Delaware · Nonprofit
THE LINUX FOUNDATION
THE LINUX FOUNDATION (Delaware) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,066,291 to it, the largest being LF CHARITIES INC ($7,307,591). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- Revenue FY2024
- $221M
- Funders on record
- 6
- Grants received
- $8.1M
- Net assets
- $145M
What The Linux Foundation does
Mission
The Linux Foundation supports the creation of sustainable open source ecosystems by providing financial and intellectual resources, infrastructure, events, training, and supporting programs to progress open innovation. Working together with its members and communities of open source engineers, The Linux Foundation and its projects form the most ambitious and successful investment in the creation of shared technology.
As stated on its FY2024 Form 990.
Programs
Events: our events team facilitated 219 in-person events with over 70,000 attendees from 162 countries representing over 9,000 distinct organizations, marking the first year that the number of attendees exceeded the number who attended prior to the pandemic. We provided over $1.6m in travel funding and scholarships to these events. Our projects also hosted 88 virtual webinars attended by over 12,800 attendees.
Training: in 2024, our training & education team enrolled over 200,000 learners into e-learning courses and provided nearly 50,000 certifications to professionals who are increasing their skill base. More than 850 participants, primarily college students, have graduated from our mentorship programs, which continue to educate a new generation of open source contributors, providing skills that will give them a path to good jobs. In memory of our cto, shubhra kar, we also provided over 500 education scholarships to individuals from over 110 countries.
Projects: we host more open source projects than any other entity in the world, providing the support services they need in order to function. We surpassed 1,000 active open source software and standards projects in 2024, with impactful projects in nearly every technology niche.
The 3 programs described on its FY2024 Form 990, listed largest first by expense.
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 2020 to 2021, from $109M to $142M (+30%).
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.
3% of THE LINUX FOUNDATION’s revenue is contributions — about as donation-reliant as the typical peer (9% 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.
Board chair
Nithya Ruff
Chair
As listed on its FY2024 Form 990.
Who funds it, year by year
2018 → 2023: the base held at 1 funder, grant income rose $7k → $600k.
From the IRS filings of THE LINUX FOUNDATION’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
THE LINUX FOUNDATION leans on a few funders — its largest provides 91% of grant income and the top three 98%; half comes from just 1 funder.
the vertical line marks half of all grant income — 1 funder to its left
100% 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 THE LINUX FOUNDATION.
Largest funder’s share by year: 2018 100% · 2020 75% · 2021 100% · 2022 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
91% of THE LINUX FOUNDATION's grant income comes from Delaware funders.
In-state vs out-of-state, by year
Funder states come from each funder’s own filing. 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
THE LINUX FOUNDATION holds deeper cash reserves than three-quarters of the 43 community improvement nonprofits its size.
this organization peer median middle 50% of peers· 43 community improvement nonprofits over $100M, FY2024
Government funding THE LINUX FOUNDATION receives
Grants and contracts to this organization from federal (USASpending) and state checkbooks, reconciled to its EIN. $1.6M on record — $1.6M federal, $1k state.
- Department of Defense$1.5M
- Department of Veterans Affairs$48k
- Office of Personnel Management$13k
- FEES-GENERAL-FOR SERVICE $1k
Federal grants vs contracts are distinguished; state line items keep their reported category. Matched by name + geography (the BMF), so coverage is partial and precision-first.
Organizations like THE LINUX FOUNDATION
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 Delaware
Nationally
Read directly from this organization’s own Form 990, as neutral context.
Governance
Footprint & structure
Files a return copy in 1 state
Part of a family of 10 related entities
- Linux Foundation Japan LLC · disregarded
- Lf Open Source LLC · disregarded
- Linux Foundation UK Limited · disregarded
- The Linux Kernel Organization · exempt
- Lf Summits Inc · exempt
Screen this organization
A dated, signed PDF of the compliance screen for THE LINUX FOUNDATION: 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 THE LINUX FOUNDATION?
- THE LINUX FOUNDATION (Delaware) receives grants from 6 organizations whose IRS filings report $8,066,291 to it, the largest being LF CHARITIES INC ($7,307,591). 2 of them have funded it in more than one year.
- How many funders does THE LINUX FOUNDATION have?
- IRS filings report 6 organizations giving $8,066,291 in grants to THE LINUX FOUNDATION, 2 of which have funded it in more than one year.
- Who is the largest funder of THE LINUX FOUNDATION?
- LF CHARITIES INC is the largest funder on record, with $7,307,591 in grants. The full list of funders is on this page.
- How can an organization like THE LINUX FOUNDATION find more funders?
- Start with the funders already giving here, then look at the foundations that back similar organizations in Delaware. 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 Linux →
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 6 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