Why now is the right time to contribute to the Drupal Association

Here at Palantir, it’s no secret that we’re strong supporters of Drupal, one of the largest independent open source projects in the world.  Whether it’s contributing countless lines of code, helping organize past DrupalCons and other events, or serving on the board of the Drupal Association, we’re dedicated to doing everything we can to help the Drupal project and community flourish.

Drupal is not just a great content management platform that’s used by countless companies to power their websites, it also provides infrastructure for many public health organizations and health care systems around the world who are at the forefront of providing vital information to the public during the current COVID-19 crisis.

Unlike many open source projects, which are sponsored by a single private company or umbrella organization, the Drupal project is supported by the Drupal Association, an international non-profit that is dedicated to fostering and supporting the growth of the Drupal software project and community. The Drupal Association provides essential funding, infrastructure, education, promotion, distribution and online collaboration for the Drupal project. 

The Drupal Association is facing a significant financial shortfall right now because it derives the bulk of its funding from conference revenue, which has been disrupted due to the COVID-19 crisis. As a result, many companies and individuals have stepped up to help support the Drupal Association financially in a wide variety of ways.

We were particularly inspired by the pledge that Dries and Vanessa Buytaert made last week to match up to $100,000 in individual donations to the Drupal Association, and several of us in the Drupal business community got together to see if we get enough other companies to offer a match as well. Within days, we were able to get nearly two dozen companies from around the world to agree to pledge a cumulative $100,000 as well, meaning that any individual donations made between now and the end of the month are effectively tripled. These additional pledges are on top of the commitments that many companies have already made to donate their sponsorship dollars in the event that DrupalCon is canceled, or other financial contributions that are not part of this matching campaign. 

While this show of support from the business community is inspiring, it still relies on individual contributors to make the difference. If you haven’t already done so, please check out the Drupal Association’s #DrupalCares page to find out how you can contribute today. Together, we can help ensure the future of the Drupal project and community.