I'm sure you guys have considered crowdfunding, so if I may ask, what's the reason you're not going for that? I think a lot of people would be willing to spare some money to see this get done, especially
if you could put together a nice documentary/marketing video to explain why it's a cool project.
I myself am not exactly sure what I'd like to use Haiku for. I'd probably consider it if I had two different systems, one for development (which I need to use Linux for) and one for everything else (I just need LibreOffice and a usable browser).
Well, I'm not quite sure what the philosophical difference would be between the "donate now" buttons with the green meter showing yearly donations, and a formal "crowdfunding campaign"?
Overall, we are in a kind of "valley" of sorts: Haiku, Inc. gets more than enough money to pay for infrastructure and occasional miscellaneous things like that, but a long way away from enough to hire someone full-time for an indefinite period, and it's difficult to get people to contribute larger sums for a full-time developer that may become possible in half a year, two years, or ten years.
I myself am not exactly sure what I'd like to use Haiku for. I'd probably consider it if I had two different systems, one for development (which I need to use Linux for) and one for everything else (I just need LibreOffice and a usable browser).