Foundation Formation Kit
By the Open Source Justice Foundation
Step by Step Guide
FFK guides you through each step of the process when creating your non-profit foundation, from incorporating to applying for status.
Clear Instructions
This site provides all the instructions you need to complete the required forms, and walks you through where and how to file them.
Fully Funded
After following these instructions and completing your application, your non-profit foundation will be ready to receive tax-advantaged donations!
The “Foundation Formation Kit” Project. The project’s goal is to develop and offer a kit of resources to turn any open-source project into a tax-exempt non-profit foundation. Forming non-profits and obtaining tax-exempt status with the IRS is a time-consuming and opaque process that usually requires the services of legal counsel. This is largely cost-prohibitive for small- to medium-sized open-source projects. The Foundation Formation Kit will provide all the forms and instructions necessary for open-source projects to form their own foundations and apply for tax-exempt status, without legal overhead. Once established as non-profits, open-source projects can obtain financial support or crowdfunding and avoid onerous tax liability for sharing that support with their contributors and community.
The tax-exempt foundation structure has previously been the exclusive privilege of large and well-capitalized open-source projects. The Foundation Formation Kit will give all open-source projects access to the benefits of this structure, regardless of size or means. A more formalized legal framework will accelerate and grow capital allocation into the open-source space. The Foundation Formation Kit will thus transform an ad-hoc and fragile industry into a robust, distributed ecosystem of nonprofits supporting open-source contributions and development.