Procurement Is the Biggest Form of Fundraising for FLOSS

Speaker: Mike Gifford (CivicActions, Drupal Core Accessibility Maintainer) • FOSDEM 2026 • CC BY-SA 4.0

Hack Your RFP (Side A)

CFO Whisperer (Side B)

The analogy: "It is not a chair; it is a puppy." Ongoing care is the cost.

ModelCost PatternOutcome
Proprietary rentRecurring license OpExLock-in risk
FLOSS (unfunded)0% upstreamSecurity + supply-chain risk
FLOSS (sustained)1–5% upstreamResilience and velocity

The 1–5% rule: Allocate a slice of contract value to upstream sustainment.

Resources: CivicActions Playbook • Drupal RFP Guide • Sovereign Tech Fund • Open Contracting Partnership