like <a href="https://copyleft.org/">copyleft.org</a>. We participated in

interviews and <a href="/blog/">blogposts</a>, and

Bradley and Karen published episodes of <a href="http://faif.us/">Free as in

Freedom</a>, dedicated to discussing the important issues in software

freedom.</li>

</ul>

<p>And we did <strong>all of this</strong> with <strong>only three full time employees</strong>.</p>

<p>We are focused on the most important ethical issues in software

freedom. We work tirelessly and don't shy away from difficult issues.</p>

<p>We're a unique organization &mdash; a staunch defender of copyleft (for Linux,

Debian and many of our member projects), a source of education and champions

of diversity for the community via Outreachy and other programs, and are the

legal home to over 30 member projects that are essential to developing free

software.</p>

<p>We undertake these critical programs because they are essential to the

future of technology. We do them because they are right. <strong>But we cannot do

them without you</strong>. If we do not meet our fundraising goals, we will be

forced to radically restructure.</p>

<p>Our fiscal sponsorship model is not financially self-sustaining by itself:

we cannot afford even one staff member and basic overhead with the revenue we

take in from our projects.  With 750 supporters, we can now sustain the basic

work and we will survive.  But to thrive, and handle the really complex tasks like

copyright and licensing advice, and license enforcement, we need even more

resources.  That's why our final target is 2,500 Supporters.  If you use

or care about our <a href="/members/current/">member projects</a>, which

include some of the most widely used free software, you can help them all

by <a href="#donate-box" class="donate-now">signing up as a Supporter

today</a>.</p>

<h4>Fighting for the GPL</h4>

<a href="/img/gpl-heart.png"><img class="appeal-right"  src="/img/gpl-heart.png"/></a>

<p>Many consider our GPL compliance and enforcement controversial.   We don't

think it is:  we stand up for

the GPL at the request of the Linux kernel community, the Debian community, 

and our member projects. Most recently, that has resulted in our funding

of the <a href="/news/2015/mar/05/vmware-lawsuit/">suit

against VMware</a>, which is the first lawsuit on derivative works and the

GPL. While this work is extremely important to the continued long-term

success of software freedom and copyleft not to mention in the long term 

interest of the industry as a whole, it makes fundraising from companies

very difficult.  Some companies 

have withdrawn from funding us and some have even successfully pressured 

conferences to cancel or prevent talks on our enforcement work. We do

this work because we think that it is good for everyone in the long run,

because we know it is the right thing to do, and because we know that we are

in the best position to do it. But that's not enough — you have to think it's

right too and <a href="#donate-box" class="donate-now">show us by

becoming a Supporter now</a>.</p>

<img alt="*** The Conservancy T-Shirt that Supporters Receive ***" class="appeal-left" src="/img/conservancy-t-shirt.jpg"/>

<h4>It's up to you</h4>

<p>We have raised enough money to continue the VMware case, but our overall

enforcement work needs additional support to be able to continue.  As we

state in

the <a href="/copyleft-compliance/principles.html">Principles

of Community-Oriented GPL Enforcement</a>, we cannot prioritize profit in

these actions without compromising on the end goals of that work which is to

help companies become free and open source software users and contributors.

<p>Moreover, we have lost committed general funding from companies explicitly

because of our enforcement work. Continuing this work without individual

support is no longer possible.</p>

<p>As a result, we need 2,500 Supporters in order to maintain the staff and

resources in the organization to properly undertake enforcement. We hope you

will <a href="#donate-box" class="donate-now">sign up as a Supporter</a>

to help us achieve this. If we don't reach our goal, we will have no choice

but to hibernate enforcement until we have the resources to pick it up

properly at some point in the future.</p>

<p>If you care about the

GPL, <a href="#donate-box" class="donate-now">help us meet our goal</a>

so we can stand up for the GPL together.</p>

<img class="appeal-footer" alt="*" src="/img/conservancy-supporter-heart.png"/>

<p>Please <a href="#donate-box" class="donate-now">join our Supporter program</a> and spread software freedom!</p>

<br clear="left"/>

<div class="supporter-type-selector">

<hr/>

  <strong>Become a Supporter Now:</strong>   <a id="annualSelector" href="#annual">Annual</a> | <a id="monthlySelector" href="#monthly">Monthly</a> | <a id="renewalSelector" href="#renewal">Annual Renew</a></div>

<div id="annual" class="supporter-type-selection">

<h3>Join as an Annual Supporter</h3>

<a id="annual"></a>

<form id="annual" class="supporter-form" action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post" name="supporter">

<div class="supporter-form-inputs">

            <input type="hidden" name="return" value="https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/thank-you.html" />

            <input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_xclick" />

            <input type="hidden" name="business" value="supporter@sfconservancy.org" />

            <input type="hidden" name="item_name" value="Conservancy Supporter, Annual" />

            <input id="no_shipping" type="hidden" name="no_shipping" value="0" />

  <label for="amount"><strong>Amount:</strong> $</label>

  <input id="amount" type="text" name="amount" size="7" minimum="120" value="120" />

  <span id="error" class="form-error-show">$120 is a minimum for Conservancy

  Supporters.  <a href="/donate">Donate smaller amounts here</a>.</span><br/>

                      <label for="wantGift"><strong>Do you want to receive a t-shirt? </strong></label>

