Easiest Way to Donate for FOSS?

Question

I use software from loads of open source project, just by running my computer and using the internet. What's the simplest way to support all/most projects I use fiscally?Is it to pick one or two projects I particularly like and give there? Or donate to a large foundation like the fsf and let them spread the love?

andrewkdinh · Accepted Answer

Some options I know of are Liberapay [0], OpenCollective [1], and GitHub Sponsors [2]. Best way would probably be to view each FOSS project’s page and see which they accept. A little tedious but you can set a recurring donation and forget about it. There’s also sometimes an option to discover projects you can donate to like on OpenCollective.
[0] https://liberapay.com/
[1] https://opencollective.com/
[2] https://github.com/sponsors

edoceo · Answer

Many projects have a Patreon or similar but you'd find them directly.Also, GitHub has a service too.Foundation money goes mostly to the foundation so I try to send the money directly to the project

ev1 · Answer

I would be curious about this too. I'm not a fan of using Patreon and their incredibly asinine policies (eg: no debit cards, no virtual cards, no OTP cards, credit only, otherwise arbitrary failures).
But anything that is "direct" for donations results in problems - by directly, I mean not going through a fee-eating third party that middlemans it. For example, numerous developer that I try to support with PayPal I will get the error "this payment can't be completed due to regulations" - apparently it is not possible to send to certain countries with paypal. Also known as: the places where those developers need it the most, compared to US/EU.
And for US banks, even sending small amounts to numerous western EU people all over the place near instantly triggers "cancel your card for fraud" safety checks.
The easiest way that is the least troublesome would be to donate to FSF or similar - but this means I can't choose where my impact goes, and the people whose software I use are likely to never see a sixpence of that donation.

jensvdh · Answer

FlossBank has a pretty good approach for this use case. https://flossbank.com/

satya71 · Answer

If you are working at a business with good revenue, Tidelift[1] may be an option.[1] https://tidelift.com/

orionblastar · Answer

I donated to HaikuOS and ReactOS because I want a better FOSS that isn't Linux.

Easiest Way to Donate for FOSS?

Many projects have a Patreon or similar but you'd find them directly.
Also, GitHub has a service too.
Foundation money goes mostly to the foundation so I try to send the money directly to the project

FlossBank has a pretty good approach for this use case. https://flossbank.com/

If you are working at a business with good revenue, Tidelift[1] may be an option.
[1] https://tidelift.com/

I donated to HaikuOS and ReactOS because I want a better FOSS that isn't Linux.