A Short History

The Nonprofit Open Source Initiative (NOSI) formed in early 2001 as an informal group of non-profit sector technology assistance providers who were interested in the potential of open source software to benefit the organizations they work with.

Most technology assistance providers are nonprofit organizations that provide support to other nonprofits. They convene annually at a conference and maintain numerous email discussion lists. While alternatives to commercial software had been discussed at previous conferences, interest reached a new level at the 2001 conference. As a result, NOSI was born, initially as an email discussion list of people working in the trenches with nonprofit technology.

Despite minimal publicity, more than 70 people signed up for the NOSI discussion list within its first month. Rapid growth continued over the summer of 2001. Initial discussions were wide-ranging. Topics included potential software development projects, the need to set software development standards, and the need for educational and training materials and outreach efforts.

After nearly a year of informal discussion, many members of the email list voiced interest in formalizing the coalition so that it would be able to more effectively fill the need in the nonprofit community for an open source resource dedicated to nonprofit organizations. As a result, a steering committee was organized toward the end of 2001. The steering committee was composed of six volunteers, all active in the nonprofit technology assistance fields. Even to this point, most of NOSI's steering committee are volunteers donating their time because they view NOSI as an important step in supporting their work of providing affordable and appropriate technology services to nonprofit organizations.

The Steering Committee's first task was to conduct a planning process to focus NOSI's mission and activities and study the need for such an organization as well as the resources that would be available to support it.

Starting in January of 2002, led by a half-time project lead, the NOSI Steering Committee accomplished the following during the first half of 2002:

• Developed a strategic plan. The plan reflected consensus within the group that NOSI should focus on outreach, education and training.
• Launched its first project, the Open Source Cyber Café, in partnership with the Legal Services Technology Network, which debuted at the NTEN Circuit Riders Conference in Orlando, FL.
• Convened the first face-to-face meeting of the steering committee
• Put in place a governance and committee structure
• Co-sponsored its first training event, a Linux Installfest, with Media Jumpstart in New York City
• Conducted a survey of the NOSI community
• Increased the number of NOSI subscribers to nearly 200.

In the remaining months of 2002, NOSI:

• Drafted a proposal and budget and began circulating it among funders
• Secured a fiscal sponsor
• Began work on the Total Cost of Ownership study
• Organized with Media Jumpstart an evening event in New York City called the Open Source Open House, which showcased the use of open source software in a non-profit organization.