Part of Conservancy's activity is through its member projects. These + projects become formally part of Conservancy and have a close relationship + with our activity. Most of our projects are purely software projects, but + we also occasionally accept initiatives designed to advance software + freedom, such as Outreachy.
+ +The situation for non-profit homes for FOSS activities has improved + greatly since Conservancy was founded in 2006. In the USA, options now + exist for 501(c)(3), 501(c)(6) and even for-profit fiscal sponsorship, and + there are other options around the globe as well. Prospective member + projects should carefully consider what type of structure is right for + them.
+ +For our part, Conservancy seeks projects that dedicate themselves to the + advancement of software freedom and focus their projects on the rights of + users to copy, share, modify and improve their software. Being a FOSS + project under an OSI-approved and DFSG-free license is mandatory, but not + the only criteria. Given the many options available for fiscal + sponsorship, we are selective and often refer projects to other fiscal + sponsors that are a better fit. Nevertheless, we encourage projects to + that need a non-profit home to apply to many fiscal sponsors. + +
Conservancy's Evaluation Committee considers applications on a rolling + basis. Conservancy generally has dozens of projects in various stages of + the application process. We do not move rapidly to accept new projects, as + we have found that consideration of joining or forming a non-profit + organization for your project is best done with careful consideration over + a period of many months rather than rapidly.
+ +Conservancy's application process is somewhat informal. New applicants + should write an initial inquiry email + to <apply@sfconservancy.org> + with a very brief description of their project and a URL to their project's + website. We'll send back initial questions, and after those questions are + answered, we'll send the full application materials. Applications should + be submitted in plain ASCII text via email. Your application will be + assigned a ticket number in our ticketing system, and please be sure to + include the proper ticket number details in the Subject line of your + emails to ensure they are routed to the right place.
+ +Projects are reviewed by Conservancy's Evaluation Committee, which is + chartered by Conservancy's Board of + Directors.
+ +The following are various questions that we typically get from project + leaders that wish to apply to Conservancy.
+ + +Conservancy receives an overwhelming level of interest and we have very few + staff positions to + meet the interest and demand + for Conservancy's + services to its member projects. Meanwhile, Conservancy always + prioritizes needs of + its existing member + projects 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. Also, generally speaking, we encourage + care and consideration when joining a non-profit and we do not believe + a rapid membership process is in the interest of projects.
+ +In order to join, projects need to meet certain criteria. A rough + outline of those criteria are as follows:
+ +While any project meeting the criteria above can apply, meeting these + criteria doesn't guarantee acceptance of your project. Conservancy + favors projects that are well-established and have some track record of + substantial contributions from a community of volunteer developers. + Furthermore, 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.
+ +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.
+ +We maintain a detailed list of services + that Conservancy provides to member projects. If you have + detailed questions about any of the benefits, please + ask <apply@sfconservancy.org> + in your application ticket. We find however that projects will find + Conservancy a better fit if you don't view Conservancy as a service + provider; we are not a service provider in the sense of your hosting + provider or other vendor. Conservancy projects become a part of + Conservancy, and as such membership with Conservancy is an equal + partnership between you and your project and should be treated as such. + If that's not the kind of relationship you want from your fiscal + sponsor, then other options are likely a better fit for your project.
+ +It's true that we would love to fund our member projects if it were + possible, because we believe they deserve to be funded. However, that's + not typically what a fiscal sponsor does. The term “fiscal + sponsor“ is often used in non-profit settings and has a standard + meaning there. But, to those not familiar with non-profit operations, + it comes across as a bit of a misnomer.
+ +In this context, a fiscal sponsor is a non-profit organization that, + rather than fund a project directly, provides the required + infrastructure and facilitates the project's ability to raise its own + funds. Conservancy therefore assists your project in raising funds, and + allows your project to hold those funds and spend them on activities + that simultaneously advance Conservancy's non-profit mission + and the FLOSS development and documentation goals of the project.
+ +Once you're offered membership, Conservancy will send you a draft + fiscal sponsorship agreement (FSA). A template + of Conservancy's FSA + is available in PDF (and + in ODT). + Please note that the preceding documents are only + templates. Please do not try to fill one out and send it to + Conservancy. The final FSA between Conservancy and your project needs + to be negotiated between us, and as can been seen in the template, the + Representation section needs substantial work. If your project is + offered membership, Conservancy will work with you adapt the FSA + template to suit the needs and specific circumstances of your project. + This is painstaking work, and it's better to complete that work after + both Conservancy and the project are quite sure that they both want the + project to join Conservancy.
