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Fiscal Hosting FAQs

What is a Fiscal Host?

A Fiscal Host is an organization that holds funds on behalf of Collectives, so they can operate financially without having to set up a legal entity.

This arrangement is also called fiscal sponsorship. It allows your Collective to:

  • Receive and manage donations and grants
  • Provide donation confirmations and administer grants
  • Handle taxes, bookkeeping, and legal compliance
  • Pay expenses approved by your Collective admins

The Open Collective platform provides all the tools to manage these flows transparently.

How do I add a Fiscal Host to my Collective?

If your Collective does not yet have a Fiscal Host, you can add one by:

  1. Going to your Collective page
  2. Clicking on “Apply to Fiscal Host”
  3. Choosing the appropriate Host (such as Open Source Europe)

More Info

See How to apply and our Terms of Service for hosting with OSE.

Moving to another fiscal host

Contact OSE before you leave. You then coordinate with the new host, settle outstanding expenses and check the conditions for transferring the balance. Transfers remain subject to the hosting agreement and restrictions on the funds. A change on Open Collective does not automatically change your GitHub Sponsors setup.

Closing a Collective voluntarily

If the Collective stops operating without moving to another host, settle outstanding expenses first. The Collective then proposes where the remaining balance goes, in line with its purpose. OSE reviews and approves it according to the funding conditions.

For equipment bought with the Collective's budget, the Collective proposes what should happen to it. OSE reviews the proposal and the funding conditions before anything is transferred or disposed of. This process does not decide who owns the equipment, and it does not add a general inventory requirement.

Inactive Collectives

When a Collective is inactive for a long time, OSE contacts the administrators and sends reminders. The reminders state a deadline to respond and what happens if there is no reply. If there is no response, OSE may end hosting, stop recurring contributions and reallocate the balance to its general fund or a similar project. This happens under the applicable agreement and funding restrictions. There is no universal six-month timeline. This process is separate from unidentified incoming payments.