Open Collective

Add a funding page on Open Collective so readers can contribute financially to your publication — no payment processing setup required.

Open Collective is a platform for transparent community funding. It handles payment processing, receipts, and public financial reporting on your behalf. Project Broadsheet's support page includes Open Collective and GitHub Sponsors links by default; this doc explains how to set them up.

Create an Open Collective account

1. Go to opencollective.com and click Create a Collective.
2. Choose For an open source project or For a community depending on your publication type.
3. Enter your publication name, description, and website URL.
4. Choose a fiscal host. Open Source Collective accepts most open-source and public-interest projects and handles legal and tax paperwork for a small fee (currently 5% of funds raised). Independent news projects may prefer a local fiscal host or their own legal entity.
5. Submit your application. Approval typically takes a few business days.

Find your Collective URL

Once approved, your page lives at https://opencollective.com/{your-slug}. This is the URL readers use to contribute.

Add it to Project Broadsheet

Open src/_data/meta.js and add your Collective URL:

openCollective: "https://opencollective.com/your-publication-name",

The support page (/support/) already renders an Open Collective button using this value. If your meta.js doesn't include the openCollective key, add it alongside the other social/funding fields and verify the button appears at /support/ after your next build.

Add a funding badge (optional)

Open Collective provides embeddable widgets and badges. To add a contributor badge to your README:

[![Open Collective backers](https://opencollective.com/your-slug/backers/badge.svg)](https://opencollective.com/your-slug)

GitHub Sponsors

GitHub Sponsors is the other funding option on the support page. To enable it:

1. Go to your GitHub profile → Sponsors → Set up GitHub Sponsors.
2. Complete the payout setup (requires a bank account or PayPal).
3. Your sponsor page becomes available at https://github.com/sponsors/{username}.

The support page uses jonajinga to build the Sponsors URL automatically — no additional config needed once you've enabled Sponsors on GitHub.

Transparency

Open Collective publishes all income and expenses publicly by default. This transparency is a feature for public-interest journalism: readers can see exactly where funding goes. If your publication can't operate transparently (for editorial independence reasons, for example), consider an alternative like Stripe or a direct Substack-style membership.

What to do next

• Tipping and reader support — per-article support badges that link to your funding pages.
• Support page — where the Open Collective and GitHub Sponsors buttons appear on your live site.