Post Syndicated from Bradley M. Kuhn original http://ebb.org/bkuhn/blog/2009/05/12/start-giving.html

I don’t think we talk enough in the FLOSS community about the importance of individual support of FLOSS-related charitable organizations.
On a
recent podcast episode, Karen and I discuss
with Stormy Peters how
important it is for geeks — who may well often give lots of code
to many FLOSS projects — also should consider giving a little bit
of financial funding to FLOSS organizations as well.

Of course, it’s essential that people give their time to the charities
and the causes that they care about. In the FLOSS world, we typically
do that by giving code or documentation to our favorite FLOSS project.
I think that’s led us all into the classic “I gave at the
office” feeling. Indeed, I know that I too have fallen into this
rut at times myself.

I suppose I could easily claim that, more than most people, I’ve given
enough at the office. Working at various non-profit organizations since
the 1990s, I’ve always made substantially less in salary than I would in
the for-profit industry for similar work. I also have always
volunteered my time in addition to my weekly work schedule. For
example, I currently get paid for my 40 hour/week job at the SFLC, but I
also donate about 20 hours of work for
the Software
Freedom Conservancy each week.

Still, I don’t believe that this is enough. There
are many,
many FLOSS non-profits that deserve support — more than I have time to give. Meanwhile, very small
amounts of money, aggregated over many people giving, makes a world of
difference in a number of ways to these organizations.

Non-profits that are funded by a broad base of supporters are much more
stable and have greater longevity than other types of non-profits that
are funded primarily by corporate donations. This is because one donor
or even a few disappearing is not disaster. Also, through these donations, organizations
build a constituency of supporters that truly represent the people
that the non-profit seeks to serve.

Traditionally (with a few notable exceptions), non-profits in the FLOSS
world have relied primarily on corporate donations. I generally think
this is not ideal for a community that wishes to be fully represented by
the non-profits that embody the projects we care about. We want these
projects to represent the interest of developers and users, not
necessarily the for-profit corporate interests. Plus, we want the
organizations to survive even when companies stop supporting FLOSS or
just simply go out of business.

If we all contribute, it doesn’t take that much for each individual to
be a part of making a real difference. I believe that if each person
who has benefited seriously from FLOSS gave $200/year, we’d make a
substantial change and a wonderful positive impact on the non-profit
organizations that shepherd and keep these FLOSS projects alive. I’m
not suggesting giving to any specific organization: just to take
$200/year and divide in the way you think is best across 2-4 different
FLOSS non-profits that sponsor project you personally care about or
benefit from.

Think about it: $200/year breaks down to $16/month. For me (and likely
for most people in a major city), $16/month means one fewer dinner at a
restaurant each month. Can’t we all eat at home one more time per
month, and share that savings to help FLOSS non-profits?

If you are looking for a list of non-profits that could use your
support,
the FLOSS
Foundations Directory is a good place to start. FWIW, in addition
to my volunteer work
with Conservancy,
here’s the list of non-profits that I’m supporting with a total of $200
this year (in
alphabetical order): The Free
Software Foundation, GNOME
Foundation, The Parrot
Foundation,
and The
Twisted Project. Which ones will you give to this year?