Donation Central

Submitted by rdjere on Sat, 06/09/2012 - 18:55

Welcome! Donation Central is an initiative that I created to provide centralized links to the donation pages of great Free Software projects. The projects are neatly categorized to make them easier to peruse. Information about making a donation to support Donation Central is at the end of the page. NOTE: My recommendation is that you go through the ENTIRE list, and pick one or more projects that you can afford to send a donation to.

Please contact us to add a Free Software project to this list. To get added, the project MUST have an ACTIVE development community. I will vet each project before adding it to the list. Please use the contact us form to inform me of any inactive projects on this list, or any inaccurate listings. Thank you!

Art

  • Open Game Art is a great service that hosts a media repository to hold artwork. The intent is for the artwork to be taken freely and used in Free Software game projects. What a wonderful idea!! As my skills with the GIMP get better an better, I may even donate artwork to this project in the future. Here's an idea, why doesn't someone make a repository where we can post raw GIMP source files in GIMP's native xcf format? Then others could take the files and edit them, improve them, etc. Anyway, Open Game Art is a great site providing a wonderful service to the Free Software community. They accept Bitcoin, Flattr, and Paypal donations on their homepage.

Audio Software

  • Audacity is a free software/open source sound recorder and sound editor. It is licensed under version 2 of GNU's GPL. Audacity is my favorite sound editor: I use it to record and edit my GNU/Linux oggcast. It is extremely powerful, and very easy to use.
    Audacity accepts Paypal donations here: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/community/donate#donate
  • CDex proudly advertises that it is licensed under version 3 of GNU's GPL. I like that! CDex is an open source digital audio CD extractor. It can rip CD audio to a variety of formats: Ogg Vorbis, mp3, wav, FLAC, and more. All source code is available on the CDex website, and there are compiled binaries for Windows on the website as well. You can contribute to CDex here: http://cdexos.sourceforge.net/?q=donate
  • Mplayer
    is one of my favorite audio players on my GNU/Linux systems. MPlayer is
    available for the 4 major operating systems: Linux, Apple's OSX,
    Windows, and the Unices/BSDs. MPlayer is licensed under GNU's GPL, and
    you can contribute to the project here: http://www1.mplayerhq.hu/design7/donations.html
  • fre:ac
    stands for "free audio converter". fre:ac is a descendant of BonkEnc.
    It can be used to extract audio from compact disks, and convert the
    audio to other formats. You can download the source code from the fre:ac
    website, which also has compiled binaries for Linux, Mac, Windows, and
    several of the BSD OSs. You can show the project some love here: http://www.freac.org/index.php/en/donate-to-bonkenc-othermenu-34

Calendars

  • Sunbird
    is a free software/open source calendar application. It is
    cross-platform, having builds for GNU/Linux, Mac, and Windows. It is
    triple licensed under the MPL, GPL, and LGPL. You can donate to this
    wonderful project in many different ways here: http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/donate.html

Charities

  • The Helios Initiative
    is a touching project that provides computers for disadvantaged
    children in the area of Austin, Texas. Ofcourse, these computers are
    often loaded with GNU/Linux and other free software. There are many ways
    to contribute to this fantastic project here: http://www.heliosinitiative.org/help.html

C++ IDEs

  • Code::Blocks
    is a free software/open source C++ Integrated Development Environment.
    It is both extremely powerful and very flexible: it runs on GNU/Linux,
    Windows, and MacOS. Code::Blocks is licensed under version 3 of GNU's
    GPL.

    Code::Blocks accepts Paypal donations here: http://www.codeblocks.org/donations
  • CodeLite
    is an open-source, cross platform IDE for the C/C++ programming
    languages. It has Linux, Windows, and MacOS versions. It is distributed
    under the terms of the GPLv2 license. CodeLite accepts Paypal donations
    by clicking on the button at the bottom right of their homepage.
  • Dev-C++
    is a powerful free software IDE for Windows written in Delphi. I have
    used it, and it is wonderful for writing and compiling C++ code (it uses
    the MinGW port of GCC for actual compilation). You can donate to
    Dev-C++ using the PayPal button on the right hand side of the homepage.
  • Eclipse
    is a free software/open source Integrated Development Environment that
    can be used to compile C++ or Java code. Eclipse runs on GNU/Linux,
    Windows, Solaris, and MacOS. Eclipse is licensed under the Eclipse
    Public License.

