Setting up GitHub Sponsors

Guide to connecting GitHub Sponsors for Organizations to your Collective

Open Collective Europe projects can use Open Collective to receive GitHub Sponsors funds by following these steps:

  • Confirm that you have a GitHub organization (not an individual user account). You can create a GitHub organization by following this guide.

  • Create a Collective for your open source project if you don't already have one. You will need to use OC Europe as your fiscal host.

Organisations on Open Collective are not the same as Organisations on GitHub. You must create a Collective in order to manage your project's finances on Open Collective.

  • Visit github.com/sponsors and sign your GitHub organization up for the Sponsors waitlist: ✔️ Select: "This organization is using a fiscal host" and select Open Collective Europe from the menu. ✔️ Add your Collective's URL to the 'Fiscal host project profile URL' box for example: https://opencollective.com/babel

Click Join Waitlist. GitHub staff will review your application, and you'll be notified when you can proceed to the next step.

OC Europe acts as your legal and financial home. You do not need to enter your own Stripe account or business information. If you reach this step please contact support@opencollective.com and we will amend your application with GitHub.

Frequently Asked Questions

What fees will be charged?

The standard OC Europe fees apply to funds raised via GitHub Sponsors: 10%. GitHub does not charge a fee.

Should I create an Organization or a Collective?

Confusingly, GitHub and Open Collective use the word "organization" to mean two different things.

  • On GitHub, you need to create an Organization to use Sponsors for your project.

  • On Open Collective, you need to create a Collective for your project (Organizations on Open Collective are a different profile type, for companies who sponsors open source projects, i.e. designed for paying money out, not accepting money like Collectives).

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