[Board] [OSGeo-Discuss] OSGeo finances

[Angelos Tzotsos]

Dear OSGeo community,

In February 2026, OSGeo will celebrate its 20 year anniversary. In these 
two decades it has seen incredible growth, from the number of incubated 
projects, to the proliferation of Local Chapters, to the number FOSS4G 
conferences around the world, as well as the constant increase in the 
number of participants to these conferences. Without a doubt, the 
community has significantly expanded and, in many aspects, it has become 
successful. However, the current situations brings compelling challenges 
that the Foundation must address, one of which is clearly the financial 
aspect.

The 2025 budget has been discussed and was recently approved 
(https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/OSGeo_Budget_2025 / 
https://www.loomio.com/d/W2qoQdbB/osgeo-budget-2025/1) and it brought 
important cuts almost everywhere. To SAC, to OSGeo projects, to the 
marketing committee and others. Furthermore, it is not the first year 
that the requested amounts could only be partially approved, delayed or 
even denied and every time, the decisions were not easily taken. Thus, 
it is safe and sad to say that today, the OSGeo Foundation is 
under-funded and without fundamental changes, the risk of collapse due 
to its own success is real.

It has become more obvious after the COVID pandemic: the combination of 
almost complete dependency on the financial success of the yearly global 
conference, coupled with the lack of structure and agreements between 
the OSGeo Foundation, Local Chapters and local and regional FOSS4G 
conferences is having dangerous consequences on the budget. Even more, 
given that the Foundation relies solely on volunteers (except for a very 
limited amount of consulting fees for SAC) and that it has no 
professional staff, is a significant hindrance when it comes to 
attracting and retaining sponsors.

We want to assure the community that addressing this situation is a top 
priority for the OSGeo board and we have started to work on drafting 
potential changes on the current structure, financial setup and status 
that would curve the current trajectory and would allow the Foundation 
to serve its community on the long run. In the near future, the board is 
planning a dedicated meeting for which your participation, as well as 
your suggestions are more than welcomed.

On behalf of the OSGeo Board,
Angelos

-- 
Angelos Tzotsos, PhD
President, Board of Directors
Open Source Geospatial Foundation
https://www.osgeo.org/member/angelos-tzotsos/