We’re thrilled to announce a significant milestone in the evolution of The WP Community Collective. On November 13, 2024, we officially incorporated as a California membership nonprofit for mutual benefit, launching an exciting new chapter in our commitment to supporting the people and projects that comprise the communities of WordPress and open-source software.
The WPCC aims to remove the financial and logistical barriers to open source contribution and support the development of the projects and initiatives that drive open source forward.
This incorporation provides the WPCC with a strong foundation to achieve those goals and advance our mission:
The WP Community Collective fosters and supports the open source ecosystem by empowering community-driven innovation, enabling sustainable development, and advocating for open and inclusive practices and policy.
The WP Community Collective provides a neutral home for collaboration, contribution, and resources essential for the long-term success of the open source projects we support.
Get Involved
“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” – origin unknown
We established The WPCC as a member-based organization because we believe that together, we can shape a stronger, more sustainable future for the WordPress open source project and the greater open source ecosystem.
To join The WP Community Collective as an individual member, make a contribution of at least US$5 to The WP Community Collective. Members are afforded various benefits, and must adhere to the Code of Conduct and the Conflict of Interest policy.
We will launch business and organization membership tiers, as well as scholarship memberships, in the first few weeks of 2025.
Communication Creates Community
In order to facilitate the discussions and dialogue we need to strengthen our community, grow our organization, and move our industry forward, we have launched a Slack instance for all WP Community Collective members (please see note). Once you join as an Individual Member, we will send you the link to log in to the Slack instance. Please be sure to include your email!) You can also join without your name displayed publicly.)
Note: We selected Slack for our starting communication platform as it is familiar to the WordPress and open source community, and to reduce the initial administrative burden on the organization. We hope to move to an open source solution as time, resources, and organizational capability permit.
About the Org
We have officially incorporated in California and are in the process of finalizing our U.S. Federal designation as a 501(c)(6) nonprofit organization, “an association of persons having some common business interest, the purpose of which is to promote such common interest.” This association-style structure will allow us greater flexibility in our projects and our funding, while expanding our ability to engage with, support, and advocate for individuals, businesses, and organizations in the WordPress and broader open source communities.
You can read The WP Community Collective founding documents here:
Our new Board of Directors structure is currently the same as our original founding Board of Directors, with slightly different titles per the organizational requirements:
- Sé Reed – Board Member, President and CEO
- Katie Adams Farrell – Board Member, Treasurer/Secretary
- Courtney Robertson – Board Member at Large
A Dual Approach
When we founded the WP Community Collective, we organized as a project, fiscally hosted by the Open Collective Foundation (OCF), a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. This gave us a charitable designation, so Americans could do donation-matching and receive tax benefits, but it also restricted what we were able to fund, as the U.S. tax code does not currently consider open source projects to be “charitable”.
That designation also meant that the funds we raised can only be held by another charitable organization. When OCF unexpectedly dissolved itself this year, we had to move those funds to a temporary fiscal host with the same charitable designation. We also cannot use those funds for the new organization.
So, in addition to the launch of the newly incorporated WPCC, we’re excited to share that we are also creating a charitable nonprofit subsidiary of The WP Community Collective that will support our existing projects focused on accessibility and education, like the Accessibility Fellowship and Incentivizing DEIB in WP.
Transparent Finances: A Core Value
Transparency remains a key value for The WP Community Collective and we have integrated that value into our founding documents, including our Articles of Incorporation.
We will continue to maintain fully trackable, publicly viewable finances through our Open Collective accounts. The financial data for the newly incorporated membership nonprofit corporation is available at opencollective.com/thewpcommunitycollective.
Our initial account at opencollective.com/thewpcc will continue to be the public ledger and donation platform for the former (and future!) charitable organization.
For all of our endeavors, we are committed to full financial transparency so that any interested party can see exactly what resources we have available and how we are allocating those resources to drive our mission forward.
What’s Next?
This next phase of the WPCC is inspired by and dedicated to the people throughout the WordPress and open source ecosystems who continually demonstrate creativity, generosity, and a steadfast commitment to the well-being of the community as a whole.
As we grow, we will continue to champion community collaboration and support the people and projects that create the WordPress community and the greater open-source ecosystem that surrounds it. We are currently working on new initiatives, building strategic partnerships, and expanding opportunities for contributors across the globe.
Our most important initiative, however, is to connect and engage with as much of our community as possible (this means you!).