sponsor lists across multiple sites is tedious and error-prone. + +What we needed was a data feed that could be consumed anywhere, updated automatically, and displayed consistently. + +## The sponsorship-data Repository + +The first piece was a public repository: [ddev/sponsorship-data](https://github.com/ddev/sponsorship-data). This repository aggregates sponsorship information from GitHub Sponsors and other sources, and is updated automatically on a daily schedule. The data is available as structured JSON that any site or tool can consume. + +The pull request that kicked this off: [ddev/sponsorship-data#5](https://github.com/ddev/sponsorship-data/pull/5). + +## Mark Conroy's Web Component + +[Mark Conroy](https://mark.ie/) stepped up with a reusable web component that reads from the sponsorship-data feed and renders a live sponsor display. The component lives at [web-components.mark.ie](https://web-components.mark.ie/) and is open source at [markconroy/web-components](https://github.com/markconroy/web-components). + +The feature request that started that work: [markconroy/web-components#1](https://github.com/markconroy/web-components/issues/1). + +The component makes it trivial to embed a live sponsor list on any site—no backend required, no manual updates. + +## Integration into DDEV Web Properties + +With the data feed and component in place, we integrated the live sponsor display into ddev.com. The work to add this is tracked in [ddev/ddev.com#339](https://github.com/ddev/ddev.com/issues/339). + +Now, when sponsors join or leave, the displays update automatically. No manual edits to site content, no stale lists. + +## What `ddev start` Shows + +The data feed also powers what users see when they run `ddev start`. The daily update cycle means the sponsor information shown in the CLI is never more than a day old. Users see current sponsors every time they start a project. + +## Why This Matters + +The sponsorship situation for DDEV is real: the project needs ongoing financial support to continue development and remain free for everyone. Getting that message in front of people—accurately and consistently—helps. + +The path from Anoop's January email to live sponsor feeds across multiple properties took a few months of collaboration between community members who cared. That's how open-source sustainability work actually gets done. + +If you use DDEV and find it valuable, consider sponsoring at [github.com/sponsors/ddev](https://github.com/sponsors/ddev). Even $5/month adds up when enough people participate.