Leverage top-level Drupal collective (Open Collective)

Quick update and clarification. While the proposal is recommending the Drupal Association use https://opencollective.com/drupalassoc to host a Drupal collective, there are other options if the DA decides not to do that (for whatever reason). Members of the sustainability team would help setup and manage the collective either way. But we can't proceed until the DA (assuming they should be making decisions on behalf of the Drupal project) decide if a top-level 'Drupal' collective should exist and if they'll host.

Hopefully the proposal and some of the ongoing conversations we've been having with DA team members will help expedite the evaluation, decision, and setup.

@hestenet is currently exploring options and processes for setting this up. I've been recommending we repurpose https://opencollective.com/drupalcore since it's live (switching hosts doesn't need to happen right away or at all) and it's a very bad look for Drupal as a stand-alone collective.

Per @hestenet's update in Slack, it looks like we're close to having a Drupal collective! We'll keep this updated as things progress.

gusaus → credited hestenet → .

@hestenet was able to set up https://opencollective.com/drupal a few months ago but there has since been a long delay in actually doing anything with it due to confusion around who could/should manage. So it's been lingering with a balance of less that $50 - which is a terrible look for Drupal when it comes up in Open Collective search.

From my understanding it's the Drupal Association still trying to figure out if they can connect their https://opencollective.com/drupalassoc fiscal host so they can centralize fundraising and integrate/extend their strategy.

Main issue is whether or not they'll have capacity to take on the responsibilities outlined in Open Collective's docs.

With no decision on the horizon, I'd like to suggest we keep using our current fiscal host Open Source Collective, but utilize in a way that would compliment/not compete with DA's fundraising and crediting system.

To do this we can create a Fund (see the documentation and blog post) that the Drupal Association could contribute to via bank transfer. While the Drupal Association might have a role in determining how the fund is used, it would be the open collective fiscal host (either Open Source Collective or Open Collective Foundation) that would handle the rest.

Similarly we can create a 'Drupal' project on the FundOSS Fund for the FundDrupal matching pool (see #3376257: FundDrupal: Leveraging Democratic Funding to build on the success of the Pitch-burgh innovation contest → ).

Both can then be used to sustain and grow the Drupal project and community (via the Drupal collective) based on policies the admins of each Fund create.

Again - Drupal Association may help admin and create policies but they would 'not' assume any of the fiscal host/sponsor responsibilities.

@gusaus - bumped you to an admin again so you can prototype out what creating a Fund looks like. Once it exists we can regroup about in the new year and decide if/how we want to use it more specifically. Thank you for offering to set it up so we can see how it might work.

Moving to the Innovation project as the Drupal collective should be a key component for meeting/exceeding DA innovation (and related strategic goals).

Closed child issue https://www.drupal.org/project/innovation_ideas/issues/3280977 → as not needed, but can be referenced, reopened or recreated later if this is approved.

Closed child issue Requesting EOWG project on Drupal Contribution Open Collective → as outdated. Can be revisited after decisions around this proposal are finalized and approved.

Merged action items from child issue Create goals and tiers on the Drupal collective → .

Closed child issue Determine standard process for onboarding projects (working groups, etc) → as not not needed. If/when this proposal is approved, it can be be reopened and move to a separate project.

Set as proposal and updated status to reflect that the proposal is currently in review with the DA/Innovation Committee.

Minor title change to reflect the fact that https://opencollective.com/drupal exists and is active

• Removed [Proposal] prefix in title.
• Changed component to Proposed Plan.
• Changed status to RTBC.

We need to move into https://www.drupal.org/project/innovation → for reasons discussed in this issue and Slack thread.

Or to summarize again - https://opencollective.com/drupal exists and the DA CTO + Drupal project founder are admins (I'm also a team member)

It's way beyond an idea or proposal. We've been working together to execute this plan for quite some time.

As noted in #3412386: Leverage Drupal Innovation Fund on Open Collective → , I think Starshot creates the need/opportunity to make better use of Open Collective (and Open Source Collective as a fiscal sponsor/partner) for the reasons outlined (I'll quote and provide additional context).

Drupal Association could continue to leverage their current fundraising and crediting system as funds could be allocated (to the Fund on Open Collective) via bank transfer or some other way. By using Open Source Collective as fiscal host/sponsor, the DA would 'not' be solely responsible for allocating funds to related projects and initiatives (and their contributors). For example, if we set up 'projects' for Starshot, Automatic Updates, Project Browser, Recipes, etc on https://opencollective.com/drupal funds could be allocated from the Drupal Innovation Fund to Starshot and/or any of the related projects via collective to collective transfer.

