FairOSS is a public benefit corporation with a mission to sustain the production and maintenance of freely shareable intellectual property. Using a community first approach, FairOSS is assembling a coalition of open source producers, consumers, and business and technology partners towards building the Groundwater program, a framework for sustainability. FairOSS arranges equity and revenue financing with organizations benefiting from open source and allows them a way to broadcast their social responsibility through the use of FairOSS trademarks. Funds raised by these activities are used to fund open source projects.

FairOSS also offers membership programs designed to bootstrap the company, expand board level decision making, and build the foundations for membership benefits.

Fee details

• “Charter memberships (monthly, annual, lifetime) ($10, $100, $2000)”
• “Equity commitment (based on company stage, reliance of open source software, current contributions to open source)”
• “Revenue share commitment (based on company stage, reliance of open source software, current contributions to open source)”
• “Fixed price sponsorship commitment (based on company stage, reliance of open source software, current contributions to open source)”

Current status

• “Actively fundraising for open source project dependencies and company funding”.
• “Strengthening community connections and partnerships to build the Groundwater program”.

Monetization

Fundraise equity/funding from organizations using open source to support their project dependencies in exchange for a ‘fair-trade’ trademark for open source. Charter membership dues for involvement in core company activities.