Sponsoring & Collaboration

Overview

How to fund conferences sustainably.

Funding sources

• Sponsorships - Companies pay, get talk slots or booths
• Tickets - Some charge. Free/discounted for students and community.
• Merchandise - T-shirts, stickers. Covers costs, people like having them.
• Catering revenue share - Get percentage of what caterers make
• Government/municipality - Funding for venue and food
• Community donations - Open Collective, bank transfers, WordPress plugins
• University partnerships - Venue and help
• Note: Proprietary software companies usually run their own events instead

Sponsorship packages

Usually offer:

• Booth space
• Website/material branding
• Talk slot (with approval)
• Catering sponsorship

Many have tiers for different company sizes and budgets. Some have low-cost ways for community projects to sponsor.

Rejecting sponsors

You need policies and judgment.

Reasons to say no:

• Values don’t align with open source
• Community backlash
• Problematic past behavior

How to handle it:

• Publish your policies
• Get community input on controversial sponsors
• Staff makes final call but often consults

Other revenue ideas

• Donor fundraising - Community donations (navigate tax implications)
• Premium experiences - Expensive tickets for small speaker dinners
• Certificates - Valued in some regions
• Volunteer awards - Recognition and social events
• Sponsorship tickets - Company pays for community member attendance
• Student org partnerships - Help recruit and provide venue
• Revenue share - Catering gives you percentage

What actually works

• Relationships matter - Knowing the right person at a company helps more than anything
• Follow up - Keep contact lists, reach out between events
• Show value - Make sure sponsors actually get something, not just logo placement
• Different regions, different approaches - What works varies
• Build trust - Publish policies, involve community on controversial decisions
• Alignment - Find companies that actually care about open source