Okay, let’s get real. We all love WordPress, but even the most dedicated volunteer deserves more than “feel good vibes” and the occasional high-five. (Seriously, have you seen the price of coffee these days?) WordCamp Toronto hasn’t happened since 2019, and that’s just sad. A city with over 7 million people deserves a yearly WordPress party!
So, let’s put on our virtual fundraising hats and brainstorm some ways to give the WordPress Foundation a much-needed cash injection. Here’s a modest proposal for funding the WordPress Foundation.
Trademark Licensing/Sponsorship Rate Card: It’s Time to Pay the Piper
Big companies like Automattic and Woo are already raking in the dough thanks to WordPress. Time for them to pony up with a $5 million annual sponsorship/trademark license. (Hey, it’s a small price to pay for world domination, right? And much less than the $32 being extorted from WP Engine, which will never happen IMHO.)
WordPress-oriented hosting companies making over $100 million in revenue? You’re in too! This comes with exclusive global sponsorship opportunities, so think of it as a marketing expense.
Smaller hosts can join the fun with tiered plans starting at a cool $1 million. (We’re flexible – cash or documented contributor hours are both welcome!)
With a bit of arm-twisting, we’re looking at at least $50 million in the kitty.
The Plugin/Theme Developer Fee: A Little Something for the Hardworking Folks
Apple charges developers to submit and manage their apps in the Apple App Store, so why not WordPress? Let’s institute a yearly fee to support the infrastructure that handles terabytes of updates every day. (Bless you, WordPress.org!)
- Paid plugin developers (estimated 5,000 of them): $99 per year gets you access to fancy analytics dashboards and APIs. Think of it as an investment in your business.
- Free plugin developers (around 50,000): $9.99 per year to submit to the plugin store. A small price to pay for reaching millions of users.
That’s a cool $1 million from plugin developers alone.
Commercial theme developers also pay $99, while free theme developers chip in $9.99. Another $100,000 in the bank.
Doing the Math: We’re Rich! (Well, Sort of)
Conservatively, we’re looking at $51 million in annual revenue for the foundation.
At $150,000 per fully-loaded FTE, that’s 340 new WordPress Foundation employees. Imagine the possibilities!
Or, we could hire 200 FTEs to boost contribution efforts and use the rest for infrastructure upgrades. (SVN to GitHub migration, anyone? Mirrored plugin/theme/core repositories?)
It’s Time: Let’s Make WordPress Even More Awesome
This is just a starting point, but it’s clear that with a bit of creativity (and maybe a touch of audacity), we can build a sustainable funding model for the WordPress community.
Let’s make it happen.
