Bevy's Sponsorship Model

Bevy is a community-driven people-first project. Our work is fully supported by sponsorships from generous individuals and companies. But introducing money into the equation creates concerns about power dynamics and incentives. And some companies require contracts as a part of their sponsorship programs. Bevy leaders (Project Leads, Maintainers, Foundation Directors) must serve the community's interests above all else. Therefore leaders that accept any money within the context of Bevy must abide by the following pledge:

The Pledge

1. The needs of the people in the Bevy community come first. Everything we do should be in the interest of the individuals in the Bevy community. Yes ... companies use (and support) Bevy. This is a good thing. But companies are not people. Companies consist of people. The voice of an individual in a company should be weighted exactly the same as every other voice in our community. No more. No less.
2. Money can never buy project direction. Bevy's design direction must always be determined by community needs and (as much as possible) consensus. For example: a company can never directly pay us to adopt a feature that goes against the community's interests. Nor can they indirectly pull the strings via financial pressure, such as threat of un-sponsoring.
3. Money can never buy project priority. We must always do the work that we believe is best for the Bevy community at a given moment. We cannot be paid to bump a company's pet feature up in our priority list. Our time (within the context of what we commit to the Bevy community) is not for sale. If we are "full time" Bevy leaders, none of our time can be bought. If we are "part time Bevy leaders", only the remaining time can be bought.
4. Bevy leaders must be able to speak their mind. We will never sign away our right to disclose our thoughts or opinions about entities we receive money from. This means no "non-disparagement agreements". "Non-disclosure agreements" are only ok within the context of protecting private information (that does not directly relate to Bevy).
5. Bevy leaders must be open about who supports them (within the context of Bevy). No hidden entities behind the scenes. If we receive $200 a month ($2,400 a year) or more from an entity or have a financial stake in one that relates to the Bevy project in any reasonable way, we must disclose it within 6 months of receiving the money or stake.
6. Bevy leaders will hold each other accountable. If any of us suspects a violation of the pledge, we will immediately seek to rectify it. First amongst ourselves if there is reasonable doubt, and then publicly if the situation demands it.
7. The pledge and the Bevy Community always come first. If we are confronted with the choice of upholding the pledge or losing the financial support of an entity, we will choose the pledge every time. The amount of money on the table has no bearing on this. We must be honest with ourselves and each other. If we can't say no to large sums of money with pledge-violating strings attached, we don't deserve to be Bevy leaders.
8. New Bevy programs must be compatible with our mission:. Bevy Foundation board members, when considering new programs for Bevy, must ask themselves the following:
   1. Is this compatible with the Bevy Foundation's mission?
   2. Is this in the best interest of the Bevy community and the general public?
   3. Will this compromise the integrity of Bevy as a free and open source offering in any way?
   4. Will this change our incentives in a way that risks changing our answers to (1), (2), or (3)?
   5. If we are monetizing something, are we doing it in an ethical way?

The Bevy project (and the financial support we receive) is constantly growing. We must be certain we don't lose ourselves, our purpose, or the trust of the community as we continue on this wild ride. This is also a living document. If you believe we missed something important, please let us know. Removing items from the list would almost certainly be a violation of The Pledge, so unless we've seriously messed something up, consider this append-only.

Bevy Foundation is the nonprofit that helps drive the development of Bevy. For Bevy Foundation Directors and Officers, this agreement is complementary to and supplemental to legal obligations associated with those roles (avoiding conflicts of interest, avoiding self-dealing, etc). While there is unlikely to be incompatibilities between these obligations (as the motivations behind those laws and The Pledge are similar), the legal obligations must always come first.

Also note that this only applies to Bevy leadership. We welcome and encourage companies to fund development efforts that improve Bevy in whatever way they want. However Bevy leadership cannot be involved in any way that violates The Pledge. Bevy leadership must always be the filter that protects the general public from changes that go against their interests. Companies should do their best to collaborate with the Bevy community (and Bevy leaders) to ensure their changes are acceptable.

Pledge Signers

• Carter Anderson (@cart)
  • Work Status: Full-time Project Lead / Maintainer
  • Sponsors (including all those above $200 / month threshold): Foresight Spatial Labs ($2,000 / month), Embark ($1,000 / month), MeetKai ($1,000 / month), Encultured ($1,000 / month), @eordano ($1,000 / month), storytold ($200 / month), @CleanCut ($200 / month), Metabuild ($100 / month), Keygen ($100 / month), VPSServer ($100 / month), @joshuajbouw ($200 / month), @rozgo ($100 / month), @erlend-sh ($100 / month)
• Alice Cecile (@alice-i-cecile)
  • Work Status: Part-time Maintainer
  • Sponsors (including all those above $200 / month threshold): Encultured ($1,000 / month), Foresight Spatial Labs ($100 / month) Freelances for: Foresight Spatial Labs Financial interest in: Leafwing Studios (my Bevy-focused consulting and game development studio), Foresight Spatial Labs (full-time employer of my life partner)
• James Liu (@james7132)
  • Work Status: Part-time Maintainer
  • Sponsors (including all those above $200 / month threshold): None
• François Mockers (@mockersf)
  • Work Status: Part-time Maintainer
  • Sponsors (including all those above $200 / month threshold): None
• Rob Swain (@superdump)
  • Work Status: Part-time Maintainer
  • Sponsors (including all those above $200 / month threshold): None