Open source
How do you fund an open source project with crowdfunding?
Fund one release, feature or security audit of your open source project, with rewards that fit free code: credits, a logo, priority support.
Short answer
Fund one deliverable, not the project's whole future: a release, a feature people keep asking for, a security audit, the docs. The code stays free for everyone, so the rewards are recognition and your time: credits, a logo on the docs, priority support for companies. Ask the people and teams who already depend on it, where they already are. If the goal is met by the deadline, you claim the funds; if not, every backer takes their pledge back.
Key facts
- One campaign, one deliverable: a goal, a deadline and up to 5 reward tiers.
- Sign up with email or Google. No foundation, no company, no approval queue.
- Backers pay by card or in USDC on Solana.
- Whoever shares it can earn up to 18.5% of each pledge they bring, if you set it.
- Each pledge pays 1.5% plus a flat $0.99.
What can an open source campaign pay for?
A piece of work with a clear finish: the next major release, one feature from the most upvoted issue, an outside security audit, a rewrite of the docs, a port to a new platform. Users back something they can watch land in a changelog.
"Support the project" is harder to fund than "ship version 2 with plugin support by spring". The second has a scope, a date and a way to tell it's done.
How big should the goal be?
The hours the work takes, at a rate you can live on, plus what you pay others. The usual lines:
- Maintainer time for the work itself.
- A contributor you pay for a part outside your strengths.
- An outside review or audit of the new code.
- CI, test machines and hosting for a year.
- Any physical reward, such as stickers.
For example: 100 hours at $40 an hour is $4,000, an outside review $2,000, CI and hosting $300. That's $6,300. Add a margin for fees and the goal lands near $7,000. Use your own quotes for the review. The goal planner runs the sum with your figures.
What rewards fit when the code is free?
Recognition, influence and your time. Never access to the code, which stays open for everyone:
- The backer's name in the release notes and the README.
- A company logo on the docs site, for a business tier.
- Priority support for a set period after the release.
- An integration call to help a team adopt the new version.
- A vote on which feature comes next.
- A sticker pack, for the cheapest tier.
- A thank you in the release announcement.
Your time is the scarce reward, so cap it in the tier: a number of hours or a number of months, written down. The reward tier planner shows what each tier costs you.
How do you reach the companies that use it?
Where they already look at your project. Put the campaign in the README, the release notes, the issue that asks for the feature and the docs banner.
A team that ships your library to production has the most to gain from a faster release or an audit. Give them a tier that answers what they care about, priority support and a logo, and say plainly what they get and for how long.
When should you launch?
When the need is visible: right after a release, when an issue piles up requests, or when a security question comes up. Users who are waiting for something are the easiest to ask.
About 30 days suits most campaigns. Set the deadline so the work can start the week the funds arrive. Then the share reward helps it travel: set it from nothing up to 18.5% of each pledge, and whoever shares the link earns that share of every pledge it brings in, paid by the program in the same transaction.
What does it cost?
Writing and previewing a campaign costs nothing. Opening it costs $5 on the free plan. Each pledge pays 1.5% plus a flat $0.99, and any share reward you set comes out of the pledge too.
The percentage fee on a pledge follows the plan of the account making it. It's taken when the pledge is made, so it isn't returned if the campaign misses its goal. Paid plans aren't on sale today, so the published fee is the free plan's fee.
What if the goal is missed?
If the goal isn't met by the deadline, you take your pledge back from escrow with one tap, and nobody has to approve it. What comes back is the amount held for you: your pledge minus the fees taken when you backed (the platform fee, the flat fee, any tip and any share reward the campaign pays).
The code is still there and still open, and you now know how much your users value that piece of work. A smaller scope or a later release can go again.
How do you start?
- Pick one deliverable and write down when it counts as done.
- Sign up in the app with email or Google.
- Write the story: what the project does, who uses it and what the money ships.
- Set the goal, the deadline and the reward tiers, with time limits on support.
- Publish, and link it from the README and the issue.
How to write a crowdfunding pitch, from the free course, helps with the story. Everything you can fund has a guide for each kind of project, and every other question is in the answers.