Reasons to become a Sponsor Member of the PSF

The Python Software Foundation (PSF) establishes solid intellectual property foundations for the Python source code base. Our mission statement gives further details.

Sponsor members have decided to join the PSF for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to:

• Wishing to facilitate a clear intellectual property environment for a technology which they rely upon in their infrastructure or product line.
• Hoping to provide financial means by which key Python developers can focus their energy on Python development rather than legal matters.
• Wishing to participate in PSF discussions, attend and vote at member meetings, etc.
• As a means of increasing their visibility to the broader Python community, e.g. for recruitment purposes.
• A general desire to "give something back" to the Python community.
• Tax-deductibility: The PSF is recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) non-profit charitable organization, and donations are tax-deductible for organizations that pay taxes in the United States.

Sponsorship levels

Companies, divisions, groups, and organizations of various sizes can benefit from PSF sponsorship. The PSF suggests guidelines for choosing an annual sponsorship level as follows:

• Benefactor: $20,000 (suggested for organizations of over 500 people)
• Patron: $10,000 (suggested for organizations of 100-500 people)
• Principal: $5,000 (suggested for organizations of 25-100 people)
• Member: $2,000 (suggested for organizations of fewer than 25 people)

Divisions or groups within a larger organization can choose to sponsor the PSF as a group, and should choose a sponsorship level appropriate to the size of the group. However, if you belong to such a group within a larger organization, we urge you to consider whether the larger organization as a whole might be interested in helping the PSF and letting the world know about its support.

Individuals who wish to may also become sponsors of the PSF, at whatever level they feel is appropriate. Moreover, we certainly welcome smaller organizations who want to sponsor the PSF at more generous levels. Determine what is best for you and your organization: the PSF, like the Python language, trusts its users.

Non-reasons to become a Sponsor Member

Access to services

The PSF is not a professional services provider or development shop. Sponsor members understand that their contributions do not entitle them to free technical support, preferential input into the Python development process, or any special access to the Python development process.

Advertising

We put the company logos and web links pointing to sponsors on the PSF home page, but that's it. We don't feel it's appropriate to have advertising elsewhere on the python.org web site.

How to become a Sponsor Member

To join the PSF as a sponsor member, an individual or organization needs to apply for membership, commit to a yearly financial contribution at an appropriate level, fill out the sponsor membership form, send it in, and pay the invoice in a timely manner (by check or wire transfer).

Board policy

Any organization is welcome to apply for sponsor membership - however, approval of the membership is conditional on a member vote at a member meeting, and the Board may issue a recommendation to the members regarding the application.

In the time between this board recommendation and acceptance by members (which may take up to a year), the sponsor may be listed as a Pending Sponsor on the website, after the application and prorated annual fee have been received. If a sponsor's application is not approved by the PSF membership, any fees already paid will be retained as a donation.

The names, links, and logos of paid-up pending sponsor members will be added to the PSF web page. However, pending sponsor members may not subscribe to the psf-members mailing list, which is reserved for elected members.

Potential applicants should know that the Board feels that membership in the PSF should reflect well on the sponsor members and on the PSF. To this end,

• The Board encourages applications from organizations with a provable and strong link to Python (e.g. organizations that use Python as a key piece of their software infrastructure).
• The Board discourages applications from organizations with unethical or potentially offensive business practices (e.g. spammers or pornography vendors).

Questions?

If you have any questions not answered here, please write to the PSF Board of Directors at psf@python.org.