fundraising | OpenStreetMap Blog

OpenStreetMap did not come out of a European research programme. It was not created as a policy instrument, nor was it designed from the top down to support institutional priorities.
Yet many of the ideas behind OpenStreetMap are now central to European strategies on data, digital transformation, innovation and technological sovereignty.
Openness, reuse, collaboration, trusted digital infrastructure, digital commons and technological autonomy are all important elements of current EU policy. They are also principles that have shaped OpenStreetMap for more than twenty years.
The OpenStreetMap Foundation is interested in opportunities to collaborate in EU-funded projects.
OpenStreetMap can make a practical contribution in areas such as digital commons and digital sovereignty.
This post is aimed mainly at people who are developing, or considering developing, EU project proposals involving OpenStreetMap Foundation.
OSMF is a small foundation supporting a very large global community.
It’s main role is to help ensure the sustainability of the OpenStreetMap project over time.
OSMF doesn’t create data on behalf of the community. OpenStreetMap is maintained and improved every day by thousands of people around the world.
To involve OSMF as a valuable partner in a European project, it is important to consider how the Foundation can contribute its experience in the governance of digital commons, open infrastructure, community-based models and long-term sustainability.
It can also help projects design activities that strengthen the OpenStreetMap ecosystem, rather than treating OpenStreetMap simply as a dataset to be used.
Licensing is another important aspect to consider from the beginning.
OpenStreetMap data is published under the ODbL, which reflects the project’s commitment to openness and share-alike principles. EU open data, however, is often published under licences such as CC BY.
This doesn’t necessarily prevent collaboration, but licence compatibility should be considered during the design of the project, not after the work has already started.
This is an important issue to interact with the OpenStreetMap ecosystem.

A practical invitation to project teams
OSMF encourages organisations developing EU project proposals to contact the Foundation at an early stage, ideally before the proposal is finalised.
A first approach should include:
– a short description of the project, why OpenStreetMap is relevant and what role is being proposed for OSMF
– an explanation of how the project would contribute back to the OpenStreetMap ecosystem, for example by strengthening infrastructure, supporting governance or contributing to the long-term sustainability
– a realistic collaboration model that reflects the size and capacity of a small non-profit organisation, including simpler funding arrangements, such as lump-sum contributions, where appropriate.
OSMF is open to collaboration with European projects that understand OpenStreetMap is not only as a map or a source of data, but as a community, a shared infrastructure and a living digital commons.
The invitation is simple: contact us, design the collaboration and work with us in a way that helps OpenStreetMap and its community remain strong over time.

Last year, the global OpenStreetMap community, together with OSM’s corporate members and partners, donated an astounding £373,000 to support the map.

In an extraordinary show of support for OSM’s 19th birthday, the mapping community contributed over £113,000 through small donations. This enthusiastic broad base of community support resulted in approximately 3,089 donations from all over the world averaging £36 each. The OSM fundraising committee is especially grateful for the social media shares and the kind and encouraging comments on supporting.openstreetmap.com, in addition to the gifts. The positive response to the birthday fundraising campaign was a highlight of the year. Thank you!

OSM’s corporate partners also played a pivotal role, with total corporate memberships reaching £201,074. Additional, generous gifts, above and beyond corporate membership fees, from Microsoft, NextGIS, Smoca, and Elasticsearch helped bring us to the £373,000 total. We are also grateful to the corporate Advisory Board for their advice and collaboration which has been essential to the success of our partnerships.Thank you!

A special note of thanks goes out to NextGIS, which has pledged 10% of its profits from data sales to OSM, setting an impressive standard for its commitment to the project.

In an extraordinary show of support for OSM’s 19th birthday, the mapping community contributed over £113,000 through small donations. This enthusiastic broad base of community support resulted in approximately 3,089 donations from all over the world, averaging £36 each.

OSM is fortunate to be the recipient of mission critical, “in kind” support through donations hardware and other infrastructure. We are grateful to Fastly, who provide the content delivery network for the file service, and many others, including TomTom, Bytemark, AWS and University College London, as well as AARNet, AWS,Academic Computer Club, Umeå University, Appliwave, Bytemark, Equinix Amsterdam, Equinix Dublin, Exonetric, INX-ZA, NetAlerts, OSUOSL, OVH, and Scaleway and everyone else who contributes to OpenStreetMap.

We’d also like to add a special note of thanks to Kevin Bushaw, who gave us a steep discount on our new website, supporting.openstreetmap.org.

The funds raised in 2023 will go toward enhancing infrastructure, supporting our critical support staff including our SSRE, and helping build OSM into the future.

On behalf of OSM’s local communities, the OSMF board would like to thank the companies who sponsored SotMs in 2023, both regional and local. This kind of support is very important to local communities, because the OSMF itself cannot promise companies that their funding goes towards regional events, except where the money is earmarked as part of a Sponsorship Distribution Agreement. Companies who directly support regional events are making a positive difference for the community and the quality of the map.

Lastly, we want to point out that any generosity toward OpenStreetMap is generosity to the broader open source software and data community, not just the OSM project. The impact of your gifts extends far beyond the financial; it is a commitment to a world where open data serves as a cornerstone for creativity, problem-solving, and community building.

Thank you for supporting OpenStreetMap!

The OpenStreetMap Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation, formed to support the OpenStreetMap Project. It is dedicated to encouraging the growth, development and distribution of free geospatial data for anyone to use and share. The OpenStreetMap Foundation owns and maintains the infrastructure of the OpenStreetMap project, is financially supported by membership fees and donations, and organises the annual, international State of the Map conference. Our volunteer Working Groups and small core staff work to support the OpenStreetMap project. Join the OpenStreetMap Foundation for just £15 a year or for free if you are an active OpenStreetMap contributor.