Massachusetts · Nonprofit
Free Software Foundation Inc
Free Software Foundation Inc (Massachusetts) receives grants from 37 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,113,340 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($315,261). 24 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 71% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- Revenue FY2025
- $1.4M
- Funders on record
- 37
- Grants received
- $1.1M
- Net assets
- $1.4M
What Free Software Foundation Inc does
Mission
To promote and defend computer users rights to use, study, copy, and modify the software on their computer, as well as the related documentation. To assist in the development and use of free software and documentation.
As stated on its FY2025 Form 990.
Programs
The education and outreach program advocates for computer user freedom through online and in person campaigns, and helps individuals with the practical details of using computers in an ethical manner. This includes publishing educational materials about how to use and develop free software, writing issue focused articles and action alerts related to personal computing freedom and freedom on the internet, speaking at events, coordinating and empowering volunteers to advocate for free software in their local communities, answering thousands of emails each year from people interested in free software, and organizing an annual conference that brings the free software community together.
$657,429 spent49% of program spendingThe license education program assists developers and users in understanding software licensing and determining which software is ethically safe for them to use. It answers questions from the public, offers guidance in best practices, publishes articles on free software licensing issues, sends speakers to events, investigates and resolves violations of the GNU general public license (GPL), lesser GPL, and GNU free documentation license, certifies hardware products that respect user freedom, and presents continuing legal education courses for lawyers. The GNU Project does collaborative development and distribution of an operating system (OS) that respects users freedom. GNU software is licensed freely so that users can run, share, study, and modify it however is best for them. The GNU system is used most popularly with the kernel Linux,forming the GNU/Linux OS used on millions of computers worldwide, including the ma
$339,880 spent25% of program spendingThe GNU Project does collaborative development and distribution of an operating system (OS) that respects users freedom. GNU software is licensed freely so that users can run, share, study, and modify it however is best for them. The GNU system is used most popularly with the kernel Linux, forming the GNU/Linux OS used on millions of computers worldwide, including the majority of web and email servers. The Organization supports GNU with resources for coordination, planning, software development, infrastructure, web and download hosting, copyright stewardship, programming work, and public promotion.
$308,618 spent23% of program spendingOther programs include compiling and mainaining a directory of Free Software for all operating systems at directory.fsf.org and publishing printed books and selling clothing related to the use of and advocacy for free sofware. Included in total are expenses related to Directory $26,836 and GNU Press $8,992
$35,894 spent3% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2023 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $1,341,821.
The organization over time
Each line starts at 100 in 2017, so what you read is the shape rather than the size: 150 means half as much again as 2017, 50 means half. The number beside each label in the key is where it ended.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2017 to 2018, from $1.5M to $2.6M (+77%).
How it's funded, over time
Each bar is one year's revenue split into where it came from, and every bar is the same height — these are shares, not amounts, so a year that raised twice as much looks the same size. Hover a bar for the split.
Government-grant reliance: 2021 12% · 2022 17%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 5 of the last 9 reported years ran a deficit.
reserve
Leadership and staff
The officers, directors, trustees and key employees listed on each return. Joined and no longer listed compare each filing with the year before, matching people by surname and first initial; a year after a gap, or a roster under three people, has no comparison.
Chief executive
Zoe Kooyman
Executive Director from February 2
As listed on its FY2025 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2017 → 2023: the base broadened from 9 funders to 12 funders, grant income rose $44k → $131k.
12 of 37 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 71% of grant dollars received. That money is really individual donors directing a sponsor; the institutions to cultivate are the non-DAF funders.
From the IRS filings of Free Software Foundation Inc’s funders (the co-funder graph). Top 30 of 37 funders by total. Association, not causation. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How concentrated its funding is
Free Software Foundation Inc leans on a few funders — its largest provides 28% of grant income and the top three 67%; half comes from just 2 funders.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 2 funders to its left
88% of the income these shares are computed over arrives through pass-through sponsors or from payers whose filings do not say what kind of payment it is. Concentration is still measured over all of it, because the money is real; what it does not support is a claim about how many institutions have chosen to fund Free Software Foundation Inc.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2017 36% · 2018 44% · 2019 74% · 2020 36% · 2021 33% · 2022 36% · 2023 41% — growing more concentrated.
“Effective funders” = inverse Herfindahl index (1 / Σ shareᵢ²) — the number of equal-sized funders that would give the same concentration. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
How long its funders stay
45% of Free Software Foundation Inc's funders are still giving 3 years after their first grant; 65% give in more than one year at all.
Share of funders still giving k years after their first recorded grant, pooled across every acquisition cohort. A funder counts as retained in a year only if it made a grant that year. Measured to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving — a funder cannot be counted as lapsed in a year most filers have not reached.
Where its funders are
71% of Free Software Foundation Inc's grant income arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors, whose addresses record where the money is held rather than where the donor is. Of the $326k that is directly attributable, 100% of it comes from funders outside Massachusetts, across 10 states.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $787k arriving through sponsors registered in 9 states is excluded from the map and the split above: a sponsor holds money on a donor’s behalf, so its registered address would place those dollars somewhere no donor need ever have been. Trends are read to FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving. FY2024–FY2026 are still being filed and are shown unshaded; they do not move any figure on this page.
Organizations like Free Software Foundation Inc
Organizations whose mission and program text most resemble this one, by semantic similarity over every organization in the US filings — the closest peers, and often the clearest route to shared or prospective funders.
In Massachusetts
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
85% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for Free Software Foundation Inc: IRS status (Business Master File, Publication 78, auto-revocation), the OFAC sanctions lists, the Internal Revenue Bulletin, and California registration, with the Rev. Proc. 2018-32 §8.01 reliance elements stated element by element. Generated from the current files at the moment you download it.
Screens are triage, not determinations; a source that cannot be read reports not screened, never clear. Screen this nonprofit · How the screen works · on the API as GET /api/screening/{ein}?format=pdf
Questions and answers
- Who funds Free Software Foundation Inc?
- Free Software Foundation Inc (Massachusetts) receives grants from 37 organizations whose IRS filings report $1,113,340 to it, the largest being AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC ($315,261). 24 of them have funded it in more than one year, and 71% of the money arrives through donor-advised or pass-through sponsors rather than from an institution directly.
- How many funders does Free Software Foundation Inc have?
- IRS filings report 37 organizations giving $1,113,340 in grants to Free Software Foundation Inc, 24 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of Free Software Foundation Inc?
- AMERICAN ONLINE GIVING FOUNDATION INC is the largest funder on record, with $315,261 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like Free Software Foundation Inc find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Massachusetts. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2025 (financials across 2017–2025), and the filings of 37 funders that report grants to it. “On record” means captured in the filings we have parsed — a funder that does not e-file, or whose grant detail is not itemized, will not appear. Filings run roughly 12–24 months behind. Trends on this page end at FY2023, the last fiscal year that has finished arriving; later years are shown and marked, and move no figure. Data on this page was exported October 14, 2026. What this page cannot tell you · view filing