Mission And Values

At Open Collective, we believe that our mission and values are central to what we say, what we do, and how we engage with our community.

Open Collective was created because we believe that the world could and should work better. This is why we are clear about the values we live by, because they are at the heart of everything we build and do.

Impact

We exist to empower people to raise money, build communities, and make a positive impact on the world.

This means we’re home to many different types of groups. But we’re not for everyone. We support those who want to build a progressive, fair, just, sustainable and healthy future - and not those whose aims work against that future.

Companies such as ours have an impact, based on how we talk and act, and how we use technology and money. Therefore, we have a responsibility to use that impact for good, rather than pretend we exist in an ethical vacuum.

We are not a neutral platform.

Collectivity

Our platform is by and for our community.

When we make decisions, we don’t just focus on what is best for individuals. We focus on what works for the whole Open Collective community, and the world.

We believe that all people are of equal worth and value, so we build tools that are collective by design. Open Collectives supports the commons over individualism, competition and hierarchies.

This is why we always try to focus on solutions that promote sharing and support, whenever we are able.

Inclusivity

We are a proudly inclusive company.

This means that our community draws from many different backgrounds and experiences. And we stand in solidarity with people of every ability, age, body size, caste, class, color, education, ethnicity, gender identity and expression, immigration status, language, level of experience, mental and physical health, national origin, nationality, neurotype, occupation, personal appearance, race, religion, socio-economic status, sex, and sexual identity and orientation.

Hate and discrimination has no place in the Open Collective community.

Honesty

We are honest about who we are, what we are doing, and why we are doing it.

We do not engage in disinformation or misinformation. We opt for clarity over misleading language.

If we make a mistake, we acknowledge it and correct it.

We recognize the damage that dishonesty can cause to a community, and we challenge everyone in ours to be honest and clear about their intentions.

Transparency

We work in the open.

We do this because being transparent enables us to build trust within the communities that matter to us. It also enables us to be accountable, and encourages others to offer help and fresh ideas.

The Open Collective platform has been built with transparency in mind. Our collectives and hosts manage money in the open, rather than in a private account.

But it goes further than that: Our team strives to be reachable and welcoming. Our platform’s code is open source, so people can see what we change and why. Our budget is public. We are upfront about our future plans, and share our investor updates regularly on our blog.

Privacy

While we champion openness, we also respect and protect privacy.

Both transparency and privacy are essential to making the world a better place. People doing brave and important work often need privacy and anonymity, regardless of where they are in the world.

We strive to provide ways for community participants to protect their identity, while still remaining accountable and transparent wherever prudent. The private personal information of individuals should never be exploited or made public without consent.

We will never sell the data of community participants to anyone.

Dignity

We call on every member of our community to treat others with dignity, civility, consideration and respect.

The community we want to build always aims to:

• Demonstrate empathy and kindness

• Be mindful of the time and capacity of others

• Give and accept constructive feedback

• Speak and act from our own experience

• Recognize cultural and linguistic differences

This means that we do not engage in or tolerate hate and discrimination, bullying and harassment, or the disruption of other community participants. We will always do our best to proactively counteract inequality and abuses of power wherever we encounter them.

Sustainability and Resilience

We want to be a platform that helps spark the growth of transformative collectives and communities.

This means that we need to be a place that these groups can rely on. We need to be sustainable, and ensure that we can be there for our community for years to come.

We are not driven by the need for a profitable “exit” or reckless growth. We encourage our community to build strong individual and collective foundations, so we can all be resilient and create lasting change.

We want Open Collective to live beyond us. This is why we build, share and document in such a way that others can continue our work, and lead us into the future.