The thing is, if an artist said he would do a picture for you, and you agreed, would you keep pressing him to finish it? Unless you've paid a deposit, no-one is entitled to release anything at a certain time.
I think the best thing to do is chill, relax and just wait for SoW. It will come at some-point, just let the team work in whatever way they want...
I think it's a nice idea, but the logistics of it could work adversely for the company. If newspapers got hold of the idea, no doubt they'd turn it round to say that the team was scrounging money/hardware off the community...