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<h1>Open Source Endowment</h1>

![Endowment Fund](https://img.shields.io/badge/dynamic/json?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.endowment.dev%2Fpublic%2Fstats&query=%24.endowment.fund_size_k&prefix=%24&suffix=K&style=for-the-badge&label=Endowment%20Fund&color=green&cacheSeconds=3600&link=https%3A%2F%2Fendowment.dev%2Fendowment%3Futm_source%3Dgithub%26utm_medium%3Dreadme%26utm_campaign%3Dfoundation%26utm_content%3Dbadge-fund)
![Donors](https://img.shields.io/badge/dynamic/json?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.endowment.dev%2Fpublic%2Fstats&query=%24.donors.total&style=for-the-badge&label=Donors&color=forestgreen&cacheSeconds=3600&link=https%3A%2F%2Fendowment.dev%2Fcommunity%3Futm_source%3Dgithub%26utm_medium%3Dreadme%26utm_campaign%3Dfoundation%26utm_content%3Dbadge-donors)
![Members](https://img.shields.io/badge/dynamic/json?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.endowment.dev%2Fpublic%2Fstats&query=%24.donors.members&style=for-the-badge&label=Members&color=blue&cacheSeconds=3600&link=https%3A%2F%2Fendowment.dev%2Fcommunity%3Futm_source%3Dgithub%26utm_medium%3Dreadme%26utm_campaign%3Dfoundation%26utm_content%3Dbadge-members&x=1)

🌐 <a href="https://endowment.dev?utm_source=github&utm_medium=readme&utm_campaign=foundation">Website</a>
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📚 <a href="https://endowment.dev/docs?utm_source=github&utm_medium=readme&utm_campaign=foundation">Docs</a>
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💸 <a href="https://github.com/osendowment/model">Grantmaking model</a>
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📈 <a href="https://github.com/osendowment/foundation/blob/main/roadmap.md">Roadmap</a>
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❓ <a href="https://endowment.dev/faq?utm_source=github&utm_medium=readme&utm_campaign=foundation">FAQ</a>
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❤️ <a href="https://endowment.dev/?utm_source=github&utm_medium=readme&utm_campaign=foundation&utm_content=donate#donate">Donate</a>

The Open Source Endowment (OSE) aims to solve the [open source sustainability crisis](https://openpath.quest/2024/the-open-source-sustainability-crisis/) by
providing maintainers of critical open source software with a source of funding that is sustainable, systemic, and scalable.

- **🌱 Sustainable**: Provides a stable funding, independent of the volatile corporate and personal budgets
- **🔗 Systemic**: Supports the critical but underfunded projects that conventional models miss
- **🚀 Efficient**: A lean, digital-first, community-led organization designed for maximum impact and transparency

OSE is the world's first endowment dedicated to open source. It is founded by an inclusive global community of tech founders, executives, investors, and software engineers who care about OSS.

## How it works

|Step|Description|
|-|-|
|Fundraising|The Open Source Endowment Foundation raises money from individual and institutional donors, including companies and foundations.|
|Investments|All donations are invested in a diversified portfolio managed by a professional US-based asset manager. These investments provide yearly returns (target ~ 7-8% APY), which are used to advance the OSE mission.|
|Selection|Using an open, data-driven [model](https://github.com/osendowment/model) co-developed with OSE Members and the open source community, we identify underfunded critical open source projects as grantees. Most of the endowment's returns (target ~ 5%/year) are distributed as grants.|
|Monitoring|We regularly measure the impact of our grants on selected open source projects and the global software supply chain's sustainability. This data is used to continuously improve our model and increase efficiency.|

## Governance

### Foundation

The Open Source Endowment Foundation is a US 501(c)(3) tax-exempt public charity (EIN 33-3502715), incorporated on February 14, 2025. Donations to the Foundation are [tax-deductible](https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/charitable-organizations/charitable-contribution-deductions) for US donors to the full extent permitted by law.

### Members

Individuals contributing at least $1,000/year to the endowment fund qualify as OSE Members. Members advise the OSE board on strategic matters, such as the grant-making model, and appoint community-nominated board directors. These rights are legally defined in our [membership policy](https://github.com/osendowment/foundation/blob/main/docs/policies/membership-policy.md).

The aim of the minimum donation threshold is to ensure that decisions are made by people who have personally committed to OSE's goals and have skin in the game.

### Team

OSE is run by a volunteer board of OSE members, supported by staff and advisors:

- **[Konstantin Vinogradov](https://kvinogradov.com)** — Chair of the Board. VC investor in open source, AI, and infrastructure software. Former General Partner at Runa Capital. Creator of the ROSS Index.
- **[Amy Parker](https://www.linkedin.com/in/amy3parker/)** — Secretary, Board Director. VP, Major Gifts at the Signal Foundation. Former Deputy Executive Director at the OpenSSL Foundation and Director of the Wikipedia Endowment.
- **[Maxim Konovalov](https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxim/)** — Treasurer, Board Director. Co-founder and former CTO of Nginx. Former VP Engineering at F5. Long-time FreeBSD contributor.
- **[Chad Whitacre](https://openpath.quest)** — Board Director. Former Head of Open Source at Sentry and former leader of the Open Source Pledge. Founded Gratipay.
- **[Jonathan Starr](https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathan-starr-b04032284/)** — Executive Director. Former Program Manager at NumFOCUS. Co-founder of SciOS and The Institute of Open Science Practices.
- **[Vlad-Stefan Harbuz](https://vlad.website)** — Board Advisor. Director of the Open Source Pledge. Core developer at thanks.dev.

Board decisions and minutes are published in [docs/board](https://github.com/osendowment/foundation/tree/main/docs/board).

## Investments

All donations to the Endowment are put into diversified investments, and only the yearly income from these investments is used to fund grants. This approach supports long-term planning and sustainable funding for OSS.

At the start, OSE invested in US Treasury bonds, which are very low-risk and earn ~5% per year. The portfolio is now being managed by a professional investment manager. The board chose [Infinite Giving](https://www.infinitegiving.com/), specializing in US nonprofits, as our outsourced CIO (Chief Investment Officer), targeting a 7-8% return with a 5% annual spend rate on grants.

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