Skip to content

Secure sponsorship for an Open Source Conference §

Pattern Summary §

Source sponsors to fund an open source conference on campus.

Problem / Challenge §

Academic OSPOs often have limited or no dedicated budget for event organization.

The absence of dedicated funding limits the scale of the event.

This, in turn, restricts the ability to showcase the OSPO’s work; promote open source best practices; and drive open source adoption in academia.

Pattern Category §

  • Building University OSS Community
  • Funding & Financial Support
  • Working with Tech Transfer / External Partners

Context §

A university with diverse departments of varying levels of OSS expertise and needs.

An OSPO has been established.

Forces §

Students, researchers and faculty do not know how or where to access information and support from the OSPO that they need.

An OSPO with the capacity to organize / co-organize events.

Resources may not be available to finance or part-fund the event.

Member(s) of the conference planning/program committee have useful contacts with local companies, start ups or with organizations in the open source ecosystem.

Solution §

Secure event funding by approaching open source companies, organizations and other campus-adjacent businesses as sponsors.

The solution below outlines some core activities to consider:

Identify Potential Sponsors §

Conduct a mapping exercise of potential sponsors including: * Local tech companies, startups and campus-adjacent businesses that may benefit from visibility or hiring opportunities. * Research open source projects and foundations with funding capacity or community-building mandates. * Organizations already interacting with your academic community (e.g., via internships, joint research, GitHub contributions, IT services).

Create a Sponsorship Prospectus §

Develop a concise, professionally branded sponsorship package that outlines: * Event purpose and audience (students, researchers, developers). * Sponsorship tiers and benefits (logo placement, speaking slots, booth/table, recruiting access). * Impact metrics (expected attendance, demographics, institutional affiliation). * A clear call-to-action (how to get involved).

The prospectus should also include alignment with academic values (e.g., open knowledge, inclusion, research impact) to appeal to mission-driven sponsors.

Build Personal Connections §

  • Leverage faculty, alumni and students with industry connections to make warm introductions.
  • Reach out through LinkedIn, local meetups or previous OSPO collaborators.

Offer Non-Monetary Support Options §

For companies with limited budgets, provide options to contribute through: * In-kind support (venue, swag, food, volunteers, dev tools). * Cross-promotion or content contributions (workshops, talks, demos).

Ensure that sponsor logos and acknowledgements are implemented as promised.

Produce a post-event report summarizing impact and thanking sponsors.

Resulting Context §

There are a wide range of benefits from securing sponsorship for OSPO conferences:

Increased visibility and credibility for the OSPO and its institution: A funded and well-run event looks more professional and raises the profile of both the academic OSPO and the broader institution. Sponsors often help promote events through their own channels, which increases impact within relevant communities.

Stronger industry-academia relationships: Engaging local companies and open source projects builds long-term relationships that can be mutually beneficial for all parties (e.g. internships, new talent pipelines, collaboration, future funding opportunities).

Mission alignment with open source projects: Sponsorship from open source projects reinforces shared values like community-building, transparency, and knowledge sharing. This strengthens the OSPO's role as a connector between academia and open source.

Improved conference experience: More resources translate into more speakers, better venues, side events and technical infrastructure. This enhances the overall experience for all participants.

Additional Learning from the GW Open Source Program Office §

We really benefited from our engaged program and planning committee members who had good contacts. Specifically, a key member of our IT department, who is heavily involved in procurement for the university, brought in two sponsors. One of our OSPO leadership also sourced funding from our gold sponsor at a conference. In the future we hope to leverage some alumni connections.

We were able to get impressive keynote speakers from NASA and GW to commit early and we included this in our sponsor prospectus. We were lucky to get sponsors who are (for the most part) good open source community members so they truly contributed to the conference.

We also connected to the local OSS community to get speakers and active participants (e.g. CMS, DC Civic Tech, GW projects).

Additional learning for the University of California OSPO Network §

We used a lot of our sponsorship to pay for travel costs. Interestingly, this wasn’t just for speakers - it was also for some participants. We were very focused on getting key people in the room together.

Known Instances §

References §

Contributors & Acknowledgement §

In alphabetical order:

  • Ciara Flanagan, https://orcid.org/0009-0005-3153-7673
  • David Lippert, George Washington University, https://orcid.org/0009-0003-6444-9595
  • Lorena Barba, George Washington University, https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5812-2711
  • Stephanie Lieggi, University of California Santa Cruz, https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5647-6540