<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. <b>But we cannot do

them without you</b>. 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. In order to effectively continue to serve our member

projects, we need [750] Supporters. If you use or care about

our <a href="http://sfconservancy.org/members/current/">member projects</a>,

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

all by <a href="http://sfconservancy.org/supporter/">signing up as a

Supporter today</a>.</p>

<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="http://sfconservancy.org/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, it makes fundraising from companies

very difficult. While enforcement of the protections around free and open source

software is in the long term interest of the industry, many companies are

reluctant to fund organizations that take on this enforcement task. 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have withdrawn from funding us and some have even successfully pressured 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="https://sfconservancy.org/supporter/">show us by

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

<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