About#

Open Collective was founded by idealists to make online communities more sustainable. Today, groups from all over the world use it to help them deliver open source, mutual aid and solidarity projects.

Our beginnings#

The foundations of Open Collective were built in 2015. Our original founders realized that community groups were held back by the need to achieve a certain legal status so they could deal with money.

They stepped in to provide a way of giving groups access to “fiscal sponsorship” - allowing them to focus more on their mission.

The idea was that groups like collectives could benefit from a central place to hold money, no matter who was helping out with the project at the time. This would reassure potential contributors, and make the group more sustainable.

Fiscal Sponsorship was somewhat established in the United States. But our ambition was to offer it worldwide.

And Open Collective offered something else: transparency. From the beginning, we prized openness, clarity and visibility. Not just in how budgets and activity were displayed, but in everything we did.

Attracting investment#

We have raised two rounds of investment, totalling nearly $3M, enabling us to offer our platform to groups across the world.

However, we sought out investors who were committed to social good, rather than “hyper-growth” strategies. We retain majority ownership, and control of the decisions the company makes. This means we can continue to make choices that benefit the global community, and allow us to continue on our path.

Realizing our purpose#

Our roots were in open source technology, but we have always believed in this idea’s power to go even further.

Over the last few years, we have created several non-profit entities to help us deliver our promise, including Open Source Collective, Open Collective Foundation, Open Collective Europe and Open Collective New Zealand. And our approach has allowed us to support initiatives of all kinds to make a difference.

When the COVID-19 pandemic first emerged, Open Collective Foundation offered fee-free services to solidarity groups from community fridges to mask-making groups. It also developed Solidarity School, which provided workshops and learning opportunities for emerging initiatives.

OCF also supported the work of the 1k Project, which raised millions to support Ukrainian refugee families.

Our future#

How does an idea like ours move forward?

In 2022, we announced that we were committed to a different approach to ownership: An “exit to community”.

Instead of selling the company or floating on the stock market, we set out to explore the concept of transferring governance to the community who help it thrive. This is something we are still exploring. We want to ensure that Open Collective has an exciting and sustainable future, while retaining the mission and values that make it a useful tool for a better world.