In May of 2013, Michael McAndrew initiated a blog post about the Core Team’s efforts to make CiviCRM sustainable. Two years later, we’re still on that path and sustainability remains our goal. During this time, and somewhat unnoticed until recently, the number of active sites using CiviCRM has steadily risen. Now 10 years into its evolution, CiviCRM continues to progress towards sustainability and stands on the brink of powering 10,000 active sites around the world.
How do we plan to celebrate this milestone? With a challenge!
As CiviCRM inches toward the 10,000 active site milestone, which we will likely reach later this month, we’ll kick off a challenge directly aimed at bolstering support for the project by adding 1,000 new twitter followers and site registrations, 100 new member organizations, and 10 new partners… all in 1 month. We know that’s aggressive, but it’s necessary to continually push CiviCRM toward sustainability.
With your help, this challenge is attainable
These three goals aren’t random objectives… they are directly tied to community participation and materially impact the project’s financial position. In short, they matter for the entire ecosystem.
- Membership provides a way for end user organizations that use CiviCRM to not just give back, but to support every other organization that relies on the system. Don’t wait for the 10k challenge to begin. Become a member today and connect with the Core Team to assist as we ask other organizations to join in as members. After all, their support benefits you just as your support benefits them.
- Community followers and registrants expand our audience, provide valuable insights and information, and allow the Core Team to better promote and shape CiviCRM. Follow CiviCRM on Twitter, register your site or your profile, and get in touch to learn more about helping promote CiviCRM during this 10k challenge.
- Partners implement, administer and customize CiviCRM for clients, and give back to the Core Team, shaping the overall project’s direction. Partners are the advocates, the sales team, and the experts in all things CiviCRM, filling a critical component of its ecosystem. Become a partner today and reach out to help drive membership and participation during this 10k challenge.
10,000 organizations rely upon Core Team to maintain, improve and grow CiviCRM. This 10k challenge is a chance for each and every community member to show their support and to empower us to do what we do best; consistently deliver the most popular open source CRM for nonprofits in the world.
The 10k challenge is coming and it’s going to need your support. Don’t wait to become a member, partner or follower. If you would like to become directly involved in this campaign, please contact me.
Josh Gowans
Lead Fundraiser
CiviCRM Core Team
A Note About Community Support
Over the past few years, CiviCRM has made a push to be entirely community-funded. Unlike other open source projects, there’s no parent company or foundation that is vested in CiviCRM, meaning that we must look to our user base to support the project. “Open source” is often interpreted as “free”, like in “free beer”. At CiviCRM, we see it more like “Free as in Kittens”. You can often get a kitten for free, and while it will give you great joy, you’ll need and want to care for it so that it blossoms into a cat and into a companion. CiviCRM is just such a gift that, while free, directly benefits from the attention you provide it through participation and financial support. Learn more about our progress toward sustainability.
