Is OSC Right For My Project?

How to determine if Open Source Collective is the right fit for your project.

If running the financial or legal side of your open source project is taking up too much time, fiscal hosting can help. Open Source Collective (OSC) helps take care of financial and legal administrative work so you can focus on your project.

Fiscal hosting isn't right for every project, though. If you don't need help managing money or legal agreements yet, OSC' structure might introduce more process than you need at this stage.

Continue reading below to see when OSC might be a good fit for your project, when we might not, and what other fundraising tools you can use if fiscal hosting with us isn't the right fit just yet.

When We Might Be a Good Fit

OSC Might Be a Good Fit If You:
Why:

Don't want to manage finances

OSC handles accounting, taxes, and compliance

Receive corporate or institutional funding

OSC facilitates payments from organizations

Prefer not to hold project funds

Funds are securely held by OSC, so you're not personally liable — except for taxes on payments made to you

Need to pay multiple contributors

Easily distribute payments to your team

Want financial transparency

We use the Open Collective platform, which provides a transparent ledger

Make regular payments to people or companies

Simplifies financial workflows for ongoing expenses

Want to offer employment and benefits

OSC supports employment contracts, payroll, and benefits

Need help with contracts that will involve funds that OSC hold

OSC can review and sign agreements for you, as long as they are contracts that we have the ability to oversee

Have international contributors who receive payments

OSC can distribute funds globally

Will be receiving general contributions to support your project's open source work, rather than business transactions that do not benefit the open source aspect of your project

OSC is designed to support open source sustainability by handling funds that benefit open source. We are not structured to process business income intended for individual benefit or specific client transactions.

If this sounds like you, review our Ready to Apply? page and then apply here.


When We Might Not Be a Good Fit

OSC May Not Be a Good Fit If You:
Why:

Are the only person handling finances and don't need transparency

OSC is designed for collaborative projects that benefit from financial transparency

You only need to pay one person (including yourself)

Fiscal hosting is better suited for projects with multiple contributors that require payment

Expect to receive less than $600 USD in donations annually

Smaller projects may find other platforms more suitable

Don't use an open source license

We only host projects with active licenses

Don't want to share or open up ownership of your project

OSC does not host projects that are tied to an individual's personal repository. To be eligible, projects must be organized under organizational repositories, to ensure shared ownership

Want to hold funds in a currency other than USD

As a U.S. nonprofit, we only hold funds in USD. The Open Collective platform will convert payments automatically from other currencies into USD.

Need payments sent to a country under sanctions

As a U.S., organization, we cannot process payments to sanctioned countries

Are looking to accept funds for services or business transactions that directly benefit an individual or customer, rather than general contributions to support open source work.

OSC is structured to facilitate funding for supporting open source, not to function as a payment processor for business income when it benefits an individual rather than the broader project or open source ecosystem.


Alternative Fundraising Platforms

Every project has unique needs, and if fiscal hosting feels unnecessary, you may want to explore fundraising platforms better suited for individuals to collect contributions directly, such as:

Last updated