In its work guiding the development of D and promoting its adoption, the D Language Foundation is driven primarily by donations big and small. The money comes in from different sources, the most visible being those listed on the website’s donation page, and is put to use in different ways.
Donors typically receive an email thanking them for their generosity. Recently, we added a sponsors page to shine a light on those who have given and who are willing to have their names on public display. That and a line in the Vision Document about average monthly expenses are the only obvious bits of transparency in the process.
Today, the D Language Foundation is opening a new chapter in the donation story with our Open Collective page. According to OpenCollective.com, an open collective is,
A group of people with a shared mission that operates in full transparency.
The site allows us to set up packages that donors can choose from, with or without rewards, for one-time and recurring donations, at levels within reach of individuals and those more suited for corporate budgets. Donors can leave notes with their donations to tell us what they think of our work or what’s important to them. We can submit expenses to show how the money is being used, and set up fund drives for specific targets.
In short, Open Collective gives us new possibilities in raising money, spending it, and showing how it’s spent, while also providing more opportunities for D community members to participate. We could, for example, designate a specific amount to put toward the development of a particular language or ecosystem feature of importance to the community and ask community members to help us meet that goal. A perfect opportunity to contribute for those eager to see progress in areas that matter to them. Crowd-sourcing for a niche crowd.
Those who wish to remain in the shadows can still donate behind the scenes via our other sources. Additionally, I wouldn’t expect all Foundation expenses to be listed at Open Collective. We’re inexperienced with this platform yet, so it will take us a bit of time to learn how to make it work best for all of us, but we have high hopes that it will prove beneficial in the long run.
On a related note, if you shop at Amazon, you can help us out by making your purchases via smile.amazon.com and choosing the D Language Foundation as your charity. A small percentage of your purchases through smile.amazon.com will go to the Foundation as long as it is selected as your charity. From now until March 31, the donation percentage is tripled.
Don’t forget, the State of D Survey is still open for a couple more days. If you haven’t completed it yet, please take the time to do so. We’re looking forward to see what comes from it.
