Positioning in the marketplace
We should position this open-source not-for-profit vehicle alongside and in cooperation with commercial entities and governmental/international umbrella organizations.
It has to be clear to all involved that the money you donate to a foundation may have inevitable spin-offs but, in general, does not have financial leverage nor gives donors ultimate power over the foundation. Conversely, commercial ventures can have all this. We can set up the foundation to achieve good harmony with future participating companies—any company, even backed by VCs.
We could design a way to motivate commercial projects to donate a share of their invoices to the foundation (principle 4).
Open-source development and maintenance of the KERI Suite
Development is targeted at maturing the KERI Suite and maintenance on availability and security.
Reduce complication
by: Sam Smith
In the following order, we reduce the complication that the newly invented KERI Suite introduced, along five consecutive W’s:
- Wallet – inception and further key management
- Witness – promulgation of key state
- Watchers – validation of authoritative key state
- Web – infrastructure -> 3W leverage it -> API
- Wizard – Guiderails & bumpers -> 10 page manual
Developers who examine the current complications of KERI ask themselves: Can I swiftly get a prototype up and running?
The construction of a community Minimum Viable Product that the foundation offers as open source (Apache2).
Availability and security
Improve and maintain the open source code base. (Find funds to) Manage the open source development of the KERI Suite based on its standards documents and keep the code base secure and available.
Security is the main selling point of the KERI Suite. The foundation is the image of this. The chain of all implementations together is as strong as the weakest link.
That’s why we certify all code offered.
Service to donors
Directed funding
Donors are free to designate and even define projects within the foundation where the main share of their money will go to. We call this service direct funding. There are several prerequisites for projects to be directly funded.
The reason why we have a few rules is that we can’t have the reputation of the KERI Suite or the foundation put on the line because some group wants to code whether they like. They can, of course, but not from inside the foundation.
If you want more freedom, you can, Sam/the responsible team/foundation may or may not certify your code. If you get off track with your code (insecure, a fork, or something like that), then the foundation will label your working group as a company, not related to the foundation.
Tax-exempt and tax-deductibility
Tax-exempt means an entity or natural person doesn’t have to pay taxes in their jurisdiction, or you’re a citizen over the gift you give to a charity with a particular domicile. We refer to a tax deduction when a possible donor could deduct a gift to a charity from his taxable income.
As a foundation, we should offer as many tax exemptions as possible to donors from prominent donor countries, even if that needs setting up a subsidiary of the foundation in those countries.
Tax deductibility is too hard for a foundation to achieve because of the variation in individual cases. However, we will offer general guidelines and advice to consult a tax specialist.
Benefits for donors to the foundation
The Foundation offers four levels of donorship: Strategic, Contributing, Associate, and Committer.
| Donation Tier | Annual Contribution | Benefits | Role/Influence in Foundation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Committer | $0 | – Listed as a supporter on the foundation’s website | – accepted PRs means integrated code |
| Associate | $10,000 – $99,999 | – Company logo on website and newsletters – Mention in press releases – Early access to updates – Invitations to exclusive webinars and events – Access to detailed progress reports and roadmaps – Prominent logo placement – Input on the development roadmap – Custom training sessions for donator’s team – Co-branded marketing opportunities | – Listed as a supporter on the foundation’s website – Quarterly update calls with project leaders – Advisory role with quarterly input on budget allocations – Invitations to foundation strategy meetings |
| Sponsoring | $100,000 – $249,999 | – All Associate benefits – Exclusive “Sponsoring Donator” recognition – Priority access to beta testing – Dedicated support from the KERI team – Opportunity to host joint events | – Voting rights on key budget decisions (up to 10% influence) – Annual review meetings with foundation executives |
| Strategic | $250,000+ | – All Contributing benefits – Exclusive “Strategic Donator” recognition – Direct collaboration on specific features – In-depth consultancy – Top logo placement | – Significant voting rights on budget decisions (up to 25% influence) – Seat on the foundation’s board of directors |