    Eclipse accepts donations here: http://www.eclipse.org/donate/

Content Management Systems

  • Drupal
    is an open source content management system that powers millions of
    websites worldwide, including Djere.com and WhiteHouse.gov. Drupal was
    created by Dries Buytaert back in 2001, and is licensed under version 3
    of GNU's GPL. It is my favorite CMS! You can donate to this wonderful
    project here: https://association.drupal.org/donate
  • Joomla!
    is another very popular free software content management system. I have
    used Joomla! in the past, and it is top notch. Joomla is a fork of the
    Mambo CMS that was created in 2005. It is licensed under GNU's GPL. You
    can donate to their project here:
    http://opensourcematters.org/support-joomla.html
  • WordPress
    WordPress is probably the world's most popular CMS for bloggers. It
    power millions of blogs and websites. WordPress is licensed under GNU's
    GPL version 2 or later. You can donate money to the WordPress project
    here: http://wordpressfoundation.org/donate/
  • XOOPS
    is a powerful content management system written in PHP that connects to
    a MySQL database. XOOPS was created in 2001, and is very popular for
    creating personal, corporate, and community websites. It is licensed
    under GNU's GPL. You can donate to XOOPS here: http://xoops.org/modules/xdonations/

Databases

  • Firebird
    is free as in beer! Firebird is a free software relational database
    that has been in development since 1981. It is licensed under the IDPL, a
    copyleft license similar to the GPL. I have to be honest: I had not
    heard of Firebird until doing my research today, but I'm glad that I
    found them. You can donate to the Firebird Project here: http://www.firebirdsql.org/en/start/#consider-your-contribution
  • MariaDB
    is a free software database server that is a drop-in replacement for
    MySQL. Unlike MySQL, MariaDB does not have corporate backing: it is a
    community-based project. As such, most of the people that develop
    MariaDB are volunteers. These courageous and selfless individuals spend
    their limited time and resources to create a great piece of software
    that everyone can benefit from. If you like what the MariaDB project is
    doing, you can donate to it here: http://kb.askmonty.org/en/donations
  • PostgreSQL
    is a popular open source database server. It has been in development
    for a very long time, and is known for its stability and reliability.
    PostgreSQL has a very large and active development community, made up
    mostly of volunteers. You can show your support for PostgreSQL here: http://www.postgresql.org/about/donate/

Desktop Environments

  • GNOME. See the GNOME Foundation in the "Foundations" section below.
  • KDE's
    Plasma desktop is very popular on many GNU/Linux distributions. KDE is
    built using the Qt framework, and it has environments and Free Software
    for GNU/Linux, Solaris, MacOS, FreeBSD, and Windows. KDE has been around
    since 1996, and it continues to grow and expand. You can donate to the
    KDE Project here: http://jointhegame.kde.org/

Foundations

  • The Apache Foundation
    supports an incredibly wide range of free software projects. These
    projects include OpenOffice.org and the Apache Web Server. This
    venerable organization was founded in 1999, and it continues to do
    fantastic work.You can donate to the Apache Foundation here: http://apache.org/foundation/contributing.html
  • The Documentation Foundation maintains and promotes the popular LibreOffice office suite. The Document Foundation accepts donations here: http://www.documentfoundation.org/contribution/
  • The Free Software Foundation advocates for and promotes the use of free software. The GNU arm of the FSF creates and maintains great free software packages.

