Is OSC Right For My Project?
How to determine if Open Source Collective is the right fit for your project.
Last updated
How to determine if Open Source Collective is the right fit for your project.
Last updated
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.
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.
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.
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: