California · Nonprofit
OPEN SOURCE INITIATIVE
OPEN SOURCE INITIATIVE (California) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $299,673 to it, the largest being ALFRED P SLOAN FOUNDATION ($249,150). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $1.1M
- Funders on record
- 4
- Grants received
- $300k
- Net assets
- $829k
What Open Source Initiative does
Mission
To (1) educate the public about the advantages of open source software [software that users are free to modify and redistribute]; (2) encourage the software community to participate in open source software development; (3) identify how software users' objectives are best served through open source software; (4) persuade organizations and software authors to distribute source software freely they otherwise would not distribute; (5) provide resources for sharing information about open source software and licenses; (6) assist attorneys to craft open source licenses; (7) manage a certification program to allow use of one or more certification marks in association with open source software; and (8) advocate for open source principles.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
1. Open Source Initiative acts as fiscal sponsoree for three active projects in 2024 with all revenue from donations. Clearlydefined is an open source project to crowd-source the gathering, curation, and upstreaming of licensing and security (and more) data about free and open source projects. The ultimate goal being to help projects thrive by more clearly defining their license and status. All revenue was from donations. The floss desktops for kids project teaches students computing by doing; students learn to break-down and repair computer hardware components and install open source software. Seagl is a grassroots technical summit dedicated to spreading awareness and knowledge about free / libre / open source software, hardware, and culture.
$110,459 spent$127,600 earned by the program17% of program spendingThe open source and standards working group: 1. Explores current standards setting organizations (sso) understanding of osi approved licenses, and more generally, open source software, development, and projects; 2. Educates sso in current principles and practices widely excepted by open source communities of practice; 3. Supports authentic engagement across open source communities (I.e. Implementers, contributors, projects, foundations) to ensure alignment with best practices in open source licensing, development and distribution; 4. Produces reference resources (educational materials, professional development activities, expert opinions, consulting services, etc.) to address gaps in understanding, support current practices, and increase the recognition of osi approved licensing and the osi license review process, and; 5. Encourages ssos to request and maintain formal peer relationships with osi. The working group acts as the formal correspondent. In 2024, Open Source Initiative received a significant grant from the alfred p. Sloan foundation to create and educate the public about the open source ai definition.
$517,146 spentof which $19,913 as grants$330,650 earned by the program79% of program spendingOpen Source Initiative is actively involved in community building, education, and public advocacy to promote awareness and the importance of non-proprietary software. Osi staff and board members use virtual resources or travel the world to attend open source conferences and events, meet with open source developers and users, and to discuss with executives from the public and private sectors about how open source technologies, licenses, and models of development can provide economic and strategic advantages.
$27,958 spent4% of program spendingOther program services, not described on the e-filed return.
$0 spent0% of program spending
The 4 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense. Program spending in total: $655,563.
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. The shaded band is where the middle 50% of its peers' revenue would sit, given their growth.
Balance sheet
Total assets and total liabilities at each year end, in dollars. The largest one-year move in total assets was 2019 to 2020, from $323k to $587k (+82%).
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: 2017 0% · 2018 0% · 2019 0% · 2020 1% · 2021 7% · 2022 0% · 2023 0% · 2024 0%. Grants only. Government contracts and fees sit inside program revenue.
97% of OPEN SOURCE INITIATIVE’s revenue is contributions — more donation-reliant than the typical peer (67% for the typical peer).
Surplus & reserves
Operating surplus or deficit each year, and months of liquidity in hand. 1 of the last 8 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
Stefano Maffuli
Executive director
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income rose $40 → $264.
1 of 4 of your funders are donor-advised or pass-through sponsors (tagged DAF) — 0% 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 OPEN SOURCE INITIATIVE’s funders (the co-funder graph). 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
OPEN SOURCE INITIATIVE leans on a few funders — its largest provides 83% of grant income and the top three 100%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2020 100% · 2021 100% · 2023 100% — broadly stable.
“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.
Where its funders are
OPEN SOURCE INITIATIVE draws 100% of its grant income from funders outside California, across 3 states in all.
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. $483 arriving through sponsors registered in 1 state 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.
Against its field
OPEN SOURCE INITIATIVE holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 482 science & tech nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 482 science & tech nonprofits $1M–$10M, FY2024
Organizations like OPEN SOURCE INITIATIVE
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 California
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Where the money goes
65% of spending goes to programs.
Governance
Public support
98%
Share of support from the public (Schedule A) — the basis for its public-charity status.
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for OPEN SOURCE INITIATIVE: 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 OPEN SOURCE INITIATIVE?
- OPEN SOURCE INITIATIVE (California) receives grants from 4 organizations whose IRS filings report $299,673 to it, the largest being ALFRED P SLOAN FOUNDATION ($249,150). 1 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does OPEN SOURCE INITIATIVE have?
- IRS filings report 4 organizations giving $299,673 in grants to OPEN SOURCE INITIATIVE, 1 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of OPEN SOURCE INITIATIVE?
- ALFRED P SLOAN FOUNDATION is the largest funder on record, with $249,150 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like OPEN SOURCE INITIATIVE find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in California. The funding by cause and by state pages list the largest funders for a given area and how to approach them.
Play a game about who funds Open Source Initiative →
These figures are read directly from IRS Form 990 / 990-PF e-file XML: this organization’s own return for FY2024 (financials across 2017–2024), and the filings of 4 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