OpenID Foundation/sustainability
Contents |
Funding Model
Please note that the fees listed are placeholders based upon other similar organizations, though expected to change before being ratified.
Membership Fees
Membership is needed in order to:
- Serve on the board of directors
- Participate in or chair a committee
- Elect the board of directors
- Other actions defined by the board as the organization continues to evolve
To encourage participation, membership shall be structured to enable both organizations and individuals to join at a very affordable cost.
The following categories of membership shall be available initially; these may be adjusted from time-to-time by the board. All values are USD though as the foundation broadens scope, adjustments may needed for varying geographic locations. An organization's membership in OIDF extends benefits of participation to all it's employees. For certain voting matters, however, such as Board elections, an organization receives the right to exercise only one vote.
- Invited Experts: Free
- Non-Profits and Students: $75 per year
- Individuals: $150 per year
- Organizations
- 1 - 25 employees: $500 per year
- 26 - 100 employees: $1,000 per year
- 101 - 250 employees: $2,500 per year
- 251 - 1000 employees: $5,000 per year
- > 1000 employees: $10,000 per year
Sponsorship Categories
For organizations who wish to support the Foundation, the following sponsorship categories are available. There is no requirement for donors/sponsors to be members, and no requirement for members to be donors/sponsors.
- Donor: less than $5,000 per year
- Bronze: $5,000 per year
- Silver: $20,000 per year
- Gold: $40,000 per year
- Platinum: $100,000 per year
Conferences
The OIDF envisions hosting OpenID conferences beginning in 2007. Optimally these events will generate additional revenue, however at a minimum they should break even. The primary goal of these events is to bring individuals in the OpenID community together, so conferences are best understood as community supporting and community building events first and as revenue generating efforts secondarily.
General
As determined by the organization, it is envisioned that OpenID conferences will be hosted starting in 2007. It will be great if these events generate additional revenue though most events in this space are unavoidably break-even. The goal of these events is more focused on bringing people together and should be seen as a marketing opportunity versus a revenue generating effort.
Strategic Conversations
As a benefit to Silver, Gold, and Platinum sponsors, private events will be held where the core contributors in the OpenID community are brought together with the sponsoring organization to discuss and gather feedback around needs, opportunities, challenges, and the future direction of OpenID.
Board Composition & Elections
The expectation of a community based organization is that individuals run the organization while balancing any corporate affiliations that they may have, and only indirectly and transparently representing a corporate position.
Due to the scarcity of the time board members can reasonably contribute, the board should provide oversight and high-level direction of the organization though should not be expected to be involved in the detail of day to day management. The Executive Director, Working Groups, and Committees will be expected to carry out the majority of the actual work produced by the organization.
The founding board is currently made up of seven individuals and the board size is expected to remain in the range of five to eleven members. As it is required to create an International organization to serve the needs of the OpenID Community, it is reasonable to expect the board to grow over seven seats. A board below five members or over eleven members will require a change to the Foundation's bylaws.
It is proposed that board members serve for two years and for elections to held annually, so no more than half the board turns over in any single election. From the date of formal creation of this organization, three of the founding board members (chosen via a random method) will serve for one year, and the balance for two years. It is envisioned that a Nominations and Elections committee will be formed prior to each election, chaired by either the Chair or Vice-Chair of the board (whomever's term is not ending). This committee is charged with making nominations and recommending if the size of the board should be changed. There is currently no limit on the number of terms a board member may serve.
Groups
Working Groups
Working Groups are envisioned to carry out technical specification work (currently mapping to existing openid.net mailing lists); membership is not required to participate.
The Foundation merely facilitates the ability for these Working Groups to exist and provides any resources needed to carry out their tasks. While no governance structure is to be imposed on each Working Group, it is important that there is strong communication between Working Groups and the board to help with tasks such as Intellectual Property Rights management.
Standing Committees
Standing Committees are formed by the board and withstand each election cycle. These Committees are explicitly created by the board, have a chair, and membership is required to participate in them. Examples of these sorts of Committees would include:
- Budget
- Nominations & Elections
- Conferences
- Marketing
It is expected of certain Standing Committees, such as Marketing, to work very closely with the wider OpenID community and take advantage of the Invited Expert position as needed.
Ad-Hoc Committees
Ad-Hoc Committees are formed by the board to deal with tasks not covered by Standing Commitees, such as oversight of the IWantMyOpenID Bounty Program. Ad-Hoc Committees share the governance and structure model of Standing Committees.
