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Re: [eclipse.org-architecture-council] Proposal topic for next meeting: Enable sponsoring/funding links for Eclipse projects and contributors
This is an excellent idea. Thanks for spearheading this, Christoph.

I've added it to the agenda for our March 12 2026 meeting. In the meantime, feel free to weigh in on the discussion either on this channel or in the issue (963) that Christoph cited.

While I was in the wiki, I refactored the page by moving the minutes from past meetings into separate _by year_ pages. The old meeting notes page was getting a little cumbersome.

I've been remiss at capturing proper meeting notes. I'm going to turn on the AI companion for our next call (as we've previously discussed).

Wayne



On Mon, 23 Feb 2026 at 02:50, Christoph Läubrich via eclipse.org-architecture-council <eclipse.org-architecture-council@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
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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--

Wayne Beaton (he/him)

Head of Open Source Projects | Eclipse Foundation

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