                      <input type="radio" name="on0" value="wantGiftYes" />Yes

                      <input type="radio" checked="checked" name="on0" value="wantGiftNo" />No

                      <br />

                      <span class="t-shirt-size-selector">

                      <label for="tShirtSize"><strong>T-shirt size: </strong></label>

                      <select name="os0" id="os0">

                        <option name="os0" id="os0" value="MenS">Men's S</option>

                        <option name="os0" id="os0" value="MenM">Men's M</option>

                        <option name="os0" id="os0" value="MenL">Men's L</option>

                        <option name="os0" id="os0" value="MenXL">Men's XL</option>

                        <option name="os0" id="os0" value="Men2XL">Men's 2XL</option>

                        <option name="os0" id="os0" value="LadiesS">Ladies' S</option>

                        <option name="os0" id="os0" value="LadiesM">Ladies' M</option>

                        <option name="os0" id="os0" value="LadiesL">Ladies' L</option>

                         <option name="os0" id="os0" value="LadiesXL">Ladies' XL</option>

                      </select><br/></span>

                      <label for="publicAck"><strong>

                          Should we <a href="/sponsors#supporters">list you publicly</a> as a Conservancy Supporter? </strong></label>

                      <input type="radio" checked="checked" name="on1" value="publicAckYes" />Yes

                      <input type="radio" name="on1" value="publicAckNo" />No<br/>

                      <label for="joinList"><strong>Join Conservancy's

                      Low-Traffic Announcement Email List? </strong></label>

                      <input type="radio" checked="checked" name="os1" value="joinListYes" />Yes

                      <input type="radio" name="os1" value="joinListNo" />No<br/>

                      <br />

                      <br /></div>

                      <div id="annual" class="supporter-form-submit">

                      <input type="image"

                             src="/img/supporter-payment-button-annual.png"

                             height="81" width="188"

                             border="0" name="submit" alt="Become an Annual Supporter Now!">

                      <img alt="" border="0" src="https://www.paypalobjects.com/en_US/i/scr/pixel.gif" width="1" height="1">

<br/><br/><small>Button above redirects to PayPal's site for credit

        card, bank account or PayPal balance payment methods.  Select options first.</small>

                      </div>

</form>

</div>

<div id="monthly" class="supporter-type-selection">

<h3>Join as an Monthly Supporter</h3>

<a id="monthly"></a>

<p>Monthly supporters might not receive tangible Supporter benefits (such as

  the t-shirt) until they've reached at least $60 in monthly supporter

  donations.  However, they will be included immediately

  in <a href="/sponsors/#supporters">in the Supporters' list</a>.</p>

<form id="monthly" class="supporter-form" action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post" target="_top">

<div class="supporter-form-inputs">

            <input type="hidden" name="business" value="supporter@sfconservancy.org" />

            <input type="hidden" name="item_name" value="Conservancy Supporter, Monthly" />

            <input type="hidden" name="return" value="https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/thank-you.html" />

            <input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_xclick-subscriptions">

            <input id="no_shipping" type="hidden" name="no_shipping" value="0" />

            <input type="hidden" name="lc" value="US">

            <input type="hidden" name="no_note" value="1">

            <input type="hidden" name="t3" value="M" />

            <input type="hidden" name="p3" value="1" />

            <input type="hidden" name="src" value="1" />

            <input type="hidden" name="srt" value="0" />

            <input type="hidden" name="item_name" value="Conservancy Supporter, Monthly" />

  <label for="amount"><strong>Monthly Amount:</strong> $</label>

  <input id="amount" type="text" name="a3" size="5" minimum="10" value="10" />

  <span id="error" class="form-error-show">$10/month is a minimum for Conservancy

  Supporters.  <a href="/donate">Donate smaller amounts here</a>.</span><br/>

                      <label for="wantGift"><strong>Do you want to receive a t-shirt? </strong></label>

                      <input type="radio" name="on0" value="wantGiftYes" />Yes

                      <input type="radio" checked="checked" name="on0" value="wantGiftNo" />No

                      <br />

                      <span class="t-shirt-size-selector">

                      <label for="tShirtSize"><strong>T-shirt size: </strong></label>

                      <select name="os0" id="os0">

                        <option name="os0" id="os0" value="MenS">Men's S</option>

                        <option name="os0" id="os0" value="MenM">Men's M</option>

                        <option name="os0" id="os0" value="MenL">Men's L</option>

                        <option name="os0" id="os0" value="MenXL">Men's XL</option>

                        <option name="os0" id="os0" value="Men2XL">Men's 2XL</option>

                        <option name="os0" id="os0" value="LadiesS">Ladies' S</option>

                        <option name="os0" id="os0" value="LadiesM">Ladies' M</option>

                        <option name="os0" id="os0" value="LadiesL">Ladies' L</option>

                         <option name="os0" id="os0" value="LadiesXL">Ladies' XL</option>

                      </select><br/></span>

                      <label for="publicAck"><strong>

                          Should we  <a href="/sponsors#supporters">list you publicly</a> as a Conservancy Supporter? </strong></label>

                      <input type="radio" checked="checked" name="on1" value="publicAckYes" />Yes