The Open Source Collective’s widening umbrella

Now accepting even more projects who are building the open source ecosystem worldwide

The Open Source Collective (OSC), a non-profit serving as fiscal host for 1300+ open source projects on Open Collective, wants to support groups around the world who are building the open source ecosystem in diverse ways, beyond just code. So we’re widening the umbrella and clarifying our acceptance criteria.

Up to now, OSC has mainly focused on projects who are directly building open source software, and accepted other open-source-related groups, like meetups, advocacy initiatives, and conferences, only by exception. Now we want to be more inclusive.

US-based open source meetups and related groups can be hosted by the Open Collective Foundation, but there hasn’t been good fiscal hosting solution for international Collectives in regions without other active hosts (like Open Collective Europe). OSC’s scope is worldwide, so we want to open our umbrella wider to include these groups.

Here are the updated sections of the policy:

What types of projects do you accept?

We can accept any open source project, in any language, anywhere in the world. We can also accept open source related meetup groups, conferences, and advocacy, research, and awareness initiatives.

If you are an open source project with at least 100 stars on GitHub and at least two contributors, you will very likely be immediately approved.

What if we’re not on GitHub or not focused on building a codebase?

If you don’t fit 100 GitHub stars requirement, we will consider your application on a case by case basis, considering the following criteria:

• Projects who don’t have their code repo on GitHub should show equivalent traction to the 100 stars requirement, whether through GitLab stars, evidence that the project is a dependency of other open source projects, or similar social validation.
• User groups and should have at least 50 members and be able to demonstrate a genuine history of community activity (forum, events, publications, etc).
• Your project must be directly related to open source (in general, or a specific open source project or area), not proprietary technology or any other topics.
• If there’s a codebase at the heart of your project, it should be under an open source license.
• If you are producing non-code content as a main activity, it should be licensed under Creative Commons or other copyleft framework.
• Meetups or small event groups should have organized at least 2 events previously. You should be able to show where your community coordinates online and a history of activity. As further evidence, you agree to send photo/video documentation of your first event since joining Open Source Collective after it happens.
• Conferences and larger events will be assessed on a case by case basis and may require specific risk assessment by our board. No expenses will be paid in advance of those funds being in the Collective budget (e.g. paying a venue hire fee ahead of the ticket sales that are meant to pay for that).
• You understand that all agreements between your Collective and third parties, such as venue hire, employment contracts, speaker fees, etc, require explicit written permission in advance, since as fiscal sponsor the agreement is legally between the third party and Open Source Collective.

You can see all the details on the Open Source Collective’s host page and in our Terms of Fiscal Sponsorship Agreement.

If your group fits the criteria above and you want to raise and spend money transparently, apply to create a Collective now!