The OpenSSL Foundation is pleased to announce that we are reopening the opportunity for individuals to financially support our work through donations on Github Sponsors. Individual contributions of time, expertise, and financial support have always been critical to our ability to keep improving the OpenSSL software library, and we are excited to once again welcome financial contributions at all levels.

In March 2024, the OpenSSL Foundation undertook a major organizational reform and decided to temporarily disable individual donations until we better understood our financial situation under the new governance structure. Since then, the OpenSSL Foundation has taken on significant additional financial responsibilities. We’ve been expanding our staff, investing more deeply in community education and engagement, and developing other longer-term plans in service of our non-commercial communities.

The Foundation is utilizing historical cash reserves to make these initial investments, but our future revenue plan relies almost exclusively on fundraising. At the same time that we are reopening the option for individual gifts, we also are investing in a redesign of our corporate sponsorship program. The new program will provide more sponsor benefits and better reflect the importance of sponsorship support. We look forward to sharing the details of our redesigned sponsorship program in early 2025. In the future, the contributed revenue we receive from individual and corporate supporters will be the OpenSSL Foundation’s primary revenue source.

Philanthropy can be a meaningful way to have an impact on something larger than oneself. Gifts to nonprofit organizations have a ripple effect, touching the lives of all the people who benefit from that organization’s work. When someone contributes to the OpenSSL Foundation, they are helping to bring data privacy and security to countless people around the world, whoever they are, wherever they are, or whatever their personal beliefs. Donors give to our mission, and those gifts flow through us to benefit the people we serve.

Very few internet users understand just what it takes to enable private and secure communication online, but everyone appreciates that these protections exist. As we reopen giving opportunities for the OpenSSL Foundation, we hope that all those who value online security and privacy as a human right will consider contributing to our vital work, at any level of support. We gratefully accept both one-time and monthly gifts.

To contribute, visit our Github Sponsors page. To learn more about our fundraising program, including both individual and corporate giving opportunities, contact Amy Parker, Chief Funding Officer, amy.parker@openssl.org. We welcome your ideas and feedback!