Free Software Foundation's Miriam Bastian: We Surpassed Our Year-end Goal of $400,000 USD Thanks to You!

posted by Roy Schestowitz on Jan 22, 2025,
updated Jan 22, 2025

Original by the Free Software Foundation. Licence details at the bottom.

We surpassed our year-end goal of $400,000 USD! Please help us share our appreciation for all the support we received during the 2024 year-end drive.

We wholeheartedly thank all those who support the FSF and thereby software freedom through all forms of participation in the free software movement, and we thank you for your patience while we asked for your contributions during these important weeks. We want to thank all our individual donors and members who gave to us what they could spare, pushing our progress bar to its max. We also received a major anonymous donation that put us well beyond our fundraising goal! This overwhelming support from the community makes the FSF stronger and all its staff feel empowered and motivated to take on our fortieth year of promoting computer user freedom.

From financial support to working on code to contributing to the Free Software Directory (FSD), and all the ways people volunteer at the FSF and GNU, we receive so much continuous support and community involvement throughout the year. We are tremendously grateful for it.

During this fundraiser, dedicated volunteers helped us ship all the merchandise people from all over the world ordered from the GNU Press shop. The quiet but important work that volunteers do every day on the licensing and tech teams was brought to light in two of our appeals. And of course, many free software supporters helped us put pressure on Microsoft during International Day against DRM 2024 and keep doing so, including those who stepped up to explain how Microsoft and the like are exercising Digital Restrictions Management. We feel incredibly honored that so many people are willing to join us in supporting software freedom however they can.

It was an absolute pleasure to see the creative designs that engaged community members came up with for the FSF Anniversary Logo Contest, and we're delighted to see how many associate members have voted for their favorite logo.

We're also thankful for all the positive feedback we received for our latest articles such as the message from president Geoff Knauth and the article about mental health apps, a topic we also presented on WHCR 90.3 FM.

Continue your involvement

During this year-end campaign, we highlighted in the Bulletin, in articles, and on our website how important free software is as a building block for a free society. Please also continue to advocate for free software adoption in your government.

Another way how you can get involved is by organizing a community meetup in May. We'll share some tips and tricks on to help organize one soon, so stay tuned.

Lastly, remember to invite your friends to celebrate with us and share the message that the FSF turns forty this year on your favorite free social media platform using the hashtag #FSF40.

Upcoming in the next months

We started a video series on the command line and plan on publishing more videos in the coming weeks. Subscribe to our PeerTube channel to stay tuned. Tomorrow, we'll announce the winning design of the FSF Anniversary Logo Contest. We can't wait to see it displayed on the FSF homepage and printed on all of the celebration materials. We will also announce the date of next year's International Day against DRM soon. On the first weekend of February, you can meet the FSF staff at FOSDEM 2025 in Brussels, Belgium.

Then, in March, we will have our first memorabilia auction, starting as a silent auction on March 17, and culminating in a virtual live auction on March 23. This is your chance to get your very own personal souvenir of the FSF, from original GNU art to a famous katana, and the very same VT220 that was standing on the FSF's front desk, which people often used to display ASCII art and play free software games.

With your help, we'll celebrate the month of May as Libre Local Month and are inviting free software supporters like you everywhere in the world to organize or join an in-person [community meetup][23] in your area to bring people together. Next week, we'll share some more information on this topic. █

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