Per the previous comments we've been working with the Drupal Association (specifically @hestenet) on executing this already approved plan. This includes the first few implementation steps from creating https://opencollective.com/drupal and setting up an initial set of projects https://opencollective.com/drupal/projects (see #3280977: Outline projects, groups, and initiatives that can be supported on the Drupal collective → ). We've also been exploring how to/who should manage in #3328127: Determine standard process for onboarding projects (working groups, etc) → .

By leveraging, Open Source Collective as the fiscal sponsor for both the Fund and Drupal collective (OSC is currently the fiscal sponsor for https://opencollective.com/drupal), we could augment the DA's current system/capacity by providing a wide range of additional services and benefits for contributors (including potential full-time employment).

While my recommendation in #3377002-11: Leverage top-level Drupal collective (Open Collective) → to continue to use Open Source Collective as the fiscal sponsor was to alleviate potential capacity issues, by pooling/centralizing funds in https://opencollective.com/drupal, OSC could augment DA capacity by paying and potentially employing contributors.

Another benefit of pooling/centralizing funds would be increased visibility for Drupal in the largest open source ecosystem on the planet https://discover.opencollective.com/?tag=open+source

@gusaus It is my understanding that the DA has already established a funding mechanism outside of Open Collective. Also, it appears that the new Fundraising Manager (staff) role's purpose is to manage fundraising activities. Once filled, it may make sense to discuss with that person to see if they have thoughts around continuing to leverage Open Collective.

The following are excerpts from our meeting earlier today (@hestenet in blockquotes) as it should validate that the Drupal Association is in fact using https://opencollective.com/drupal as a compliment to their existing fundraising and crediting structures...

I will say that I have had an initial conversation with our new CFO about this - and have started having some other conversations about it with the Starshot leadership group as well.

Based on our discussion (so far) in :three: :one: it doesn't seem like whether or not to use https://opencollective.com/drupal is the question; it's more about how can it 'compliment' the existing mechanisms DA already has, yes?

Yes, very much - it's not about replacing existing structures we have that are working well - but about demosntrating how it can open a new avenue for expanding our funding reach.

...as members of the Innovation team have been working with the DA to support (see the issue description and subsequent comments for context), it's important we move this (and related closed issues) to the project we've agreed will be used to coordinate activities around organizing and sustaining the Innovation initiative ( https://www.drupal.org/project/innovation → )

Closing for reasons discussed in the comments and this meeting thread. Will most likely move (this and it's children #3328127: Determine standard process for onboarding projects (working groups, etc) → . #3332738: Create goals and tiers on the Drupal collective → , & #3280977: Outline projects, groups, and initiatives that can be supported on the Drupal collective → ) to a different project after we determine which team/working group will be helping the current admins/core contributors of https://opencollective.com/drupal (currently Tim, Dries, and myself) manage.

Moving 'back' to the Sustainability project as there's new interest in getting the Sustainability team up and running. Helping manage the Drupal collective (including helping fundraise) is a responsibility.

Wonder if we could experiment with some of Open Collective's new crowdfunding functionality on https://opencollective.com/drupal. Posting in this channel as the Drupal Association is still trying to figure out how to make better use of that collective (in a way that compliments/extends their current strategy).

I'm currently evaluating on another collective. Looks like you can enable on a per/project basis - which would basically be our use case https://opencollective.com/drupal/projects

Considering another entity (Open Source Collective) is the fiscal sponsor/host, it seems like one easy way to compliment DA fundraising would be to only have tiers for individual contributions. That way sponsoring orgs/partners could continue to use the existing system (funds could still be transferred into the collective on the back end) but individuals (open source/Drupal supporters) outside of the community/ecosystem might support (especially if the collective was promoted a bit more).

Actually these profiles will make it even easier to participate in FundOSS (and/or Drupal specific rounds). Considering the size of Open Collective's open source ecosystem (https://discover.opencollective.com/?tag=open+source) having the official 'Drupal' collective participate (individual projects could still choose whether or not to opt-in) would be pretty buzzworthy (and generate new funds and contributors).

As mentioned in #3412386-21: Leverage Drupal Innovation Fund on Open Collective → we've been discussing how companies in the Drupal ecosystem might benefit from participating in the Open Source Pledge (osspledge.com), an initiative encourages companies to contribute a minimum of $2,000 per full-time developer per year to open-source projects.

While direct donations to foundations like the Drupal Association could be one entry point for participants, Open Source Pledge will most likely leverage/integrate Open Collective to discover and fund projects/ecosystems like Drupal.

That said, we have yet another reason to figure out how we can make better use of the Drupal collective (see #3377002-28: Leverage top-level Drupal collective (Open Collective) → and previous comments) before the inaugural promotional campaign for Open Source Pledge kicks off in a few weeks.