Terminology
We have developed some terminology to describe processes within the Open Collective ecosystem. Please use these terms when creating issues or support requests, instead of user —everyone is a user!
Since there are many ways to interact with our site, we have defined some terms to clear things up:
The word we will use for "someone who contributes to a project" is "contributor". The buttons on tiers will say "contribute".
We are all individuals
People are individuals. Individuals create accounts on our site in order to form or donate to initiatives inside the Open Collective Foundation.
On our site, individuals can be a 'Contributor' or an 'Organizer' (or both!)
Initiatives are Collectives - When you set up your account, our team will help you determine which.
Contributors
Financial Contributors
Organizational Financial Contributor
A company that supports an initiative financially, often at a higher tier. This is often called sponsorship in practice, but can go by other names depending on the Collective's context, such as base supporters, members, etc.
Sponsors often represent companies with accounting and reporting needs. They may want brand exposure, access to or goodwill from a community, tangible benefits like support, or help with their recruiting efforts.
Individual Financial Contributor
Supports an initiative financially, with a repeating or one-off contribution.
They arrive at a initiative many ways:
Direct link to a Collective
Organizer's page
There are two different formats to contribute financially:
One-time financial contribution
Recurring financial contribution
Expense submitter
An individual who requests payment from an initiative's budget using the expense function. This might be for reimbursement for purchases made on behalf of the initiative or could be financial compensation for work completed (you can upload an invoice or create one on our site when you submit an expense.)
Non-financial Contributors
Organizer
An individual who creates or works on an initiative. After talking with our team, organizers will determine if they are creating a 'Fund' or a 'Collective'.
Core Contributors
Individuals who are major contributors and represent the Collective with their face on the Collective's page as part of the team.
Collective Admins
A type of Core Contributor with additional permissions, so they can edit the Collective, change settings, approve expenses, make financial contributions to other Collectives, and receive messages from people trying to contact the Collective.
Core Contributors want to make their communities sustainable financially, so receiving financial contributions is first on their priority list. They use tools like tiers, goals, and social media sharing. They are interested in managing and growing their communities by creating events and sending updates.
Event Attendee
Individuals who register to attend a Collective's event. They often arrive through a direct link provided by the event organizers. They want a smooth, hassle-free experience, clear information about the event, and ideally a pathway to stay in touch or become contributors.
Initiatives
Initiatives are the accounts for projects/groups that are hosted by the Open Collective Foundation. An initiative can be either a Collective or a Fund. As part of your application process, our team will discuss with you which is the correct account type for your project.
Collective
A Collective represents a project or group that has a mission or purpose in the world, which they raise and spend funds transparently to achieve.
A Fiscal Host or Sponsor is a type of Organization.
Fiscal hosting enables Collectives to transact financially without needing to legally incorporate. A fiscal host is a legal company or individual who holds a Collective’s funds in their bank account, and can generate invoices and receipts for Financial Contributors. You can think of a fiscal host as an umbrella organization for the Collectives in it.
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