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SOFTWARE FREEDOM CONSERVANCY INC

EIN 41-2203632 BROOKLYN, NY

Revenue 2024
$3,214,723
Expenses 2024
$3,805,350

Program services were 78.0% of total expenses calculated — Part IX's program-services column over total expenses, both as filed.

As filed

Subsection
03
NTEE code
U41
Classification
1000
Street
137 MONTAGUE ST STE 380

These codes are the IRS's own and are shown exactly as filed. What each one means is in the Business Master File documentation (opens in a new tab).

Mission and programs · 2024

Mission

Software Freedom Conservancy (SFC) promotes, improves, develops, facilitates & defends Free & Open Source Software (FOSS) & the right to software repair. SFC advocates for the public's software rights & freedoms. SFC provides a home & infrastructure to FOSS initiatives. SFC helps volunteers focus on improving FOSS for the public. Projects include: creation of FOSS for general public, copyleft licensing advocacy, & internships for contributors subject to systemic bias who are underrepresented in FOSS.

Activities or mission (Part I)

SFC promotes,improves,develops,facilitates, and defends Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). SFC advocates for the software rights and freedom of the public. SFC provides a home & infrastructure to FOSS projects & initiatives, & increases diversity, equity and inclusion in FOSS.

  • FOSS development, documentation, infrastructure, sustainability, & project support: During the tax year, SFC engaged 12 different software developers as independent contractors to improve the software in its FreeDV, Inkscape, Microblocks, phpMyAdmin, Reproducible Builds, and Selenium projects, as well as improving FOSS for SFC's own accounting infrastructure. All software source code was released freely to the public under licenses that encourage the public to use, share, modify, and reinstall it. These contractors also coordinated volunteer software developers to contribute further to the software projects. SFC staff also assisted volunteers in our projects on a daily basis with administration, coordination, legal and infrastructural tasks and costs (as listed at https://sfconservancy.org/members/services/ ). Finally, SFC regularly mentors leadership of projects both inside and outside our organization to improve their non-profit management skills.

    Expenses $1,357,130 · Grants $47,431 · Revenue $521,768

  • Outreachy and The Institute For Computing Research (ICR): In the tax year, we funded 60 interns via Outreachy - an initiative that encourages participation in FOSS for those who are subject to systemic bias and impacted by underrepresentation in the technical industry where they live. Outreachy interns improve FOSS and its documentation, and increase the diversity of the FOSS community while also learning valuable skills. ICR mentors and trains students in high school to do rigorous scientific research using FOSS. During this tax year, ICR had 27 internships. Both internship programs are paid programs which enable those from less privileged backgrounds to participate.

    Expenses $885,405

  • License Compliance & Enforcement: Some FOSS is available under "copyleft" licenses, such as the General Public License (GPL). These licenses allow everyone to freely share, copy, modify and (re)install modified versions of software. SFC identifies situations where distributors fail to meet the copyleft requirements & requires them to provide the same rights to all those who receive the software distribution. Through this process, SFC ensures that the public has equal rights to use, improve and study software & experiment with their own modifications so that the rights of consumers to repair the software on their devices is restored. During the tax year, SFC continued litigation against a maker of Linux-based televisions in California state court in which SFC seeks the complete, corresponding source (CCS) for the copylefted components in the televisions. During the tax year, SFC also provided a grant to an individual to undertake a legal action in Germany where he successfully sought the CCS for the LGPL'd components on the router he purchased. We also designed & built a new wireless router, the OpenWrt One which gives people the ability to modify and fix their router out of the box. The OpenWrt One is an example of how to comply with copyleft licenses & overcome challenges cited in the industry. We also conduct talks and discussions at conferences to educate companies and consumers.

    Expenses $422,759 · Grants $7,942 · Revenue $13,666

  • Facilitating and Participating in FOSS conferences: During the tax year, SFC planned, organized and/or ran three conferences, and prepared for one other to take place in the following year. Additionally, SFC coordinated and funded many other smaller "hackfest" events for its projects. Furthermore, SFC funded travel expenses for staff's and volunteers' attendance at more than 14 different third-party software conferences. These events allow volunteer FOSS contributors and SFC staff to (a) speak about their work to the public, (b) teach the public how to use and improve their software, (c) generally promote the use, adoption and improvement of FOSS, and (d) explain and explore the policy issues surrounding software freedom and software rights. Most FOSS conferences include opportunities for software developers to meet and rapidly work closely together to make improvements to the software and release those improvements immediately to the public. Finally, SFC staff also assisted in organizing the Legal & Policy DevRoom at FOSDEM, the largest annual FOSS conference in Europe.

    Expenses $303,910 · Revenue $27,734

As filed on the 2024 return.

Officers and directors · 2024

As listed in Part VII of the 2024 return, in the order the filer printed them. Each return names its own; this is not a roster the organization keeps with us.

