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Create a Donor/Sponsorship Prospectus §

Pattern Summary §

Create and publish a donor/sponsorship prospectus that articulates the opportunities, benefits and impact of financial supporting the OSPO and its activities.

Problem / Challenge §

Academic OSPOs are emerging entities within academia that typically depend on short-term grant funding rather than stable institutional budgets.

Unlike traditional university fundraising that often relies on alumni networks and established development offices, OSPOs need to attract support from technology companies, open source foundations, individual developers and other non-traditional academic supporters who may have varying levels of familiarity with university partnership processes.

Academic OSPOs may struggle to articulate the benefits of giving to potential donors or sponsors.

Pattern Category §

  • Community Building
  • Demonstrating Value as an Academic OSPO
  • Funding & Financial Support

Context §

A research university creating large volumes of research outputs across every discipline.

An OSPO has been established.

A stable budget line for the OSPO and/or open source initiatives may not be established within the institution.

Forces §

Potential donors and sponsors may not know how to donate directly to the OSPO.

Procurement and payment guidelines allow for once-off or flexible donations directly to the OSPO.

Donation protocols and payment methods have already been confirmed and agreed with finance colleagues.

Solution §

Develop and publish a comprehensive donor/sponsorship prospectus that serves as both a marketing tool and an information resource.

The solution below outlines different types of information that may be included in the document:

Context and Background §

  • Brief explanation of OSPO mission and activities.
  • Information about the academic institution and its open source commitment.

Tiered Sponsorship Levels §

  • Defined sponsorship tiers (e.g., Community, Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum) with specific funding amounts.
  • The benefits for each sponsorship tier may include recognition, networking opportunities and promotion opportunities.

Value Proposition §

Every OSPO is unique. Some common benefits to funding OSPOs may include: * Access to emerging talent, research insights and innovation pipelines. * Impact through metrics, case studies and success stories.

Varied Funding Options (where possible) §

  • General operational support for ongoing OSPO activities.
  • Event-specific sponsorships for workshops and conferences.
  • Project-based funding for specific research or infrastructure initiatives.
  • In-kind contributions for services, software or expertise.

Practical Information §

  • Payment methods and financial processing details.
  • Clear contact information.
  • Next steps for interested sponsors

Ideally, the sponsorship prospectus should include high quality design with easy to understand graphics.

It should also be easily accessible with prominent placement on the OSPO website, clear navigation and a downloadable PDF version.

Resulting Context §

A donor/sponsorship prospectus provides clear information and enables potential supporters to self-identify opportunities that align with their interests and their available resources.

Known Instances §

References §

Contributors & Acknowledgement §

In alphabetical order

  • Ciara Flanagan, https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3153-7673
  • David Lippert, The George Washington University, https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6444-9595
  • Stephanie Lieggi, University of California Santa Cruz, https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5647-6540