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If you love WordPress and want to help us do these things, join in!
WordPress Credits is a program of the WordPress FoundationWordPress FoundationThe WordPress Foundation is a charitable organization founded by Matt Mullenweg to further the mission of the WordPress open source project: to democratize publishing through Open Source, GPL software. Find more on wordpressfoundation.org., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and it connects students at partner institutions with real contribution work on the WordPress project. We began with eight partner institutions, and in our first year we have worked across 17 countries and reached over 900 students. If you want to watch it happen, the WP Credits dashboard refreshes weekly from our program records and WordPress.orgWordPress.orgThe community site where WordPress code is created and shared by the users. This is where you can download the source code for WordPress core, plugins and themes as well as the central location for community conversations and organization. https://wordpress.org/ profiles.
That growth is the reason for this post. The program has reached the point where curriculum, translation, tooling, and the work of bringing new institutions on board all need steady funding behind them, and our current sponsorship setup was never designed for that. So we’re piloting new ways to support the program and the students, from in-kind mentorship through to funding an entire program. This is a test for 2027: we’ll run it, publish what we learn, and adjust or retire what doesn’t work.
Thank you to the sponsors who got us here
Weglot and Automattic have supported this program since it was an idea on a page, sponsoring the people who have designed, built, and worked to ensure the program improves and adapts to the needs of students and the community. Along with WPBakery, Hostinger, DreamHost, Hosting.com, Raiola Networks, Cloud86, Smarthost, Villa Sostaga, Elementor, miniOrange, and Novamira, they have also sponsored mentorsEvent SupporterEvent Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues. who guide students, and contributed products that students use throughout the program. Mentors sponsored through Five for the Future have done the daily work of guiding students, cohort after cohort. None of the numbers above would exist without them, and the tiers below are built on what they made possible.
The tiers
Our community is vibrant and evolving, and we love stepping into new territory: trying, adjusting, and learning from what works and what doesn’t. That’s what has allowed a community more than 20 years old to evolve, overcome a global pandemic, and thrive. Starting in 2027, we’ll pilot the following tiers and refine them as we learn. These tiers cover WordPress Credits, and WordPress Campus Connect events stay separate from them.
Friend
Supporter
Backer
Champion
Partner
Annual
In-kind (5ftF)
$5,000
$10,000
$15,000
$30,000+
Name on the partner page
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
Mention in the mentorEvent SupporterEvent Supporter (formerly Mentor) is someone who has already organised a WordCamp and has time to meet with their assigned mentee every 2 weeks, they talk over where they should be in their timeline, help them to identify their issues, and also identify solutions for their issues. feature
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
Acknowledged in the sponsor thank you post
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
Logo and description on the partner page
✓
✓
✓
✓
Badge for your own site
✓
✓
✓
✓
Annual program report
✓
✓
✓
✓
Named for what you fund in program communications
✓
✓
✓
Report covering that cost line
✓
✓
✓
A self-written educational post about the sponsored product*
✓
✓
✓
An additional self-written sponsor post with factual, value-neutral information about additional products*
✓
✓
Invitation to the annual education partners session
✓
✓
Co-hosted webinar or event
✓
✓
Named as program partner on the program you fund
✓
Named in launch communications
✓
Program-specific report
✓
*Sponsor posts are drafted by the company and published on wordpresseducation.org once the education team has reviewed them, so that everything we publish stays useful to students first.
Expand this section to read the list of the tiers instead of a table
Friend, in-kind through Five for the Future. For companies sponsoring mentors through Five for the Future. Company name on the partner page at wordpresseducation.org, a mention in the mentor feature, and acknowledgement in the sponsor thank you post.
Supporter, $5,000 a year. Everything above, plus logo and description on the partner page, a badge for your own site, and the annual program report.
Backer, $10,000 a year. Everything above, plus being named for the specific part of the program you fund, a report covering that cost line, and a self-written educational post about the sponsored product on wordpresseducation.org.
Champion, $15,000 a year. Everything above, plus an additional self-written post with factual, value-neutral information about additional products, an invitation to our annual education partners session, and a webinar or event co-hosted with the education program.
Partner, from $30,000 a year. Everything above, plus funding a named program end to end, with the exclusive program partner role, a mention in launch communications, and a report specific to that program.
Products donated for student use
Separately from the tiers, sponsors at any level may offer free access to their products for students to use in the program, and the Foundation decides how those are shared. Donated products are offered at no cost to students, require no card details to use, and come with a way for students to export or move their work so nobody is locked in.
Donations may be tax deductible to the extent allowed by law, less the value of any benefits received, and we will note that value in your acknowledgment letter. Donated products and services are not tax deductible. Please check with your own tax advisor.
What the Partner tier makes possible
This is the tier we most want people to look at. A Partner sponsorship funds a complete, named program, the kind we haven’t been able to build yet because we’ve always had to work within what we could afford, which means we can build programs around real needs rather than available budgets. That could be students translating WordPress into languages with thin coverage, students working on accessibilityAccessibilityAccessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both “direct access” (i.e. unassisted) and “indirect access” meaning compatibility with a person’s assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility), or students building sites for nonprofit organizations that could not otherwise commission them, and those are only the first ideas we came up with, so there is plenty of room for others. If you see a need in the ecosystem that students could help meet, we would rather shape the program with you than hand you a list to choose from.
A Partner sponsor is named as program partner on the program they fund, holds the exclusive role within that program, is named in launch communications, and receives a report specific to that program.
Choosing a tier
A program managerProgram ManagerProgram Managers (formerly Super Deputies) are Program Supporters who can perform extra tasks on WordCamp.org like creating new sites and publishing WordCamps to the schedule. is reaching out to every current sponsor over the coming days to talk through which tier fits, and to make sure nobody ends up in a tier that asks more of them than they intended. If you sponsor the program today, you will hear from us directly, so there is nothing you need to do.
We are glad to talk it through first if that is easier. You can find us in the #wpcredits channel in the Make WordPress SlackSlackSlack is a Collaborative Group Chat Platform https://slack.com/. The WordPress community has its own Slack Channel at https://make.wordpress.org/chat/, or send us an email at education@wordpressfoundation.org, and we’re always happy to answer questions before you commit.
