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<COMPANY_NAME> and Open Source Foundations and Organizations

<COMPANY_NAME> supports many open source foundations and standards organizations on our platform, and there are times when it makes sense for <COMPANY_NAME> to support these organizations in additional ways through sponsorships, memberships, or joining their board.

This document is a guide to which foundations we currently support and how to support new ones:

  • Active open source foundation memberships
  • Process for joining foundations
  • Past memberships and years of membership
  • Guidance for joining boards

2022 Active Memberships:

Why we Support Foundations

Our business at <COMPANY_NAME> is dependent on a healthy and thriving Open Source ecosystem. Through ups and downs of global economies it is imperative that these communities remain stable. We as an organization cannot risk enterprise or long-tail developer trust to be lost in these platforms. Stability of the Open Source ecosystem, and the pillars of these various communities, is a fundamental piece of our overall business strategy. This does not mean that we need to come to the table at every organization that needs support, we have limited financial and human resources which we need to allocate strategically.

Joining a foundation or standards organizations should be considered as an annuity rather than a one-off cost. Foundations need consistent support and there is potential for damaged relationships and reputations when a party waivers in their support. Therefore sponsoring or joining a foundation should be considered a long term commitment and one only entered into when there is a clear strategic goal that is broadly supported by the business.

This section describes the process for joining a foundation at <COMPANY_NAME> and how to evaluate the business need.

Process

  1. Create an issue in this repo including prospectus. Note for new foundation sponsorship requests with-in the FY a source of the budget must be indicated. In future years that budget will automatically be allocated by strategic finance to the central pool for managing membership dues. In addition any staffing requirements will need to be identified and the long term funding in place.
  2. Issue should include an outline of benefits associated with the membership as well as a strategic business case for support. This should include the level of membership desired and a brief description of why that level is appropriate.
  3. This request is reviewed by the Foundation-reviewers team (members tbd - finance, legal, OSS Governance SMEs, exec sponsor).
  4. If membership is approved the requesting team will be responsible for setting up and executing all purchase orders with the help of strategic finance.
  5. When <COMPANY_NAME> participation in officer or director level positions is required, email XXX to get added to Microsoft’s indemnity policy.

Assessing suitability for <COMPANY_NAME> support

A membership or sponsorship should be considered when:

  1. <COMPANY_NAME> has a strategic dependency on a technology or ecosystem that benefits from open governance (e.g., Kubernetes, open source licenses)
  2. Investment in the foundation is important to support ongoing enterprise trust in the sustainability of Open Source technologies
  3. Foundation is supporting and sustaining significant Open Source platforms that are maintained on GitHub
  4. The failure of this foundation would pose an existential risk to <COMPANY_NAME>
  5. The decisions being made at the foundation are of significant importance to <COMPANY_NAME>'s business
  6. <COMPANY_NAME> is already participating in the community lead area of the foundation

One thing to keep in mind while coming up with a strategy for <COMPANY_NAME>'s engagement in a foundation is the relationship between GitHub and Microsoft. While both of our organizations are independent entities, it is important that we are strategic when engaging in foundation memberships and work together on a combined strategy. There are times when it may make more sense for Microsoft to be the party at the table, or times when it makes sense for both organizations to participate. Prior to requesting membership please research if Microsoft is currently involved in the foundation you wish to participate in, review the foundations governance rules around ‘related companies’ or subsidiaries participating in a single organization, and include in your strategy how our two organizations best collaborate within this foundation. If you'd like to contact Microsoft to discuss open source foundation memberships, please email XXX.

Membership of foundations for purely PR purposes should be avoided. Instead consider sponsoring events or other one-time fundraising events.

Assessing renewals

Renewals are assumed approved unless there is an explicit reason not to. All memberships will be reviewed on an annual basis by the Foundation-reviewers team during March to ensure that there are no concerns with ongoing sponsorship and allow financial planning for the following FY. Potential reasons to not renew would include:

  1. Lack of corporate sponsor
  2. Change in cost
  3. Significant change in governance of foundation
  4. Change in activity / relevance of foundation
  5. Legal concerns
  6. Community concerns

If it is decided to suspend membership with a foundation the reasoning should be documented as much as possible and the decision to stop sponsoring approved at executive sponsor level.