Editing Funding sources

Seeking large and long term funding sources will be something OSArch will look into as the organization grows. This page is to grow a list of potential places to seek funding.

=Revenue models=
One source of funding is find ways to commercialize individual products or bundles of products.

==Corporate sponsors==
For-profit organizations can pay developers directly to work on functions the organization needs, while strengthening the core product.

* Speckle creators have been hired by ARUP.
* KiCAD is partly sponsored by KiCAD Corporation https://www.kipro-pcb.com/
* WINE is partly supported by Codeweaver who sell support and commercial products built on wine, like crossover.

==Charity or Foundation==
For OSArch itself to accept funds it would need to have some kind of legal organization.

As long as OSArch simply encourages projects we support, we can direct fund to them. But a lot of projects have no way to accept funds. Important considerations include the legal and tax status of any charity we set up. For example not long time ago many Iranians FOSS friend got kicked from Github because of US embargo (github is owned by US firm Microsoft). Similar for patent trolls does having a fiscal host in US imply an exposure to theses parasites? 

'''Examples of revenue generation from charity'''

* VLC which the world wide famous video reader which have his revenue based on donations and services. They have created an organization called videolan
* Framasoft help peertube to raise money. They did multiple funding campaign based on donation. What is interesting with Framasoft is that it was created by teachers which wanted to promote the use of FOSS. What they showed is that non coders has really important to relief coders from communication and funding campaign.

==SAAS==
This is a 'software as a service' model in which there the hosting of a software solution is on a subscription basis.

'''Examples'''
* https://wisdomplexus.com/blogs/open-source-saas-solutions/ 
* https://databricks.com/

==Open Core==
This is a way of splitting functionality into two categories where parts of the solution are available on different terms. For example parts of the software could be released on a 'non-commercial use only' with a payment option for commercial use. MySQL / MariaDB have a license they call Business Source License (BSL)[https://mariadb.com/bsl-faq-adopting/] (not a free software license).

'''Examples'''
* https://www.confluent.io/confluent-community-license-faq/

'''External resources'''
* [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=krcKkiKBKms Doing business with Open Source, Michael Widenius, TEDxVasa] with MySQL founder Monty Widenius
* [https://vimeo.com/56639635 MySQL and MariaDB story] with MySQL & MariaDB founder Monty Widenius
* [https://techcrunch.com/2016/08/19/mysql-founder-tries-a-new-software-licensing-model/ MySQL founder tries a new software licensing model]

==Support==
This is where the software name is protected and when buying software with that name support is included.

* VLC which the world wide famous video reader which have his revenue based on donations and services. They have created an organization called videolan

'''Examples'''
* Redhat Linuz

'''External Resources'''
* [https://www.researchgate.net/publication/220803476_The_adoption_of_open_source_software_in_business_models_A_Red_Hat_and_IBM_case_study The adoption of open source software in business models: A Red Hat and IBM case study] "A framework recently developed by some of the authors is used to evaluate and identify the key factors important to the integration of OSS strategies into traditional business models."

==Crowdfunding: Decentralized Funding==
Crowdfunding platforms like [https://www.bountysource.com/ Bountrysource], [https://gitcoin.co/ Gitcoin], [https://www.gofundme.com/ Gofundme], or similar, enable raising small amounts of money from a larger group of people, whether they be individuals or corporations. Campaigns can range from more generic (please fund this software) to more specific, (please fund this one specific feature or tool). Funding specific features/tools could help signal where development priorities should be dedicated in the general roadmap of the project.

==Venture capital==
Some venture capital firms invest in FOSS projects.
* https://www.blossomcap.com/
* https://www.indexventures.com/

=Charities and Foundations=


'''Examples'''
"The Blender Foundation (2002) is an independent public benefit organization with the purpose to provide a complete, free and open source 3D creation pipeline, managed by public projects on blender.org.
...

[https://fund.blender.org The Blender Development Fund] is the Blender Foundation’s main source of donation income. Individual users and corporations can sign up here for a recurring donation – starting at 5 euro per month.

The Development Fund enables developers to work full-time on Blender, to support users and other developers and work on core development.

Corporate members of the Fund can indicate a preference which projects they like to see supported, provided these are generally agreed projects that benefit everyone and that fit in Blender’s mission and road map"



==Global==

'''shuttleworthfoundation'''

https://www.shuttleworthfoundation.org/

==United Kingdom==

'''[https://www.ukri.org/ UK Research and Innovation]'''

Example:
* £170m [https://www.ukri.org/our-work/our-main-funds/industrial-strategy-challenge-fund/clean-growth/transforming-construction-challenge/ Transforming construction challenge] "The transforming construction challenge is an integral part of the Construction Sector Deal, aiming to accelerate the shift in construction towards manufacturing and digital processes and a value outcome approach."

==European Union==

The EU funds large projects in the construction sector with a special focus on energy use reduction and increased efficiency. Coordination of efforts at energy use reduction in the construction sector are organized by [[https://www.buildup.eu/en/about-portal BUILD UP]] ([https://www.buildup.eu/en/about-portal about])

For an overview of EU activities involving BIM see [https://www.buildup.eu/en/news/overview-how-eu-supporting-bim-and-ict-development-buildings-sector How is the EU supporting BIM and ICT development in the buildings sector?]

'''[https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en/what-horizon-2020 Horizon 2020]'''

"... with nearly €80 billion of funding available over 7 years (2014 to 2020 [extended to 2025]) ... Horizon 2020 [has an] emphasis on excellent science, industrial leadership and tackling societal challenges. The goal is to ensure Europe produces world-class science, removes barriers to innovation and makes it easier for the public and private sectors to work together in delivering innovation. Horizon 2020 is open to everyone, with a simple structure that reduces red tape and time so participants can focus on what is really important. This approach makes sure new projects get off the ground quickly – and achieve results faster."

Examples:
https://opendreamkit.org/index.html
"OpenDreamKit – Open Digital Research Environments Toolkit for the Advancement of Mathematics: 
OpenDreamKit is a 7.6M€ European Research Infrastructure project which ran from 2015 to 2019. Bringing together a diverse team of 50 Open Science enthusiasts across 17 sites all over Europe, including an average of 11 full time Research Software Engineers, it supported the joint ecosystems of software for mathematics and Jupyter, as a toolkit from which to build Virtual Research Environments."

=See also=
* [[Donations Directory]]
* [[OSArch_Supporters]]
* [[How_to_contribute_to_OSArch]]

=External Resources=
* [https://a16z.com/2019/10/04/commercializing-open-source/ Open Source: From Community to Commercialization], Peter Levine
* [https://mariadb.com/bsl-faq-adopting/ Business Source License (BSL)] (not a free license)