Open Collective Docs
Go back to Open Collective
Search…
Welcome
About
Introduction
Documentation
Terminology
Company
Pricing
Team
The Open Collective Way
Hiring
Investors
Contributing
Product
Features
Roadmap
Comparison
User Profile
Currencies
Log-in System
Privacy Policy
Moderation
Security
Notifications
Two-factor Authentication
Collectives
Collectives FAQ
Creating a Collective
Quick Start Guide
Collective Settings
Add Fiscal Host
Change Fiscal Host
Open Source Collectives
Transparent Budget
Expenses
Updates & Comms
Custom Email
Moderation
Conversations
Events
Projects
Funding Options
Buttons & Banners
Connected Collectives
Contribution flow
Financial Contributors
Financial Contributors FAQ
Guest contributions
Payments
Crypto Contributions
Website Badge
Receipts
Collective to Collective
Organizations
Expenses & Getting Paid
Expenses FAQ
Submitting Expenses
Virtual Cards
Expense Comments
Edit or Download an Expense
Receiving payment through Payoneer or Wise
Tax Information
Fiscal Hosts
Fiscal Hosts FAQ
Becoming a Fiscal Host
Creating a Fiscal Host
Organisation Settings
Fiscal Host Dashboard
Receiving Money
Payouts
Host Fees
Local Tax Support
Agreement Templates
Independent Collectives
About Independent Collectives
Create an Independent Collective
Independent Collective Setup
Independent Collective Management
Close an Independent Collective
Developers
Contributing
Design
Development
Documentation
Translation
Powered By GitBook
Introduction
While the Internet is a great tool for helping people collaborate, it is still extremely difficult for groups to collect funds and use them transparently. As a result, we see initiatives, projects, and movements popping up here and there only to disappear quickly due to a lack of funds. Imagine how many wonderful things didn't happen because funding (which is arguably the oxygen for most organizations) is difficult to sustain. Without an easy way to raise and manage finances, most of the ideas that can change the world are rarely able to break open from seed, let alone grow into a full-fledged tree.
To be able to operate, meetups, open-source projects, parent associations, neighbourhood associations, pet projects, clubs, unions, movements, non-profits, business incubators - all are either forced to use a physical glass jar, asking a sponsor to directly pay for their expenses or front the huge overhead of setting up and managing a corporation or a non-profit. Even if they manage to achieve it in a way that is neither inefficient nor opaque, it is overkill.
This is the problem that Open Collective solves. We enable groups to quickly set up a collective, raise funds and manage them transparently.
We want all those seeds to have a chance to grow and give the ideas a fighting chance to reach their true potential. We believe everyone should have the tools to create the organizations of tomorrow. And we are dedicating ourselves to make that happen!

Subscribe to our Talks Playlist on YouTube​

Open Collective is a platform where communities can collect and disburse money transparently, to sustain and grow their projects.

Open Collective is great for collaborative groups, like meetups, open-source projects, and more—and for those who want to support them.

The Internet has been really good at helping people do great things together. But things still get complicated once money is involved. These challenges hold communities back from getting all the support they need from supporters and sponsors to achieve their mission.
We enable communities to have economic power, so they can sustain themselves and have a larger impact on the world.

  • It's fully transparent (you can see where money comes from and where it goes).
  • Designed for ongoing collaborative communities, not one-off campaigns or individual creators.
  • Open source and designed for financial and technical transparency.
  • Offers fiscal sponsorship as a service, using Fiscal Hosts.
For more information including a full comparison of tech offerings please see our comparison page.

Our platform provides tools for legal entities to fiscally sponsor Collectives under their umbrella, empowering people to create associations without friction. It's like an API between the legacy world of banks and taxes and the emerging future of digitally powered distributed collaborations.
The goal of Open Collective is to create a New Form of Association for the Internet Generation.

People can contribute from anywhere by credit card, with donations denominated in the currency of the Fiscal Host. Payouts work everywhere our payment providers, Stripe and PayPal, serve.

Yes! One main purpose of Open Collective is to provide unincorporated projects with the legal and financial structures to provide people receipts and invoices.

For starters, we are believers in the open-source philosophy. Our code is open source, and so are the Collectives we host. We think transparency in technology and finances is important.
Additionally, regulations are different all over the world. Our platform is the API between Collectives and things like governments, banks, payment processors, and taxes, which vary a lot by country, so it has to be adaptable to different requirements.

We are an open-source project and run as an Open Collective ourselves. You can contribute money, code or translations. And we'd really love it if you started your own Collective and contributed by growing the community!
For more info about how you can contribute to Open Collective, check the contributing page.

​Contact us or join our Slack!
Previous
Welcome
Next - About
Documentation
Last modified 5mo ago
Export as PDF
Copy link
On this page
Essays
Talks
Media / Logo
Follow us
FAQ
What is Open Collective?
Who is Open Collective for?
Why Open Collective?
How is Open Collective different from other platforms?
How does it work?
Does it work in my country?
Can I get a receipt for my donations?
Why Open Source?
How can I contribute?
How can I contact you?