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[eclipse.org-architecture-council] Proposal topic for next meeting: Enable sponsoring/funding links for Eclipse projects and contributors 
Hi everyone,

I'd like to suggest a topic for the next Architecture Council call:
enabling sponsoring/funding links (FUNDING.yml) for Eclipse projects
hosted on GitHub.

BACKGROUND
----------

Almost 3 years ago, I opened a helpdesk issue [1] requesting that
GitHub Sponsors be enabled for Eclipse Tycho. The request was briefly
fulfilled, then rolled back pending an "internal discussion" that
was expected to conclude "in a few weeks." As of today, there has
been no resolution.

A related issue [2] about enabling the Eclipse Foundation to receive
"Friend of Eclipse" donations via GitHub Sponsors is also stalled.

WHY THIS MATTERS
----------------

The Eclipse ecosystem relies heavily on volunteer contributors.
Many active committers invest significant personal time maintaining
critical projects — in my case, 2,650+ merged PRs across Tycho,
M2E, PDE, Platform, and SWT — largely as unpaid work.

GitHub's FUNDING.yml mechanism [3] is now an industry standard for
open source projects. It provides a simple, non-intrusive way for
users to support the people maintaining the tools they depend on.
Most major open source foundations and projects already support this.

Not having this option means:

  - Contributors who want funding must direct users away from the
    project page, reducing visibility and trust
  - Eclipse projects appear less welcoming to potential sponsors
    compared to non-Eclipse open source projects
  - The Foundation misses an opportunity to strengthen contributor
    retention and project health

WHAT I'M PROPOSING
------------------

I'd like the Architecture Council to discuss and ideally recommend
a clear policy on one or more of the following:

  1. Allowing individual committers to be listed in FUNDING.yml
     via their personal profiles on GitHub Sponsors, OpenCollective,
     Patreon, or similar platforms

  2. Enabling project-level sponsoring, where donations support
     the development of a specific Eclipse project

  3. Enabling the Eclipse Foundation itself to receive donations
     via GitHub Sponsors (as "Friend of Eclipse")

Option (1) requires zero Eclipse Foundation infrastructure — it
simply allows committers to add their personal sponsoring links.
Options (2) and (3) would need some coordination with the Foundation.

Even if only option (1) is feasible in the short term, it would be
a significant improvement over the current situation.

I believe this falls squarely within the EAC's mission of keeping
"projects successful and healthy" and "communities vibrant and
cohesive." Contributor sustainability is a real concern, and having
a clear, supportive policy would send an important signal.

I'd appreciate if this could be added to the agenda for the next
call. Happy to present the topic and lead the discussion.

Thank you,
Christoph

[1] https://gitlab.eclipse.org/eclipsefdn/helpdesk/-/issues/963
[2] https://gitlab.eclipse.org/eclipsefdn/helpdesk/-/issues/965
[3] https://docs.github.com/en/repositories/managing-your-repositorys-settings-and-features/customizing-your-repository/displaying-a-sponsor-button-in-your-repository

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