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<h1> Applying to Join Conservancy as a Member Project</h1>

<p>Conservancy's Evaluation Committee considers  applications monthly on a

<p>The application process is somewhat informal.  New applicants should

  write an initial inquiry email

  to <a href="mailto:apply@sfconservancy.org">&lt;apply@sfconservancy.org&gt;</a>

  with a very brief description of their project and a URL to their

  project's website.  We'll send back initial questions (if any), and

  after those questions are answered, we'll send the full application

  materials.  Applications should be submitted in plain ASCII text via

  email.</p>

<p>Projects are reviewed by Conservancy's Evaluation Committee, which is

  chartered by Conservancy's <a href="/about/board/">Board of

  Directors</a>.</p>

<h1>Project Membership Application FAQs</h1>

<p>The following are various questions that we typically get from project

  leaders that wish to apply to Conservancy.</p>

<h2>I sent in my inquiry letter and/or application a long time ago.  Why haven't you replied?</h2>

<p>Conservancy receives an overwhelming level of interest and we have very few

  <a href="http://sfconservancy.org/about/staff/">staff positions</a> to

  meet the interest and demand

  for <a href="http://sfconservancy.org/members/services/">Conservancy's

  services</a> to its member projects.  Meanwhile, Conservancy always

  prioritizes needs of

  its <a href="http://sfconservancy.org/members/current/">existing member

  projects</a> over new inquiries and applications.  Therefore, it

  sometimes can take quite a while to finish the application process and

  be offered membership, but please note that such delays mean that should

  your project ultimately become a member project, your project will then

  be a beneficiary of this policy.</p>

<h2>What are the key criteria our project must meet to join?</h2>

<p>In order to join, projects need to meet certain criteria.  A rough

  outline of those criteria are as follows:</p>

<p>

<ul><li>The project must be a software development or documentation

    project.  Non-software projects to advance the cause of software

    freedom, while important and useful, are beyond the scope of

    Conservancy.</li>

    <li>The project must be exclusively devoted to the development and

    documentation of FLOSS.  The project's goals must be consistent with

    the Conservancy's tax-exempt purposes, and other requirements imposed

    on Conservancy by the IRS' 501(c)(3) rules.  Namely, the goal of the

    project must to develop and document the software in a not-for-profit

    way to advance the public good, and must develop the software in

    public.</li>

    <li>The project must be licensed in a way fitting with software

      freedom principles.  Specifically, all software of the project

      should be licensed under a license that is listed both as

      a <a href="http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.html">Free

      Software license by the Free Software Foundation</a> and as

      an <a href="http://www.opensource.org/licenses/alphabetical">Open

      Source license by the Open Source Initiative</a>.  All software

      documentation for the project should be licensed under a license on

      the preceding lists, or under Creative

      Commons' <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/">CC-By-SA</a>

      or <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/">CC-By</a>

      or

        <a href="http://creativecommons.org/choose/zero/">CC-0</a>.</li>

   <li>The project should have an existing, vibrant, diverse community

      that develops and documents the software.  For example, projects

      that have been under development for less than a year or only a

      “proof of concept” implementation are generally not

      eligible.</li>

</ul>

</p>

<p>While any project meeting the criteria above can apply, meeting these

  criteria don't guarantee acceptance of your project.  The Conservancy

  favors projects that are well-established and have some track record of

  substantial contributions from a community of volunteer developers.

  Furthermore, the Conservancy does give higher priority to projects that

  have an established userbase and interest, but also tries to accept some

  smaller projects with strong potential.</p>

<h2>Is our project required to accept membership if offered?</h2>

<p>Not at all.  Many projects apply and subsequently decide not to join a

  non-profit, or decide to join a different non-profit entity.  Don't

  worry about “wasting our time” if your project's developers

  aren't completely sure yet if they want to join Conservancy.  If

  membership in Conservancy is currently a legitimate consideration for

  your project, we encourage you to apply.  We'd rather that you apply and

  turn down an offer for membership than fail to apply and have to wait

  until the next application round when you're sure.</p>

<h2>What benefits does our project get from joining?</h2>