The WP Community Collective Lays Foundations for Project Development and Board Expansion
The WP Community Collective is settling into its nonprofit structure and laying the foundation for what comes next: member-led projects, more transparent processes, and a bigger board.
Minutes from the collective’s July 2 board meeting were published last week, showing that directors Katie Adams Farrell, Courtney Robertson, and Sé Reed unanimously approved two key resolutions — one establishing a framework for how the organization governs itself, the other laying out how projects move from proposal to funding. Members will now shape projects through a five-phase process, with each step documented in GitHub.
Adams Farrell, who serves as board president and treasurer, also presented the Q1 financials. As of March 31, the WPCC held $524,613 in assets — most of it from the $520,000 GoDaddy donation
announced in December. Spending remained modest through May, just over $32,000, as the nonprofit focused on getting internal systems in place. A new Airtable-based dashboard will soon replace Open Collective to give members a clearer view of how money is spent.Two new restricted funds have been introduced: one focused on WordPress ecosystem-wide sustainability efforts, the other dedicated to FAIR-aligned work. While the WPCC hasn’t formally joined the FAIR project, the new fund gives members a way to propose and fund related projects through the collective’s standard process.
Some of those first projects are already taking shape. A Contributor Dashboard feasibility study is in development, supporting the Contribution Health Dashboards experiment introduced on Make WordPress last year. The WPCC has reconnected with contributors involved in the original initiative and is now exploring ways to map needs across multiple open source ecosystems, with input from the CHAOSS project and others. A three-part accessibility initiative is also in early planning. Reed, who leads day-to-day operations as CEO, has outlined how these efforts will fit into the WPCC’s broader programming frameworks, which also includes fellowships and rapid-response support.
The collective has also launched a membership appreciation campaign. Each member will receive a custom patch and postcard, along with a second patch to gift to someone they’d like to support in the WordPress ecosystem. Former members of the now-disbanded Sustainability Team are being offered gift memberships and a new Slack space to continue their work.
Looking ahead, the WPCC plans to expand its board to nine members by the end of the year. A call for nominations is coming soon. Roles will be open to existing members, not recruited externally, and all board seats remain unpaid.
Image: Justin Nealey.
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