Open Collective Foundation (OCF) is an incubator for left-wing advocacy projects in the United States. The foundation provides administrative support, fundraising tools, and assistance with securing nonprofit status to new and growing activist groups, taking a percentage of all donations and grants. OCF claims to be a fiscal sponsor for hundreds of organizations across the country. ¹

Background

Open Collective Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit entity that sponsors and provides payment processing functions, administrative support, and advisory services to new and smaller-sized left-wing activist groups in exchange for a portion of their revenue. The foundation also offers integration with third-party fundraising tools, most notably the Democratic Party-affiliated ActBlue. The foundation’s legal status makes donations to its hosted groups tax-deductible and allows the groups to start operating without going through the sometimes-lengthy process of registering as nonprofits with the Internal Revenue Service. OCF also offers to provide the staff of its subordinate projects with employment benefits. ²

OCF maintains funds to support left of center activist groups, including drug legalization and criminal justice reform organizations. ^{3 4} In February 2023, an organization within the foundation’s network directed its supporters to donate to the so-called “Atlanta Forest Defenders,” a left-wing militant group based in Georgia which had occupied the site of a planned law enforcement training facility in Atlanta. The group had called for civil unrest when one of their members was killed after shooting a state trooper who was part of an effort to clear out the site. ^{5 6}

Other OCF fiscal sponsorship recipients have included self-identified socialist organizations and local affiliates of the Black Lives Matter movement. ^{7 8} United States chapters of the international “Fridays For Future” campaign, which organizes youth to protest against fossil fuel use in imitation of controversial Swedish environmentalist activist Greta Thunberg, has also relied on the foundation for support. ^{9 10} Officially, OCF claims to prohibit the promotion of violence or illegal activity. ¹¹

Leadership

Pia Mancini is the founding director of Open Collective Foundation. ¹² She was previously a fellow with the Institute for the Future, a consulting and research organization that has provided services for numerous leading international corporations and philanthropies, as well as the anti-fossil fuel “Climate Action in 2030” program. She has also worked as an advisor to the city government of Buenos Aires, Argentina. ¹³

Alanna Irving is the executive director of OCF and was previously the foundation’s chief operating officer. She previously worked for the international business news publication Bloomberg. ¹⁴

Financials

An Open Collective Foundation blog post giving the group’s 2022 annual activity summary claimed that the foundation has received at least $30 million and paid out more than $19 million. ¹⁵

While OCF touts the numbers of individual donors to its subordinate groups, the foundation’s top backers are dedicated liberal-activism funders. These include Fractured Atlas Productions, which mainly supports left-wing arts projects and has contributed at least $140,000, as well as the Ford Foundation, which is one of the largest left-of-center philanthropies in the United States and has contributed more than $120,000. Financial services giant Morgan Stanley is the foundation’s third-largest financial backer and has donated more than $80,000. ¹⁶ Other notable donors to the OCF include the Anchor Point Foundation, which gave a $75,000 grant in 2020, and Allied Media Projects, which gave more than $13,000 that year. ^{17 18}

1. “About.” Open Collective Foundation. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://opencollective.com/foundation
2. “Eligibility.” Open Collective Foundation. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://docs.opencollective.foundation/getting-started/eligibility
3. “Austin Drug Users Union.” Open Collective Foundation. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://opencollective.com/atxduu
4. Robert Lee. “Thank you to all our contributors!” Open Collective Foundation. February 9, 2023. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://opencollective.com/tallahassee-food-not-bombs/updates/thank-you-to-all-our-contributors
5. Jessica McBride. “Manuel Esteban Paez Teran: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know.” Heavy. January 26, 2023. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://heavy.com/news/manuel-esteban-paez-teran/
6. Robert Lee. “Thank you to all our contributors!” Open Collective Foundation. February 9, 2023. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://opencollective.com/tallahassee-food-not-bombs/updates/thank-you-to-all-our-contributors
7. “Libertarian Socialist Caucus.” Open Collective Foundation. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://opencollective.com/lsc
8. “Evanston Fight for Black Lives.” Open Collective Foundation. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://opencollective.com/evanston-fight-for-black-lives
9. “Fridays for Future U.S.” Open Collective Foundation. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://opencollective.com/fridaysforfuture-us
10. Fridays for Future U.S. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://fridaysforfutureusa.org/
11. “Terms of Fiscal Sponsorship Agreement.” Open Collective Foundation. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://opencollective.com/redirect?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdocs.google.com%2Fdocument%2Fu%2F2%2Fd%2Fe%2F2PACX-1vQ_fs7IOojAHaMBKYtaJetlTXJZLnJ7flIWkwxUSQtTkWUMtwFYC2ssb-ooBnT-Ldl6wbVhNQiCkSms%2Fpub
12. “Team.” Open Collective Foundation. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://www.opencollective.foundation/#team
13. “Pia Mancini.” LinkedIn. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/piamancini/
14. “Alanna Irving.” LinkedIn. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://www.linkedin.com/in/alannairving83/
15. Alanna Irving. “2022 in Review.” Open Collective Foundation. January 31, 2023. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://blog.opencollective.com/ocf-2022/
16. “About.” Open Collective Foundation. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://opencollective.com/foundation
17. Anchor Point Foundation 2020 Internal Revenue Service Form 990-PF. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/455178179/202131539349100803/full
18. Allied Media Projects, Inc. Return of an Organization Exempt From Income Tax (Form 990). 2020. Accessed February 11, 2023. https://alliedmedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/ALLIED-PROJECTS-C3-FORM-990-for-Public-1.pdf