    The Free Software Foundation accepts various forms of donations here: https://my.fsf.org/donate/
  • The GNOME Foundation
    is responsible for my favorite desktop environment: GNOME. I currently
    run Gnome 3 on all of my Fedora computer systems, and I absolutely love
    it! GNOME is part of the GNU Project, and it is Free Software. I
    strongly encourage you to donate to GNOME here: http://www-old.gnome.org/friends/

    The Free Software Foundation accepts various forms of donations here: https://my.fsf.org/donate/
  • Jasig
    is a consortium that sponsors open source software projects used in
    higher education environments. Jasig is not-for-profit, and it has taken
    on a very noble cause. They survive on donations from those who
    appreciate what they are doing. As a student myself, I strongly support
    this kind of initiative. Jasig was founded in late 1999. I am in the
    process of writing the Wikipedia article for Jasig now, so I will update
    with more information soon. You can donate to Jasig here: http://www.jasig.org/jasig/contribute/donations
  • The Linux Foundation
    is the non-profit organization that fully supports the Linux operating
    system. It was founded in 2000 to foster the growth and prosperity of
    Linux and the open source software movement. Both corporate and
    individual members help the Linux Foundation to achieve its goal of
    spreading Linux everywhere. The Linux Foundation pays Linux inventor
    Linux Torvalds' salary so that he can focus on maintaining the high
    quality of the Linux kernel. You can support the incredible work of the
    Linux Foundation here: http://www.linuxfoundation.org/participate/linux-donate
  • The Mozilla Foundation
    is a global non-profit organization that supports making the Internet
    open and accessible to everyone. They created and maintain the fantastic
    Firefox web browser, and other Internet-related free software.

    The Mozilla Foundation accepts various forms of donations here: https://donate.mozilla.org/page/contribute/openwebfund
  • The Open Source Initiative
    is a non-profit corporation that supports free software and open source
    licensed software. They also support open standards, and they resist
    the unethical practices of locking customers in using proprietary
    software. You can support their great work here: http://www.opensource.org/donate
  • Yorba is
    a wonderful non-profit organization that is dedicated to promoting and
    creating free software. Yorba is based in San Francisco, and it was
    founded in January 2009.There offices are in San Francisco's Mission
    District. You can donate to Yorba here: http://yorba.org/donate/

Games

  • Normally, I only put projects on this list that have released
    stable versions. However, I was REALLY impressed with the beta version
    of the game "Nikki and the Robots":

    Nikki and the Robots - Concept Trailer from Joyride Laboratories on Vimeo.

    You can visit the project and donate to it here: http://joyridelabs.de/

  • Red Eclipse
    is wonderful first person shooter that has breathtakingly beautiful
    game play. It is Free Software, licensed under the zlib License. The
    game runs on the Cube 2 game engine, and provides gameplay and scenery
    that rivals anything on the Xbox 360 or PS3, in my humble opinion. It is
    available for Linux, Windows, and Mac. You can donate to the project
    here: http://www.redeclipse.net/donate

