As you may have noticed since September, we entered a more proactive fundraising period for OpenRefine. As presented during the Barcamp session, our current grant funding ends in December 2025. In our fiscal year budget (ending June 30, 2026) we planned for a deficit of USD 36,184. Including the recent USD 25,000 FLOSS Fund commitment, we can sustain our minimal team until April 30 2026.
Separately, we are currently waiting to hear back from the NLNET and Digital Science applications, while also exploring other fundraising avenues. These include the OpenRefine Store and our 2025 Year-End Giving Campaign, as outlined in the 2025 Year-End giving update.
Finally, we have not received a response from the Mellon Foundation, and we decided not to pursue the following grants:
- The John Templeton Foundation
- Pathways to Enable Open-Source Ecosystems (POSE)
- R Consortium
A fragile grant-based model in 2025
I want to take a moment to reflect on our fundraising efforts over the past two years and share what we’ve learned from the current campaign.
In 2024 and 2025, grant-based fundraising has become increasingly difficult. Many applications have been unsuccessful due to growing competitiveness and narrower eligibility criteria, often limited by geography (for instance, Europe-focused) or technology (particularly AI). The total funds available have also decreased, and a single grant now rarely covers our operating costs for a full year.
After discussions with leaders of other open-source projects and funders, it’s clear that the 2019-2024 period of large, community-focused grant funding has ended. Funders now emphasize AI and LLM initiatives, prioritizing “breakthroughs” rather than ongoing maintenance and sustainability.
In short, relying mainly on grants to fund our core staff is now a risky and unpredictable model. Looking ahead, sustaining OpenRefine will likely require a combination of approaches to reach our target of roughly USD 140,000 per year.
Exploring new funding models
With the support of our Advisory Committee and Code for Science and Society, we’ve been exploring alternative models to complement grant applications. We expect future funding to come from a mix of these options:
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Unrestricted large-donor grants. These allow more flexibility than project-tied funding. With our moderate yearly budget of about USD 140,000, a few large donors under our partner and patron tiers could sustain the project.
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Fellowship or institutional support. Since our model relies mainly on a single developer-support role (details here), we are exploring the possibility for universities, research labs, or consortia to host part-time roles or support fellowships aligned with OpenRefine’s needs.
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Institutional Support Program. We are exploring a model where institutions “procure” rather than donate, to secure the sustainability of the tool they rely on. This includes access to resources such as newsletters and webinars. You can review and comment on the draft plan here. We plan to share it with institutions we already collaborate with and refine it based on their feedback.
Looking ahead
OpenRefine remains a resilient and collaborative community. Open Source Softwares thrives through distributed ownership and the creativity of its contributors, and OpenRefine is no exception. With a stronger governance structure, low infrastructure costs, and a small but dedicated team supported by a diverse global user base, we are well positioned to continue evolving.
As we approach the end of 2025, your support matters more than ever. You can help sustain OpenRefine by participating in our Year-End Giving Campaign, whether through a donation or by simply spreading the word within your network. Every contribution helps keep OpenRefine maintained, open, and accessible for everyone.
Together, we can continue to make OpenRefine a reliable and innovative tool for data exploration and transformation in the years ahead.