Snowdrift.coop Joins OSI as Newest Affiliate Member

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Nov. 22, 2015 - PRLog -- The Open Source Initiative® (OSI), recognized globally for promoting and protecting open source software and development communities, announced today the affiliate membership of Snowdrift.coop (https://snowdrift.coop/). Snowdrift.coop is building a sustainable funding platform for freely-licensed works. Unlike the one-to-one matching used in traditional fundraising, Snowdrift.coop uses a many-to-many matching pledge that creates a network effect (like the internet itself) so that each donation and even projects reinforce one another. A fundamental difference between Snowdrift.coop and one-time fundraising campaigns that help projects get started is that Snowdrift.coop pays out monthly to provide sustainability for ongoing work.

In addition to joining the OSI as an Affiliate Member, Snowdrift has also been excepted into the OSI's fiscal sponsorship program. The program offers legal and tax-exempt status to groups engaged in activities related to the OSI mission, "to raise awareness and adoption of open source software, and build bridges between open source communities."

"Snowdrift.coop highlights the diverse needs and communities within the open source movement," commented OSI General Manager Patrick Masson. "The OSI is keen to support, not only software development projects, but also efforts like Snowdrift.coop that extend support and services to those open source software development communities most often associated with the OSI and open source."

Aaron Wolf, co-founder of Snowdrift.coop, emphasizes that there is a critical role for non-software projects within the open source movement, "Snowdrift.coop, like current OSI affiliates Creative Commons, Debian, KDE, OpenHatch, Wikimedia, and others, works to promote freedom, collaboration, and democracy in technology."

"Despite progress, the vast majority of free/libre/open projects still remain underfunded or depend on proprietary interests," Wolf explained, "The OSI's support of Snowdrift.coop will help us finalize our design for a sustainable patronage system focused on the unique challenges of these shareable works."

The OSI Affiliate Member Program (http://opensource.org/affiliates), available at no-cost, allows non-profit and not-for-profit organizations—unequivocally independent groups with a clear commitment to open source—to join and support the OSI's mission to raise awareness and adoption of open source software and to build bridges among different constituencies in the open source community.

About The Open Source Initiative
Founded in 1998, the Open Source Initiative (OSI) protects and promotes open source by providing a foundation for community success. It champions open source in society through education, infrastructure and collaboration. The OSI is a California public benefit corporation, with 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status. For more information about the OSI, please visit: https://opensource.org.

About Snowdrift.coop
Snowdrift.coop promotes the public commons by facilitating community support for non-rival free/libre/open (FLO) projects. Snowdrift.coop envisions a world where everyone has equal access to a robust and vibrant public commons; where everyone is empowered to realize and share their additions to our cultural heritage and to participate in the ongoing development of science and technology; and where there is liberty, privacy, and human dignity for all. Find out more about Snowdrift.coop at: https://snowdrift.coop.