Associated Project HOWTO

Free and open source projects that are deemed to be genuine, substantial and significant may be eligible for associated project status.
Projects interested in becoming SPI associated projects should review these documents:
There is no cost to become or remain an associated project.
Generally the process starts with informal discussions between project representatives and one or more board members, initiated either by the project representatives or the board members. These discussions carry no commitment on either side and are an opportunity for the project and SPI to establish if proceeding to a formal application makes sense for the project.
Projects interested in becoming SPI associated projects are welcome to contact the board for a discreet informal discussion on whether the project is likely to be accepted as an associated project. At this stage the board may offer advice that will improve the chance of acceptance later.
If a board member is personally satisfied that the project is suitable for associated project status they may agree to sponsor the project's application.
If the project wishes to proceed, a formal application is sent to the sponsor.
The information needed is:
If the project already has existing contracts, liabilities or pending litigations, they must also disclose their existence to SPI. The association to SPI shall not automatically transfer the project managers obligations to SPI.
Note: (2) above does not preclude the use of additional SPI services. This information is sought so that SPI can assess short term service requirements.
Following the formal application, and any additional discussion, the sponsor will draft a resolution similar to the template below if they are still satisfied that the project is suitable for associated project status.
This resolution will be presented to the board and contributing members, and discussed. If the project is in some way political or controversial, it may be necessary to champion it to the SPI contributing membership. This process is not intended to be adversarial - the members just want to avoid any difficult-to-rectify mistakes.
After sufficient time for discussion (normally at least three days), the resolution may be submitted for a vote at an SPI board meeting. These meetings are public and held monthly on irc.spi-inc.org (the OFTC network), channel #spi, according to a schedule published on the SPI web site. All are welcome to attend.
Board members will judge the application on several merits:
If the resolution passes, the project is invited to become an associated project. The nominated liaison will be notified of the invitation. They will then have the amount of time stated in the resolution, usually 60 days, to officially accept.
The Liaison is the person from the project to whom the Board listens for all authoritative decisions regarding project assets, fundraising, expenses and disposition. While the Board is happy to talk to other members of the project, only the Liaison will be able to send any instructions regarding funds or assets, unless they delegate someone else.
The SPI Board does not stipulate how the Liaison is chosen in the project, as long as there are clear rules which let the Board know to whom to listen, especially in the event of disagreement. For most projects, it is simply one of the project founders who volunteers and appoints their own successor. A few projects, such as Debian and PostgreSQL, have well defined election procedures.
It is encouraged, but not required, that the Liaison attend Board meetings.
Contributors to the project are eligible for SPI contributing membership subject to the guidelines set out here but they each have to apply for it individually. The liaison can speed up the membership acceptance process by supplying the Board and Membership Committee with a list of eligible contributors for the project. The liaison will be consulted where there is doubt.
It is the contributing members who elect the Board and who are eligible to run for the Board. They also provide input into decisions which the Board feels are controversial enough to merit wide discussion. For these reasons, members of the project should join SPI to ensure the project is well represented.
All monetary activities in SPI are overseen by the Treasurer (treasurer@spi-inc.org), with the help of one or more volunteer Assistant Treasurers and paid contractors. In order to most effectively track request progress and distribute request-handling workload, requests for the Treasurer should normally be submitted to SPI's ticketing system; project liaisons will be provided with the address for this system.
SPI can accept donations for the project in three ways: checks, credit cards, and PayPal. Checks must be in American or Canadian dollars and are mailed directly to SPI's mailing address. Credit cards are processed by an external service, currently Click&Pledge. The Treasurer should be contacted to set up access to credit card and PayPal donations, which may include the ability to create special donation pages for individual campaigns or events.
In all cases, it is important that the donor designate that the gift is to go to the project. If a gift arrives without a designated project, SPI will treat it as an unrestricted donation to SPI's general fund.
Please note that as a US 501(c)3 non-profit organization, there are legal restrictions on what money SPI can accept. Most common project fundraising activities are fine, but if the project plans to do anything unusual, please clear it with the Treasurer first. Sales of fixed-price items (like T-shirts) are acceptable but the Treasurer needs to know about how the money was collected.
SPI qualifies as a domestic public charity for purposes of US tax law. Many US taxpayers can receive a tax deduction for their donations to SPI, excluding certain payments such as t-shirt sales and event tickets. As a US non-profit, SPI is unable to provide donation tax benefits under non-US tax