+ + +Substantively, member projects continue to operate in the same way as +they did before joining Conservancy. So long as the project remains +devoted to software freedom and operates consistently with the +Conservancy's tax-exempt status, Conservancy does not intervene in the +project's development other than to provide administrative assistance. +For example, Conservancy keeps and maintains books and records for the +project and assists with the logistics of receiving donations, but does +not involve itself with technical or artistic decision making. Projects +are asked, however, to keep Conservancy up to date on their +activities.
+ +Additionally, when Conservancy discovers or becomes aware of any legal, + licensing or PR issues regarding your project, Conservancy will contact the + project and ask you to work collectively with Conservancy.
+ +Conservancy holds assets on behalf of its member projects and +manages and disburses those assets in accordance with the wishes of the +project's leadership, as long as those wishes are consistent with non-profit +rules, requirements, and Conservancy's mission. Funds received by Conservancy on behalf of a +project are kept track of separately for each specific project and the +management of those funds is directed by the project. For example, if a +donor wanted to contribute $100 to Project Foo, they would formally make +the donation to Conservancy and identify Project Foo as the desired +project to support. Conservancy would then deposit the check and +earmark the funds for use by Project Foo. Project Foo would then tell the +Conservancy how that money should be spent. As long as that expense is a +legitimate non-profit expense fitting with Conservancy's non-profit + mission, Conservancy pays the expense on the Project's behalf.
+ +Similarly, any copyrights, trademarks, domain name or other assets +transferred to a project are typically held by Conservancy on behalf of +the project. A significant service that Conservancy provides its +members is a vehicle through which copyright ownership in the project can +be unified. There are several advantages to having a consolidated +copyright structure, including that it makes enforcement activity easier +and more effective. However, copyright, trademark, and domain name +assignment is not a requirement in order to join Conservancy, rather, +it is an option for those projects that ask for it.
+ +All agreements between member projects and Conservancy stipulate +clearly that the member project can leave Conservancy with a few +months' notice. Federal tax exemption law, though, states that projects +must transfer their assets from Conservancy in a way that is +consistent with Conservancy's not-for-profit tax status — +meaning the assets cannot be transferred to an individual or a for-profit +entity. Generally, a project would either find another fiscal sponsor or +form their own independent tax-exempt 501(c)(3) non-profit.
+ +We fully expect that some Conservancy projects will ultimately wish to + form their own non-profit 501(c)(3) organizations; that's why we design + our agreements with projects to allow them to leave to another 501(c)(3) + organization. Typically, projects join Conservancy because the project + leaders don't want the burdens of running a non-profit themselves. + Often, as projects grow, leaders get interested in the non-profit + management and organizational side of the activities and are then + prepared to take on the additional work themselves.
+ +How leaders are chosen for projects varies greatly from project to + project. Our goal is to do our best to embody the “natural” + leadership structure that evolved in your project into the formal + agreement with Conservancy. As part of the agreement drafting, we work + carefully with you to understand your project's governance and write up + formally with you the decision-making process you use. Most project + contributors find this process of formalizing the leadership structure + helps them clarify in their own minds the governance of their project, + even though the process can be difficult. Since it can be a complicated + process, we suggest that you prepare your project community for this + discussion once your project is accepted.
+ +New Conservancy members are required to pay 10% of their revenue that + Conservancy processes to Conservancy's general fund, which primarily is + used to pay staff. (Details on how Conservancy spends its funds, + including salaries of key employees, can be found + in Conservancy's + annual filings.)
+ +Historically, Conservancy allowed projects to give less or nothing at + all to the general fund, but we unfortunately discovered that without + this requirement, Conservancy was not able to offer the myriad of + services to all its projects, particularly to larger projects that + have more income and therefore need more attention from staff. Even now, + the 10% we receive from our project does not fully fund our fiscal + sponsorship activities; we raise additional funds + through support program to subsidize our fiscal + sponsorship work.
+ +We do understand that, particularly for small projects that only receive a + few small donations, that donating a percentage of your income back to + Conservancy can be a high burden. We encourage such small projects to + consider Software in the Public + Interest, which offers fewer services than Conservancy, but only + requires 5% of gross revenue. To our knowledge, SPI is the only fiscal + sponsor operating in FOSS that requires less than 10%; most FOSS fiscal + sponsors require at least 10%, or they operate on a fee-for-service model + whereby projects pay the actual costs of any service they receive (and such + charges are usually much higher than 10%). We urge you to very explicitly + ask about these issues with any fiscal sponsor you consider.
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