There are a number of important organizations in the Open Source and Free Software world that do tremendously valuable work. This includes groups such as the Linux Foundation, Free Software Foundation, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Apache Software Foundation, and others.
One such group is the Software Freedom Conservancy. To get a sense of what they do, they explain it best:
Software Freedom Conservancy is a not-for-profit organization that helps promote, improve, develop, and defend Free, Libre, and Open Source Software (FLOSS) projects. Conservancy provides a non-profit home and infrastructure for FLOSS projects. This allows FLOSS developers to focus on what they do best — writing and improving FLOSS for the general public — while Conservancy takes care of the projects’ needs that do not relate directly to software development and documentation.
Conservancy performs some important work. Examples include bringing projects under their protection, providing input on and driving policy that relates to open software/standards, funding developers to do work, helping refine IP policies, protecting GPL compliance, and more.
This work comes at a cost. The team need to hire staff, cover travel/expenses, and more. I support their work by contributing, and I would like to encourage you do too. It isn’t a lot of money but it goes a long way.
They just kicked off a fundraiser at sfconservancy.org/supporter/ and I would like to recommend you all take a look. They provide an important public service, they operate in a financially responsible way, and their work is well intended and executed.
