Fiscal Host Transition

Following a request from Open Collective Foundation we will not be building the technical capabilities to duplicate your collective. This would have helped collectives to start receiving contributions with a new Fiscal Host while still holding funds with OCF. Having two fiscal Fiscal Hosts is against the terms of Open Collective Foundation’s fiscal sponsorship agreement so we have decided not to release this feature and we will no longer support this process. We encourage you to initiate a transfer following Open Collective Foundation’s published guidance once you have an agreement with your new Fiscal Host.

This is a stressful moment for our all community and our number one priority are the collectives that need to move out of their host. To ensure the transition from Open Collective Foundation is as straight forward and easy as possible, the Open Collective Team has been working to provide tools for collectives during this time of transition, whether they move to a host on the platform or choose to go elsewhere. Below you will find several potential actions that may support your transition.

Please make sure to communicate with OCF at every step of the process. See their documentation for details.

Update Your Contributors

We recommend that you send out an update to your contributors to let them know in your words what is happening. We recommend you do this soon as possible so that your message reaches your contributors before the payment processor and platform messages start arriving on March 15th.

Export Your Data

The records of your collective activities are not tied to Open Collective Foundation (or any other fiscal host). They are safely stored on the platform and will continue to be available to you even after you leave OCF. This includes access to all your past and current contributions, contributors, expenses, and the underlying ledger transactions.

Below, you will find information regarding the logistics of exporting data:

Contributors:

Download your Contributors information via CSV Export in your Dashboard -> Contributors.

or from your Dashboard -> Settings -> Export.

Transaction History: You can export the transaction history for your collective from your dashboard, in the transactions tab. Here’s a quick video you can use as a guide.

Your Recurring Contributions

From the moment we learned about the dissolution of OCF our primary concern and desire was to do whatever we can to ensure the continuity of your recurring contributions. On March 15th all your active recurring contributions will be paused. When that happens the platform will send out an email notification to your contributors telling them that:

• Your collective is in the process of migrating to a new fiscal host and therefore their current contribution payments to your collective have been paused.

In addition your PayPal contributors are also likely to receive a notice saying the subscription has been cancelled (we have no say or control over this).

Restarting Recurring Contributions on Open Collective

We are currently developing a feature so that when you are ready to receive contributions with a new fiscal host on the Open Collective platform we will:

1. Automatically send another email to all your paused contributors inviting them to renew their contributions.
2. From this email we will direct them to a page which will be pre-loaded with the amount and frequency of the contributions they were already making and all they will need to do is confirm their payment method or enter a new one.
3. We will then send a couple of spaced email reminders to encourage contributors who have not responded to renew their contributions.

We believe this will path will help you minimize lost contributions.

Migrating to a new Fiscal Host on Open Collective

We have gathered numerous fiscal hosting options, a number of which are on the Open Collective platform. If you will be continuing to use Open Collective, this section is for you. The exact details of how you migrate to a new host will depend on your budget balance at Open Collective Foundation.

(Please refer to the notice at the top of this retracted blog)

Zero Balance: If you have a zero balance at OCF, or if you are able to "zero" your balance by transferring your full balance to a new charitable host, you can then leave OCF and then apply to your new host, adding any transferred funds back to the balance once you are with the new one. Here is an short video detailing some of the steps.

You need to ensure you have also followed OCF's Leaving Guide.

When you are accepted by your new host (and are able to once again receive contributions) we will send an automated email to your paused recurring contributors and provide them instructions about how to renew their contributions.

(Please refer to the notice at the top of this retracted blog)

Funds Remaining: If you have funds remaining with OCF, will be moving to a new host on the platform, but are not able to transfer your balance or need more time to spend down your balance, we recommend the following to begin raising funds with the new host:

1. Duplicate your collective - we are currently building a tool that will enable you to easily duplicate your collective. Behind the scenes the two collectives, the original and the copy will be linked to each other. We will send an update once this work is complete.  
2. With the new (copy) collective you will be able to apply to your new fiscal host.
3. When your new fiscal hosts accepts your collective and you are ready to receive contributions we are preparing a streamlined experience for contributors to renew their contributions.
4. When you zero your balance at your legacy OCF collective and leave OCF you will be able to merge the two collectives. This will combine your legacy collective with your new one leading you back to having a single collective complete with all its history.

Please refer to the diagram below which showcases your options visually.

Timeline

The projected timeline for these features is as follows:

1. Duplicating Collectives: to be released a couple of days before March 15th. (Please refer to the notice at the top of this retracted blog)
2. Reactivating Recurring Contributions: to be released before the end of the March, just in time to start a new monthly (April) contribution cycle.
3. Merging collectives: to be released by the end of April. (Please refer to the notice at the top of this retracted blog)

If you need help with any of the above, please do not hesitate to reach out to our team and stay tuned for further updates on the above plans. We will do whatever we can to help make this transition just a little bit smoother.

With a lot of love and solidarity,

The Open Collective Team