Fully approved via the ASF, the ASF Sponsorship Program is the official avenue for substantial, non-directed monetary contributions to the ASF. It is the closest and most direct method for a corporation or individual to support the ASF. In return, ASF will make official acknowledgement and thanks for the donation via PR involvement (as appropriate according to sponsorship level), sponsor logo and link ('nofollow' at the Bronze level) on the ASF Thanks page (logo and link subject to ASF approval) and an official ASF logo to place on the Sponsor's site.
There are four sponsorship levels, defined by donation and in-return benefits of sponsorship. No more than 25% of value can be based on in-kind services
Donations made to the Sponsorship Program must be coordinated with the ASF Public Relations and Fundraising team (fundraising at apache dot org).
The Apache Software Foundation provides support for the Apache community of open-source software projects. The Apache projects are characterized by a collaborative, consensus based development process, an open and pragmatic software license, and a desire to create high quality software that leads the way in its field. We consider ourselves not simply a group of projects sharing a server, but rather a community of developers and users.
The ASF provides the infrastructure for the projects - the mailing lists, code repositories, bug tracking systems, etc. While all of the administrative effort is currently through unpaid volunteers, we need financial assistance to purchase bandwidth and keep our servers running.
By sponsoring the ASF you show your support for our mission and help sustain a vibrant organization. Sponsorship also shows your support for Open Source and provides you the opportunity to "give back" to the community. Finally, since the ASF is non-profit organization, sponsorship provides attractive tax benefits.
The Apache Software Foundation comprises over 35 top level projects, over 180 active members, over 1350 committers and countless contributors and users. We are responsible for millions of lines of code and about a dozen servers which make up our infrastructure
We also have the normal business operating expenses which go with any organization. These include:
Your sponsorship will allow the ASF to meet these expenses as well as expand our capability to maintain our leadership in the developer and Open Source communities. Funding will allow us to perform pro-active hardware procurement, enhance our community outreach, sponsor developer hackathons and user groups, and perform non-code related improvements to projects such as better documentation and more comprehensive websites
The Apache Software Foundation is a private operating foundation that is registered as a non-profit, charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. This means that, for individuals within the U.S., donations to the ASF should be tax-deductible. We are not accountants, so this cannot be trusted as financial advice of any kind, but hopefully this description will be useful to those who advise you in these matters. You may view our ruling letter from the IRS acknowledging our 501(c)3 status.
You may also review the latest financial filings and non-profit exemption application of The Apache Software Foundation in our public records section. You may also find other helpful information through GuideStar (requires free registration for full access).
More information about non-profits and related issues can be found at the Internet Nonprofit Center.
If you would like more information about supporting the ASF, please contact fundraising at apache dot org. Sponsorship donations are handled differently from standard non-directed donations, so if you want your donations to be part of the Sponsorship program (and thus obtain the benefits of the program), you must coordinate the donation with the Public Relations and Fundraising team (fundraising at apache dot org).
All information will be kept in strictest confidence.