📖 Link collection finances and (sustainable) funding

To read, listen & watch

Funding

• Two summaries with case studies and experiences on open source funding:

  • https://opensource.guide/getting-paid/

  • https://github.com/nayafia/lemonade-stand#grants

• On finding sponsors:

  • A guide to creating a sponsorship prospectus in order to attract and retain sponsors: https://github.com/google/opendocs/blob/main/sponsorship/sponsor-prospectus.md

  • How to attract corporate sponsors for funding OSS: https://docs.oscollective.org/guides/recruiting-financial-sponsors

• On donations/donor acceptance policies:

  • Example of a donation acceptance policy: https://numfocus.org/donation-acceptance-policy

  • Tips for gift acceptance policies: https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/running-nonprofit/fundraising-and-resource-development/gift-acceptance-policies

• Tips on applying for grants to fund OSS by Sumana Harihareswara: https://www.changeset.nyc/resources/quick-intro-to-grants.html

• Growing Open Source Projects with a Stable Foundation by Martin Milchmayr: https://cyrius.com/foss-foundations/growing-open-source-projects.pdf 

  • Specifically the section “Umbrella organizations” explains what you get from a fiscal sponsor like OpenCollective
    

• A curated list of funding programs supporting the awesome work of Open Source maintainers:
  • Codeberg: https://codeberg.org/mechko/awesome-maintainer-funding
  • Github: https://github.com/mechko/awesome-maintainer-funding

Business models

• Linux Foundation, From Project to Profit: Business Models for Startups Developing Open Source Software: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTVmwW3uTkg

• Info World, Forming a software foundation? Think again: https://www.infoworld.com/article/2273463/forming-a-software-foundation-think-again.html

• Some resources around monetizing OSS:

  • How do you monetize open source: https://dev.to/orliesaurus/how-do-you-monetize-open-source-4g4c 

  • How to monetize your open source project (and pay your developers): https://www.scaleway.com/en/blog/how-to-monetize-your-open-source-project/#open-source-monetization-models

Sustainability

• Sustain has various podcasts on sustainability in open source software, i. a. open source design, documentation or climate: https://sustainoss.org/podcasts/

Methods & tools

• Various business model canvases:

  • Circulab offers the Circular Canvas, a business model canvas: https://circulab.academy/circular-economy-tools/circular-canvas-business-models/

  • There is also a business model canvas by CASE: https://www.case-ka.eu/wp/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/SustainableBusinessModelCanvas_highresolution.jpg

  • The business model canvas by Strategyzer: https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/64830736e7f43d491d70ef30/65d36b6f31059e94e2ff517c_A3-Business%20Model%20Canvas-2023.pdf 

  • Using Business Model Canvas to Launch a Technology Startup or Improve Established Operating Model: https://www.altexsoft.com/blog/using-business-model-canvas-to-launch-a-technology-startup-or-improve-established-operating-model/

Financing options

The Civic Tech Field Guide provides an overview of different ways to fund projects and lists them by category: https://civictech.guide/funding/

List of funding opportunities

• Open Funding List: https://github.com/ralphtheninja/open-funding

• The list of the Stiftung Erneuerbare Freiheit: https://erneuerbare-freiheit.de/foerderung/foerderquellen/

• The list of NLNet: https://nlnet.nl/foundation/network.html

• The list of the Open Tech Fund: https://docs.opentech.fund/otf-application-guidebook/appendix-iv-alternative-sources-of-support

• The DSEE funding list: https://www.deutsche-stiftung-engagement-und-ehrenamt.de/foerderung/aktuelle-programme/

• The German federal funding database: https://www.foerderdatenbank.de/FDB/DE/Home/home.html 

Fiscal hosts

Fiscal hosts can support you administratively and in the search for funding

• The Center for the Cultivation of Technology: https://techcultivation.org/

• On the border between fiscal host & crowdfunding platform:

  • Open Collective: https://opencollective.com/

  • Open Collective Europe: https://opencollective.com/europe

Crowdfunding & similar models

• Crowdfunding list for FOSS projects: https://www.oss.fund/categories/crowdfunding/ 

• Crowdfunding platforms:
  • Liberapay is a non-profit and very transparent: https://liberapay.com/ 
  • Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/ 
  • Givebutter is a platform specifically for non-profits: https://givebutter.com/ 
  • Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/ 
  • Github Sponsors: https://github.com/sponsors 
  • Every.org: https://www.every.org/ 

• Crowdfunding for hardware at Crowdsupply: https://www.crowdsupply.com/

Finding business partners

• Civic Match is a platform to find co-founders and collaborators: https://www.civicmatch.app/