Presenting OpenRefine’s current budget and operating model (how we sustain the project today, with a small paid core team and a large volunteer community).
Reviewing key milestones from the past year, including hiring, release, and funding strategies
Sharing the details of our 2025 fundraising campaign, including the goals, strategy, and ways the community can contribute or help amplify.
This will be an opportunity for the community to ask questions, give feedback, and discuss together how we can continue building a sustainable future for OpenRefine.
Proposed format: short presentation (10–15 min) followed by open Q&A and discussion.
During the session, we presented two documents for the community to review
We are launching a fundraising campaign (PR open for review) to raise $25,000 from our community by the end of 2025. The fundraising campaign page is available for review via this pull request.
We are preparing to open an OpenRefine merchandising store and we need your input regarding the type of item you are willing to see: OpenRefine Merch Survey
Participants discussed offering paid support for OpenRefine. The goal would not be to change the OpenRefine license, but to explore ways professional users could financially support the project.
The idea raised was:
OpenRefine remains free for personal use
organizations or professional users could choose paid support or services
Benjamin Rosemann noted that for government institutions, paying for licenses or services can sometimes be administratively easier than making donations, since donations may require processes such as credit card payments that are not always available.