GNU/Linux Distributions

  • Debian
    is one of the oldest GNU/Linux distributions. It was created by Ian
    Murdock back in 1993. Over the course of the next several years, Debian
    grew to become one of the most stable distros, and it has a very loyal
    following. Debian created a non-profit organization called Software in
    the Public Interest (SPI) to handle donations. The websites are here: http://www.spi-inc.org/donations/ and here: http://www.debian.org/donations
  • Dragora
    is a completely Free Software GNU/Linux distribution that is endorsed
    by the Free Software Foundation. It was created by Matias A. Fonzo in
    2007. Dragora's name comes from the Mandragora plant. You can donate to
    this excellent GNU/Linux distro here: http://www.dragora.org/donations.html
  • Dynebolic
    is another GNU/Linux distribution that is endorsed by the Free Software
    Foundation. Dynebolic has no proprietary bits at all, and its main
    strength is its audio and video editing performance. Dynebolic accepts
    donations via Pledgie here: http://pledgie.com/campaigns/13590
  • Fedora
    is my favorite GNU/Linux distribution. The Fedora Project was started
    in 2003 by Red Hat. Fedora is a community-based GNU/Linux distro that
    feeds directly into Red Hat Enterprise Linux. The Fedora community does
    not actively solicit financial donations, they prefer help in the form
    assisting project activities. You can find ways to contribute here: http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Contribute
  • Gentoo
    is a popular GNU/Linux distribution that was created by Daniel Robbins
    in 2002. Gentoo is known for its great performance due to the fact that
    it usually compiles programs so that they are tuned specifically for
    the hardware that they are running on. You can donate to Gentoo by
    clicking on the "donate" button in the upper right hand corner of this
    page: http://www.gentoo.org/main/en/sponsors.xml
  • Linux Mint
    is one of the world's most popular GNU/Linux distributions. Mint was
    created in 2006 as a derivative of Ubuntu. Since then, it has grown
    immensely in popularity, and has helped to bring GNU/Linux to the
    masses. Linux Mint accepts donations here: http://www.linuxmint.com/donors.php
  • Liquid Lemur
    is a GNU/Linux distro based on Arch Linux. It used to be based on
    Debian. Liquid Lemur aims to build a base system upon which a user can
    add more desired software packages easily. Lemur has one of the most
    attractive desktops that I have ever seen. The distro has a 5-man core
    development team made up of Ed Snyder, Mario Steele, Brian Tomlinson,
    Tyler Melton, and Chad Fluegge. You can donate to the project by
    clicking on the homepage's "DONATE" button.

GNU/Linux Oggcasts/Podcasts

  • LibreCAST is a GNU/Linux Oggcast hosted by GNU/Linux expert and C++ programmer Rex Djere.

    The LibreCAST accepts Paypal donations at this address: donate AT djere.com.

    The LibreCAST accepts Bitcoin donations at this address: 1FAoDBQRmz5gpf8rHXAK8VPY66qzKnT3iK
  • The Linux Link Tech Show
    is one of the best and longest running of the GNU/Linux oggcasts. They
    have had virtually every major player in the free software community on
    their show. I listen religiously. I had a hard time finding their
    donation page, but I tracked it down. You can donate using the Paypal
    button near the bottom of the page here: http://tllts.org/get_the_shirt.php
  • Linux Outlaws
    is my absolute favorite GNU/Linux Oggcast. They are funny, informative,
    and extremely entertaining. You WILL like their show. The show is
    hosted by Fabian Scherschel and Dan Lynch. You can donate to the oggcast
    via Flattr here: http://flattr.com/profile/fabsh

GUI Libraries

IDEs For Programming Languages other than C++

Knowledge/Learning

  • Moodle
    is a completely free course management system licensed under GNU's GPL.
    Many schools are switching to this free alternative to Blackboard. Not
    only is it free, but all of Moodle's source code is available if you
    want to make changes or enhancements to it. My college actually uses
    Moodle, and I find it to be just as good as Blackboard. You can
    contribute to the Moodle project here: http://moodle.org/donations/
  • Wikipedia
    is THE entity that I donate to religiously EVERY year. They are one of
    the world's most powerful forces against selfishness and greed. To me,
    Wikipedia has one of the most noble goals: make all of the world's
    information available to everyone. They refuse advertising because they
    don't want a greedy entity to co-opt the information for financial gain.
    I can't state strongly enough how much I admire what they do! Wikipedia
    accepts donations in many forms. If you are a U.S. federal government
    employee, you can donate to Wikipedia via the Combined Federal Campaign.
    Their CFC code is 61478. You can learn about all of the ways to donate here: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate/WaysToGive/en

Organizers

  • Chandler
    is a desktop notebook organizer that you can use to organize, backup,
    and share your thoughts with the world. It has compiled binaries for
    Windows. You can support this noble project by making a donation to
    their parent organization, the Open Source Applications Foundation: http://www.osafoundation.org/donations.html

Project Management Software

  • GanttProject
    is a Java-based free software project management system. I've used
    several of these types of project management suites, since many of them
    come with GNU/Linux distros. GanttProject is one of the best out there.
    GanttProject is licensed under GNU's GPL, and there are versions for
    GNU/Linux, Mac, and Windows.

