# General FAQs

### What can I do with an Open Collective Europe account?

By joining Open Collective Europe, your initiative can:

* Collect financial contributions (donations, memberships, sponsorships)
* Apply for subsidies or grants
* Pay invoices and reimburse expenses
* Offer full budget transparency to your community
* Operate without creating your own legal entity
* Engage collaborators: freelancers (via Smart), volunteers, or employees

***

### What am I not allowed to do?

To stay compliant with our legal and charitable framework, you **may not**:

* Issue invoices or sign documents in the name of OCE
* Use funds to influence legislation or politics (lobbying)
* Support or engage in illegal activity
* Use funds for personal profit
* Hold project funds in another account or have another fiscal sponsor at the same time (if incorporated)
* Spend funds on purposes outside your initiative’s mission — if you do, they must be reimbursed

***

### Why should I use Open Collective?

Open Collective Europe uses the **Open Collective platform** to simplify and bring transparency to financial management.

Benefits include:

* Easy collection of **recurring or one-off contributions**
* Simple spending: submit a receipt/invoice → approve → paid
* Automatic and public **budget tracking**
* Shared financial visibility = stronger collaboration and trust

> We believe transparency makes communities more resilient and democratic.

***

### How is Open Collective Europe different?

Here’s what makes us special:

* Designed for collaborative communities — not just for campaigns or individuals
* Open source + built-in transparency (no hidden ledgers)
* We provide **fiscal hosting** as a service using a nonprofit legal framework
* Based in Europe, but globally connected

***

### How much does it cost?

Open Collective Europe charges a standard **administrative fee**:

* **8%** for most contributions (plus card processing fees)
  * 1.5% + €0.25 for European cards
  * 2.5% + €0.25 for non-European cards
* **10%** if your Collective:
  * Receives a **grant or sponsorship**
  * Receives a **tax-deductible donation**
  * Receives a **public subsidy**
  * Receives a **manual bank transfer**

{% hint style="info" %}
 Part of this fee goes to support the Open Collective platform (which we use to operate our fiscal hosting).
{% endhint %}

***

### Can we get a discount?

We’re often asked for fee reductions — and we truly understand why.\
Many initiatives bring in funds already raised, and we know how tight nonprofit budgets can be.

However, our **standard fees are already kept as low as possible** to cover the real costs of:

* Legal & administrative management
* Risk and compliance
* Payments, reports, and support over time

{% hint style="warning" %}
Outside of specific exceptional cases (like COVID-19 or Ukrainian relief), we cannot offer fee waivers or discounts.
{% endhint %}

***

### Fee Comparison Chart:

| Fiscal Host                                                 | Hosted Collectives   | Fee                                |
| ----------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------- | ---------------------------------- |
| Open Source Collective                                      | Open source projects | 10%                                |
| [Open Collective Europe](https://opencollective.com/europe) | EU-based Collectives | 8-10%                              |
| [Women Who Code](https://opencollective.com/wwcodeinc)      | Local chapters       | 10%                                |
| Community Partners                                          | US-based projects    | 9-12% + minimum balance/annual fee |
| Charitable Allies                                           |                      | 1-25%                              |

### What if I want to become my own fiscal host someday?

No problem! You're welcome to use Open Collective Europe as your fiscal host for as long as you need and remain eligible.

* You can cancel fiscal hosting at any time.
* If you plan to transition into managing your own structure, we can help you prepare.
* The [Open Collective platform](https://opencollective.com/) also supports organizations that wish to become fiscal hosts themselves.

***

### How long does it take to get started?

* The **application process only takes a few minutes**.
* We might reach out with a few follow-up questions.
* Once your application is accepted, you can **start receiving donations right away**.

{% hint style="info" %}
The entire setup — from applying to receiving your first contribution — can take **as little as 30 minutes**, and up to **2 business days**.
{% endhint %}

***

### Is there a minimum required budget?

Nope! There is **no minimum balance** required to be hosted by OCE.

Since our fees are taken as a percentage of incoming contributions, you can start small and grow as your initiative develops.


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