0 A.D. Joins Software in the Public Interest, Can Receive Tax-Deductible Donations

[Jeru]

Wildfire Games, an international group of volunteer game developers, has successfully applied to make 0 A.D. an associated project at an organization called Software in the Public Interest, Inc. (SPI).

SPI is a non-profit corporation based in the USA, that acts as a fiscal sponsor to many open source projects, including Debian, Drupal and LibreOffice. This means SPI can accept donations and hold funds for the development of these projects, sign contracts on behalf of the developers, provide legal advice when they might need it and more.

Importantly, if you live in the United States, you can donate to 0 A.D. through SPI and deduct it from your taxes. (Europeans can donate to SPI through a non-profit association based in Germany, named ffis e.V., which has partnered with SPI.)

Wildfire Games has been developing 0 A.D. as a standalone game since 2003. We are always looking for ways to improve the speed and quality of development. That’s why we have recently re-considered many aspects of how our project is run, including setting up new and better ways to get funds. This is the first step in this direction.

To be sure, this partnership does not change things from the perspectives of developers, artists, or users. 0 A.D. will remain a free, open-source project run by the community, and SPI will not intervene in our decisions. The only role that will change is that of the project lead, currently Erik Johansson (also known as feneur), who now has the extra responsibility as the project liaison to SPI. This means Erik is the only person authorized to tell SPI how we want to use funds that were earmarked for 0 A.D.

0 A.D. was accepted as an SPI Associated Project by the Board on December 13th, 2012. Through this cooperation, we hope to both strengthen 0 A.D. as a project, and propagate free, open-source software everywhere.

We welcome your donations through SPI and will be phasing out the previous donation systems over the next few days. Edit: After further deliberation, the existing donation systems will remain in place in parallel to the new system. However, donors are advised that their donations are only tax-deductible if transferred via SPI.

Donating to 0 A.D. via SPI (U.S. Dollars Only)

Please find full instructions for donation on the SPI donations page.

If you have a credit card,

you can donate via Click & Pledge directly to 0 A.D.

Donating in Europe

If you wish to donate to 0 A.D. through a European bank account, to save international money transfer costs, this can be done through the German non-profit organization, ffis e.V., following these instructions.

[zoot]

Excellent move, well done.

[wrut]

and will be phasing out the previous donation systems over the next few days.

Well, this means i won't donate anymore. Not that i was a huge donator, but i'm not willing to go through different systems every time i want to donate to some project. Paypal is enough for me.

[Jeru]

We are actually having second thoughts on that.

We have not cancelled the PayPal option yet, and we might leave it open for those interested.

[zoot]

Well, this means i won't donate anymore. Not that i was a huge donator, but i'm not willing to go through different systems every time i want to donate to some project. Paypal is enough for me.

Out of curiosity, do you never buy from online stores that only take credit card?

[wrut]

Out of curiosity, do you never buy from online stores that only take credit card?

Once in a few years maybe. Actually i use Paypal mostly for donations to various projects. Press a button, Login, Done. If having two systems will be too cumbersome to manage, then maybe Wildfire should stick with SPI, but maybe i'm not the only one put off by this. Paypal is more popular, i think.

Also, if fewer systems have info about your card, more secure this info is (in the wake of numerous credit card info leaks form the big companies and banks).

[zoot]

Yeah, if they can manage both that's probably preferable. But at least I am more likely to donate knowing that my money won't have to get intermingled with someone's personal account and that the recipient has to live up to the strict accounting standards required of registered non-profits.