|  | <?php | 
|  | /** | 
|  | * Copyright (c) 2017, 2018 Eclipse Foundation. | 
|  | * | 
|  | * This program and the accompanying materials are made | 
|  | * available under the terms of the Eclipse Public License 2.0 | 
|  | * which is available at https://www.eclipse.org/legal/epl-2.0/ | 
|  | * | 
|  | * Contributors: | 
|  | *   Christopher Guindon (Eclipse Foundation) - Initial implementation | 
|  | *   Mike Milinkovich (Eclipse Foundation) | 
|  | *   Eric Poirier (Eclipse Foundation) | 
|  | * | 
|  | * SPDX-License-Identifier: EPL-2.0 | 
|  | */ | 
|  | ?> | 
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|  | <div id="midcolumn"> | 
|  | <h1><?php print $pageTitle; ?></h1> | 
|  | <p>Last Updated: December 19, 2017</p> | 
|  | <p>As a benefit of membership, the Eclipse Foundation accepts funding from its members, either | 
|  | directly or through its industry working groups, and uses these funds to organize, coordinate, | 
|  | and oversee a funded initiative on the member’s behalf. The Member Funded Initiatives | 
|  | Program, described herein, defines the process for accepting and managing these funding | 
|  | contributions.</p> | 
|  | <h2>Background and Motivation</h2> | 
|  | <p>The predominance of development on all Eclipse projects is done by, and/or for the benefit | 
|  | of, one or more of our member companies. Communities are built around these projects, and the | 
|  | development work on projects happens without any action or engagement taken by the Eclipse | 
|  | Foundation.</p> | 
|  | <p>Individual member companies often collaborate directly with each other on common initiatives, | 
|  | with each of those members funding the various aspects of the projects. Again, the Foundation | 
|  | is not directly engaged in this work.</p> | 
|  | <p> | 
|  | The same is true for <a href="/org/workinggroups/">Eclipse Working Groups</a>, which are | 
|  | governance structures created to enable collaborative development and promotion of Eclipse | 
|  | projects in a particular vertical or area of interest to the benefit of the working group | 
|  | member companies. While the rules for governance are defined by the working group’s | 
|  | charter, the specific work done on the Eclipse projects that are related to a working group | 
|  | does not directly involve the Foundation. | 
|  | </p> | 
|  | <p>However, there are times when member companies would prefer to have Eclipse Foundation, or | 
|  | one of its working groups, lead an initiative, rather than to do so themselves.</p> | 
|  | <p>As an example, there are often technologies or capabilities that sit outside the main thrust | 
|  | of the mainstream projects that are important to the overall growth of the broader community. | 
|  | This can be general capabilities, shared libraries, etc. Funding to support development of | 
|  | these capabilities is typically not seen as the responsibility of any particular member, and | 
|  | often it is difficult to find creative ways for these technologies and capabilities to get | 
|  | developed. In many of these cases, it may be desirable to have the working group direct | 
|  | funding from its annual budget to ensure the development gets done.</p> | 
|  | <p>As a second example, multiple member companies may wish to “pool” their financial | 
|  | resources to see a shared technology get developed for their direct benefit. That is, rather | 
|  | than entering into a separate collaboration agreement with each other to jointly fund a | 
|  | project, the member companies would prefer to contribute their share of the cost of a | 
|  | development initiative managed by the Foundation or a working group.</p> | 
|  | <p>Funding initiatives are not limited to just development tasks. There are also occasions where | 
|  | member companies wish to contribute funds to drive, for example, marketing and communications | 
|  | initiatives, or to drive community development activities over an extended period of time.</p> | 
|  | <h2>Funding Mechanism Details - MFI Agreements</h2> | 
|  | <p>Funding to support the Eclipse Foundation carrying out a particular initiative can come from | 
|  | any of:</p> | 
|  | <ol class="alpha"> | 
|  | <li>an individual member company wishing to fund an initiative by itself,</li> | 
|  | <li>a group of member companies wishing to contribute jointly to a funded initiative, or</li> | 
|  | <li>a working group’s overall annual budget.</li> | 
|  | </ol> | 
|  | <p> | 
|  | In the case of funding coming from an individual member company or a group of companies, each | 
|  | participating member company will enter into an <strong>Eclipse Foundation Member Funded | 