  • Karen M Sandler

    President and Executive Director

    Total calculated
    $241,142
    From this org
    $178,851
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $62,291
    Hours/week
    45

    Schedule J breakdown matched by us

    Base
    $178,851
    Bonus
    $0
    Other
    $0
    Deferred
    $5,465
    Nontaxable benefits
    $56,826
    Filer's total
    $241,142

  • Rick Sanders

    General Counsel

    Total calculated
    $193,349
    From this org
    $124,838
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $68,511
    Hours/week
    40

  • Sage Sharp

    Senior Director of Diversity and Inclusion

    Total calculated
    $162,788
    From this org
    $108,272
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $54,516
    Hours/week
    40

  • Bradley M Kuhn

    Director, Policy Fellow, Outgoing Treasurer

    Total calculated
    $154,413
    From this org
    $113,112
    From related orgs
    $0
    Other
    $41,301
    Hours/week
    40

  • Jeremy Allison

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Laura Fortunato

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Mark Galassi

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Bdale Garbee

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

  • Allison Randal

    Board Chairperson, Vice President, and Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    4.25

  • Anthony K Sebro Jr

    Director

    Total calculated
    $0
    Hours/week
    2

Compensation is as filed in Part VII: reportable pay from this organization and from related organizations, other compensation, and hours per week. The total, marked calculated, is our sum of the three dollar columns, with a blank column counted as $0; the form itself has no total. On a Form 990-EZ the columns are Part IV's instead, and on a Form 990-PF Part VIII's — compensation, contributions to benefit plans, and expense account — and the total sums those. A Schedule J breakdown is as filed: base pay, bonus, other, deferred compensation and nontaxable benefits from this organization, with any from related organizations beside each, and the filer's own total. It is shown with the Part VII listing of the same name on the same return. The form gives no key between the two, so that pairing is ours, and is marked matched by us. Earlier years are each on their own filing page.

Filings

  • 2024
    Revenue
    $3,214,723
    Expenses
    $3,805,350
    Contributions
    $2,491,246
    Grants paid
    $53,174
  • 2023
    Revenue
    $2,487,144
    Expenses
    $4,478,454
    Contributions
    $1,964,878
    Grants paid
    $114,905
  • 2022
    Revenue
    $4,187,196
    Expenses
    $3,662,134
    Contributions
    $4,018,244
    Grants paid
    $417,410

The four totals the IRS asks for on Part I of the Form 990, as filed. A dash means the figure was not present on the return — not that it was zero.

Other returns filed

  • 2021 · 990

    Revenue
    $4,357,006
    Expenses
    $3,165,712
    Assets (EOY)
    $6,623,240

  • 2020 · 990

    Revenue
    $3,229,988
    Expenses
    $2,591,633
    Assets (EOY)
    $5,375,134

Nonprofiteer parses Forms 990, 990-EZ and 990-PF, in a window of recent tax years. These returns are recorded from the IRS e-file index, so their figures were extracted by that index rather than read from the return here — treat them as a different source from the filings above, not as more of the same record. A dash means the index carries no figure; Form 990-T listings carry none at all.

Grants made

  • Open Collective Foundation

    $304,000

    2022 Grant to support the use, development and improvement of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), and education about the use and improvement of FOSS projects. Specifically, $268,000 to support improvement of the Homebrew software, and $36,000 to support the Drupal New Jersey initiative.

  • Boost Foundation

    $106,005

    2022 In furtherance of and to specifically support the use, development, and improvement of Free and Open Source Software, specifically, the Boost C++ libraries software project.

  • Python Software Foundation

    $16,963

    2023 Grants supported the use, development and improvement of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS), and education about the use and improvement of FOSS projects. Specifically, $8,963 to support the North Bay Python conference where developers can meet in person and learn more about FOSS, and $8,000 to specifically support the improvement of the Twisted software library in Python.

Where these grants went next →

Grants received

The 10 largest by cash amount. The API serves every itemized grant.

Other IRS files

Auto-Revocation List

Not listed. The IRS publishes this list for organizations whose exemption was automatically revoked for failing to file for three consecutive years.

Publication 78

Listed as of 13 October 2026, under deductibility PC.

These are two separate IRS files on two separate schedules, shown as published and not reconciled with each other. Neither is a statement about whether a contribution is deductible today: 19,245 organizations appear in Publication 78 while the IRS's own revocation file lists them as currently revoked, more than half of those revoked before 2019. Absence from Publication 78 is evidence of nothing, and presence is not evidence either. Verify current status with the IRS before relying on it.

What this page reflects

The registration facts above come from the IRS Business Master File published 13 October 2026 and read 26 October 2026, for every organization at once. Returns through tax year 2024, the newest we have parsed for this organization.