Open Collective Update—September 2021

Open Collective -

You can now differentiate your public display name from your private legal name.

Open Collective is a transparent platform, so profiles are public on the internet. We also deal with official stuff requiring real names, like receipts, payments, and tax forms. Up to now, this has sometimes led to issues about privacy and identity.

If you don't want to use your legal name publicly, this new feature can help! Find the options in profile settings, for both individuals and organizations—giving people and companies more choices about how they appear on the platform.

Helping Open-Source Contributors Escape Afghanistan

The Persian proverb یکی برای همه و همه برای یکی means "Every one should sacrifice for the community, and the community should come together for the one". This has been exemplified over the last month, as the open source community came together to support two open-source contributors and their families flee as the Taliban took over.

Read more →

Helping Open-Source Contributors Escape Afghanistan
How the community came together to help families escape a war zone.The Persian proverb یکی برای همه و همه برای یکی means “Every one should sacrifice for the community, and the community should come together for the one”. This has been exemplified over the last month, as the open
Open CollectiveAlanna Irving

Okionu Birth Foundation

Jacquelyn Clemmons wants to normalize complete and holistic postpartum care: "Let's go beyond the baby shower. Let's go beyond ordering off of registries. Let's intentionally check on people in our community."

When Open Collective Met Okionu
Jacquelyn Clemmons of Okionu Birth Foundation wants to to normalize complete and holistic postpartum care through by supporting both parents with nourishing meals following the birth of a child.
Open CollectiveMike Strode

See the interview →

Let us know if you'd like to be interviewed about your Collective for a case study! We'll also donate $100 to your Collective if you write a guest blog post about your project and how you use the platform (contact us for details).

Join a monthly open call

A space to ask questions, get feedback, interact with Open Collective team members, and connect and share with your peers in the community.

News & Inspiration

  • Open Collective Foundation now offers liability insurance to hosted initiatives.
  • Social Change Nest is hosting a pitch event on Sep 29, where Collectives they fiscally host can tell their stories and win funding.
  • The next fascinating art.coop Study-into-Action session is "Law & Land Craft: legal structures for permanently affordable community space" on Sep 17.
  • Contributor Covenant is a code of conduct for open source projects, which they can adopt as best practice without needing to develop their own from scratch.
  • Collective Pot is an online course coming up Sep 18 about the art of practicing the commons-based economy of resilience, with introductions to four useful tools.
  • Check out this TechUp talk about applying the principles of open source software to building strong communities.
  • A Vice article about the importance of transparency asks "Austin Mutual Aid Raised Millions During the Texas Freeze. Where Is It Now?" We can transparently trace $104,000 because it was donated to Stop the Sweeps on Open Collective.

Posts that make us proud

Monthly Leaderboard

Top Contributors
The Colorado Trust $250,000
Austin Mutual Aid $104,000
Chicagoland Food Sovereignty Coalition $50,000
Greater Waco Legal Services $50,000
Meyer Foundation $50,000
Chicago Food System Fund $25,000

Top Collectives
By contributions this month (USD):
The Week $309,076
Justice Reskill $250,000
Stop the Sweeps ATX $104,000

By contributors this month:
Lewisham Donation Hub 302
Southern Solidarity 251
Manjaro 181

Top New Collectives
By contributions (USD):
The Week $309,076
Help Escaping Afghanistan $24,781
SecDSM $13,870

By contributors:
Help Escaping Afghanistan 172
Houseless Neighbors 32
Bloed- en bodemonderzoek 25