Our Supporters

Individual Supporters

Many OpenMedia supporters give monthly, while some community members prefer to support us through one-time, non-recurring gifts.

We try to collect as little data about our donors as possible and only collect information that we need for billing purposes. As a result, we don’t know our donors’ age, gender, background, or political affiliation, and we do not “vet” donors. In some cases, when donors give via cryptocurrency, donors can be completely anonymous. 

What matters most to us is what our donors value: access to affordable Internet, freedom of expression online, and digital privacy.

 

Organizational Supporters

Below is a list of organizations that have contributed $500 or more to OpenMedia’s work over the course of the last year who wish to be recognized for their support.

Platinum/20,000+

Teksavvy

Gold/$10,000+

IFEX, Distributel, Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), Tucows

Silver/$5,000+

Competitive Network Operators of Canada (CNOC)

Bronze/$1,000+

Iristel, TunnelBear, dotmobile, Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT)

Friends/$500+

Skykon Technologies LTD., Eldorado GG, Cansumer

Donated Services

TranslationServices.com

*Thank you to the many many many more small businesses who contributed to our work. We couldn’t be more grateful.

 

Editorial Independence Policy

OpenMedia accepts funding from a wide variety of sources who believe in our vision and campaigns, including individual donors, non-profit organizations, and corporations.  

The content of our campaigns is always driven by our mandate to work towards an open, affordable, and surveillance-free Internet, and guided by what our community – donating and non-donating – tells us they want and need. That’s why grassroots support is at the core of our work. Our donors don’t “buy” influence or pick our priorities: they contribute in support of the priorities that we already have.

By maintaining our commitment to diverse and transparent funding sources, we ensure that our individual donor relationships never compromise our broader organizational advocacy independence.

TL;DR, we’re here because we believe in what we’re calling for. We want what is best for the health of the Internet. Whether you agree or disagree with us, you’re welcome to join our community and tell us what you think!

 

Funding Transparency Policy

We are a community-driven organization that brings together the needs and priorities of many thousands of individuals who value the open Internet. We also believe transparency is critical. To ensure that our organization remains community-driven, we adhere to these core policies on our funding:

  • At least 50% of our annual funding must be from grassroots donors. 
  • We aim to ensure that no single source of funding comprises more than 15% of our revenue in a given financial year.
  • Members of our board are not permitted to account for more than 5% of overall funding to OpenMedia.
  • OpenMedia does not accept donations from political parties, nor do we accept government funding for any of our campaigns or advocacy.
    Note: OpenMedia has received the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) to help sustain the organization through the impact of the current COVID-19 crisis. This support is in no way tied to our specific work, but the current economic environment.
  • OpenMedia may receive reimbursements for the expenses we incur to participate in government proceedings such as Parliamentary Committee, or regulatory proceedings at the CRTC. 
  • OpenMedia works to create broad support for the issues we work on, across a wide range of stakeholders. As a result, OpenMedia does not decline or refund contributions from donors based on their political interests, business models, or personal values.
  • OpenMedia reserves the right to decline, refund, or repurpose donations from known hate groups (as defined by the Southern Poverty Law Centre or the Canadian Listed Terrorist Entities).

These values ensure that no single organization, business, or set of aligned funders are permitted to unduly influence our work. These values apply to all of our donors. Click here to download our 2019-2020 audited financial statements.

 

Why do people give to OpenMedia?

Our donors give for a huge variety of reasons, but some of the main ones are that they:

  • Want us to advocate for affordable Internet and wireless for all
  • Are concerned about government surveillance
  • Believe in freedom of expression online
  • Value the work that we do to educate the public about key issues
  • Want us to fight back against Big Telecom and Big Cable lobbyists
  • Believe that an open Internet creates a more collaborative world

If you are already a donor, thank you so much! We are grateful for your support and honoured to advocate on your behalf.

 

What does a donation pay for?

The majority of our funding goes towards our staffing and campaigns expenses. That means that the money that you give goes towards:

  1. Researching online issues you care about. 
    • We don’t take any issue at face value: we are always finding sources and sifting through information, thinking carefully about bias. We read the dry policies and hearing notes so you don’t have to. We look at the history and context around an issue to get a nuanced understanding that we can distill to our supporters in easy-to-understand ways.
  2. Writing about and explaining online issues that affect you. 
    • We regularly post blogs and resources that give you tools and context for what is happening right now in the online world. We take complex issues and try to make them simple enough for everyone to understand.
  3. Developing collective actions.
    • As one person, it can be overwhelming to try and change the mind of a government official or a huge corporation. However, when you add your voice to the tens of thousands of others speaking up at the same time, our collective volume becomes hard to ignore. When you sign a petition along with 10,000 other people, or send one of thousands of messages flooding a government official’s inbox, you are a crucial and important part of making change happen. That’s people power!
  4. Meeting with your government officials and representatives to let them know what policy changes you want to see. 
    • Sometimes government officials just honestly don’t know how much their constituents value an open Internet. Other times, they need the persuasion of thousands of emails or a big petition to convince them! We’re non-partisan and speak with every party’s policy makers so they can hear your voice, no matter their party stripes.
  5. Administrative things that are not glamorous but very necessary.
    • This includes financial audits, bookkeeping, web hosting for our website, software for the campaigns we run, etc. All of the important things behind the scenes that make sure we can keep amplifying your voices, and advocating for the Internet we all want.