|  | Initiative Agreement</strong> (“MFI Agreement”) with the Foundation. The MFI | 
|  | Agreement will specify, at a minimum, the amount of the contribution, the initiative being | 
|  | supported, and the desired outcome. In the case of “pooled initiatives”, each | 
|  | member company will enter into an individual MFI Agreement with the Foundation, with a note | 
|  | indicating these funds are being combined with other funds to enable the common initiative to | 
|  | proceed. | 
|  | </p> | 
|  | <p>In the case of funding coming from a working group’s annual budget, a representative of | 
|  | the working group steering committee will make a formal request to the Foundation to initiate | 
|  | the MFI. This request must be in accordance with the working group charter, and within its | 
|  | approved budget. In this case, the request must state the amount of the commitment and the | 
|  | initiative being supported. Unlike funding contributions made by member companies, no MFI | 
|  | Agreement will be required when funding comes from the working group budget, as the working | 
|  | group is managed directly by the Eclipse Foundation. Rather, a Working Group MFI Statement of | 
|  | Work will be agreed to by the steering committee representative. As part of the formal working | 
|  | group process, it is expected that all MFI Statements of Work be read into the minutes of the | 
|  | working group to ensure maximum transparency among all members.</p> | 
|  | <p>In all cases, the Eclipse Foundation will begin an associated Funded Initiative Effort, as | 
|  | described below, once the terms are finalized and the contributions are received.</p> | 
|  | <p>For its efforts and to help sustain and enhance the MFI Program, beginning January 1, 2018, | 
|  | the Eclipse Foundation will charge the fees as shown in Table 1. These fees are charged | 
|  | annually, and for each funded initiative. In the case of working groups, each working | 
|  | group’s funded initiatives will be treated as one.</p> | 
|  | <div class="row"> | 
|  | <div class="col-md-12 col-md-offset-6"> | 
|  | <table class="table table-bordered table-hover text-center"> | 
|  | <thead> | 
|  | <tr> | 
|  | <th class="text-center">Table 1: Annual Fee (per initiative or working group)</th> | 
|  | </tr> | 
|  | </thead> | 
|  | <tbody> | 
|  | <tr> | 
|  | <td>15% of the 1st $500,000 in contributions (min $4000)</td> | 
|  | </tr> | 
|  | <tr> | 
|  | <td>10% of the next $1,500,000 in contributions</td> | 
|  | </tr> | 
|  | <tr> | 
|  | <td>6% of any contributions thereafter</td> | 
|  | </tr> | 
|  | </tbody> | 
|  | </table> | 
|  | </div> | 
|  | </div> | 
|  | <p>MFI Agreements will not guarantee the delivery of any particular service or capability, but | 
|  | instead will state the intention to do so on a best efforts basis. Note that should Eclipse | 
|  | Foundation be unable to carry out the initiative (for example, a suitable subcontractor to | 
|  | carry out the development effort cannot be found) within 6 months of receiving a contribution, | 
|  | then the funds shall be returned to the funding organization, the MFI Agreement terminated, | 
|  | and Eclipse Foundation will charge no fee for their service.</p> | 
|  | <h2>Funded Initiative Efforts</h2> | 
|  | <p>Eclipse Foundation will, in most cases, engage with members of the Eclipse community and | 
|  | other experts, to fulfill the tasks associated with the initiative. For example, the | 
|  | Foundation will subcontract with the qualified developers from the community to fulfill | 
|  | initiatives that call for development of code.</p> | 
|  | <p>All development work subcontracted by the Foundation will be done in accordance with the | 
|  | Eclipse Development Process, and the work will be contributed to the appropriate working group | 
|  | project(s). While not strictly limited, it is the intention to, whenever possible, subcontract | 
|  | with members of the working group community to carry out the work. The reason for this is to | 
|  | benefit those with membership, and to strengthen the ecosystem.</p> | 
|  | <p>It is expected that Eclipse Foundation will turn to either the contributing member companies | 
|  | or the working group itself to assist with the technical specification of the development | 
|  | effort’s work schedules, and with the oversight of the development efforts as they | 
|  | proceed.</p> | 
|  | <h2>For More Information</h2> | 
|  | <p> | 
|  | For more information, or to engage with Eclipse Foundation in a member funded initiative, send | 
|  | email to <a href="mailto:membership@eclipse.org">membership@eclipse.org</a>. | 
|  | </p> | 
|  | </div> | 
|  | </div> |