    This is a great project, and they really could use your support. You
    will see a big yellow "DONATE" button at the bottom right of the
    homepage.

Software Telephones

  • Ekiga is a
    free software/open source voice and video conferencing software package
    for Gnome and Windows. It is licensed under GNU's GPL.

    Ekiga accepts Paypal donations here at the bottom right of the page: http://ekiga.org/

Source Code Repositories

  • Source Forge
    is one of the oldest and most respected source code repositories on the
    Internet. They freely host a ton of open source/free software projects.
    In doing so, they provide a commendable service to the free software
    community. They do have a donation page here: http://sourceforge.net/donate/

Text Editors

  • Aquamacs
    is a text editor based on Emacs. The catch is that Aquamacs is designed
    to work with Macs, specifically Macs running OSX. If you own a Mac, and
    you want a free software/open source text editor, Aquamacs is a great
    choice. Aquamacs was created by David Reitter using Emacs as its basis.
    Mr. Reitter continues to develop the software. You can show your support
    for his work here: http://aquamacs.org/donations.shtml
  • Notepad++
    is the only text editor that I use on my Windows system. It is far
    superior to Notepad or Wordpad. It features syntax highlighting for a
    variety of programming languages, including C++. Along with Gedit for
    GNU/Linux systems, Notepad++ is one of the best text editors that I have
    ever used. It is licensed under version 3 of GNU's GPL.

    Notepad++ accepts Paypal donations here: http://notepad-plus-plus.org/donate.html

Video Software

  • K3b is a
    cd and dvd creator made especially for GNU/Linux. I read a great story
    about K3b: a gentleman bought his grandson a laptop, and they installed
    GNU/Linux. The grandson used K3b extensively. The grandad found out that
    K3b was made by volunteers (college students). He wanted to donate the
    project but did not know how. This story made me realize more why a web
    page like Donation Central is necessary. The donation methods of some
    projects are easy to find, while others are much harder. K3b now has a
    very easy to find donation page here: http://k3b.plainblack.com/donations
  • VideoLAN (VLC) Media Player
    is my favorite video/audio player. It can handle any file format that
    you can throw at it. I use it on my GNU/Linux and Windows machines: it
    is my primary player. It is an incredibly well developed and designed
    piece of Free Software. You can show you support for VLC by clicking on
    the Paypal links at the top of the homepage. You can find all of the
    ways to contribute here: http://www.videolan.org/contribute.html

Word Processors

  • Abiword
    is a free word processor similar to Microsoft® Word. It is GNU Free
    Software. Abiword is available for GNU/Linux, Mac, and Windows. Abiword
    has been around since 1998, and it is included in the repositories of
    every major GNU/Linux distribution. The project does not seem to
    actively solicit financial donations, but I was able to find a page
    where they describe other ways in which you can contribute: http://www.abisource.com/contribute/
  • LibreOffice Writer
    is part of a larger free software office suite known as LibreOffice. I
    absolutely love LibreOffice! It is my primary office suite on my
    GNU/Linux machines, and on my Windows machine. LibreOffice is a
    community-based fork of OpenOffice.org. You can support this project by
    making a donation to the Document Foundation here: http://www.documentfoundation.org/contribution/
  • LyX
    is a TeX/LaTeX based document processor licensed under GNU's GPL. It
    runs on GNU/Linux, Mac, and Windows. The developers generously donate
    their time and money to produce a consistently great product. You can
    contribute to LyX here: http://www.lyx.org/Donate

Worship

  • OpenLP
    is worship presentation program that can be used to display song lyrics,
    religious texts, and other pertinent information during religious
    services. It is OpenLP is licensed under GNU's GPL. I could not find a
    donation page for this wonderful project, but the development team's
    page is here: http://openlp.org/en/team
  • OpenSong
    is a Free Software application that allows you to create computer
    projections with lyrics and chords, and to present information at
    religious services. You can donate to the project by clicking on the
    PayPal donate button in the upper left-hand corner of the home page.