Contributions FAQ

Questions about contributing to our hosted collectives

How do I cancel recurring donations/subscriptions/payments?

See our instructions on how to cancel recurring or ongoing donations, subscriptions, payments, etc., here.

What if a contributor wants their contribution to be anonymous?

Contributors can make an anonymous payment by choosing incognito when picking a profile to pay from. If the contributor contributes as a guest, then the given name will still show up, the contributor then just won’t have to log in to make the payment. All Open Collective users can also differentiate a public display name from their private legal name.

What if a financial contributor is unable or not comfortable with submitting their credit card information online?

If a donor is not comfortable with online credit card transactions, they can send the funds via PayPal or bank transfer.

Someone said they sent my collective money but I don’t see it in my account! Help?

~or~

I sent in money but I don't see my donation on the collective's page?!

Ping us! We often receive money in our bank account without any indication of where it should go. (This is why it's so important to include the order# in the bank transfer).

At the end of the month, unidentified funds are moved to a holding fund. We keep the money there until we can identify who it is intended for and then we transfer it.

Just send us a message (via Slack or email) with screenshots/receipts that include the dollar amount, the collective name, and the sender/any info about the bank transfer, so that we can send the funds to their happy home.

What if a financial contributor requests an invoice before making the donation?

Reach out to us at [e-mail]. We are happy to procure an invoice of this kind when requested. Please provide: Donor name, Email, Collective Name, & Donation amount (+ screenshots/links if applicable) for context.

Can we accept tax-deductible or charitable funds from things like Benevity?

No, Open Source Collective is a 501c6 nonprofit (for member benefit). Benevity earmarks its funds for 501c3 nonprofits that use their funds for public benefit.

Can we use outside fundraising platforms to fundraise for our collective?

We recommend using Open Collective as much as possible so that you can manage your budget in one place, but you may use other platforms to raise funds for your community. At this time, we can not accept payments from third-party platforms like Patreon, GoFundMe, Kofi, etc. directly. You would need to move this money into OSC manually. Reach out to us at [e-mail] with any questions on how to do this.

If you’re interested in taking advantage of our partnership with GitHub Sponsors, please see our guide to connecting Sponsors with your collective.

Can we receive earned income (i.e., non-donations) or sell stuff through OSC?

Yup! You'll want to move funds into your budget in some way, however. Feel free to reach out to us to discuss the proper logistics for your situation.

Can we offer financial contributors something in return for their donation?

Yup! This can be done through the Tiers feature. You'll want to think in advance about the proper way to gather any information you need in order to fulfill your promises.

Can my group offer memberships/accept membership fees?

Check out Open Collective’s Tiers feature!

Can my collective donate to another hosted collective?

Collectives can easily give to other collectives hosted by Open Source Collective. (If you want to give to a collective with another fiscal host there are some extra steps.)