OSC Community Update: July 2026
Published on August 17, 2026 by Grace
Hi OSC community, we hope August is treating you well! This month, we’re excited to introduce a new section to our monthly updates: “What We’re Reading.” We hope you enjoy it! Without further ado...
📣 Announcements
Stripe virtual cards are back!
At long last: Stripe virtual cards are once again available to OSC-hosted projects!
Some longtime hosted projects may remember that we had to stop offering Stripe virtual cards in 2023 after a change to Stripe’s restricted-business policy meant that Stripe could no longer support the offering for us as a fiscal host.
Since then, we’ve regularly heard from hosted proejcts about how valuable the cards are and how much easier they make managing project expenses. Hearing from you reinforced how important it was for us to keep advocating for Stripe to restore this offering while also exploring other providers and potential solutions.
We’re very happy to share that those advocacy efforts have paid off: Stripe gave us the green light this week to begin offering virtual cards again!
Cards are approved on a case-by-case basis. Visit our updated docs to learn about eligibility, how to request a card, and the requirements for using one: https://docs.oscollective.org/for-hosted-member-projects/spending-money-and-getting-paid/virtual-cards
With all that said, some projects were able to keep their Stripe cards throughout this period, and we know some received inactivity notices this weekend. These cards dates will be extended. Once they’re extended, be sure to update the expiration date with any vendors that have the card on file.
Temporary pause on bank payments via Wise
Outgoing bank payments are temporarily paused while Wise, our payment provider, completes a re-verification of Open Source Collective’s account.
What this means for expenses:
- You can continue submitting expenses as normal
- Admin-approved expenses set to be paid by bank transfer will remain in OSC’s “Ready to Pay” queue until the verification is complete
- No action is required from collectives or payees at this time, unless payees prefer to use PayPal for disbursements.
We’re hopeful that Wise completes this re-verification quickly, and our team is ready to process expenses using bank accounts as soon as we receive approval to resume them. We’ll let you know as soon as that happens.
PayPal remains available for payees who prefer not to wait. Please note that PayPal often does charges higher fees than bank transfer, so this may not be an option for all expenses depending on the project's balance or the project's preferences. To receive payment through PayPal, payees must connect their PayPal account through the PayPal authorization flow. More info on how to do that can be found here: https://documentation.opencollective.com/expenses-and-getting-paid/submitting-expenses#connecting-your-paypal-account
New documentation: admin financial responsibilities
We've published a new Admin Financial Responsibilities guide in our docs to help project admins understand their role in responsibly managing project funds. You can find it here: https://docs.oscollective.org/for-hosted-member-projects/managing-project-funds/admin-financial-responsibilities
It covers:
- What admins should review before approving an expense
- How OSC's review process complements admin approvals
- What to do if you're ever unsure about an expense
If you approve expenses, please take a few minutes to read through it. Your diligence helps ensure project funds are used responsibly, contributors can trust how donations are managed, and OSC remains compliant with the financial and legal requirements that make fiscal hosting possible.
Add your project's repository to your Open Collective page
Please take a moment to make sure your project's repository URL is listed on your project’s Open Collective page. Making your repository easy to find helps donors, community member, and the OSC team quickly access your project's source code.
To update it:
Dashboard → Settings → Info
Add your repository URL under Website / Social Links. You can also add your website and other community links, such as Discord, LinkedIn, Mastodon, Slack, YouTube, and more.
✨ Community Highlights
Last month, we accepted 14 new collectives to OSC! Welcome to soybeanjs, DragonFruit, HideText, cpp-linter, Kova, LibrePods, NORA Workshop Series, Stratum, OpenSAK, Rockxy, Mantle Ui, Mnemosyne, Veryl, and Gungraun!
📚What We Are Reading
“What We’re Reading” is a new section featuring reads and conversations from OSC-hosted projects and their admins, friends of OSC, and others from across the open source ecosystem.
- Open Source Must Be Fun (Or It Will Die) https://mikemcquaid.com/open-source-must-be-fun-or-it-will-die/
“Stop doing the parts of your project that are not fun. Maybe that’s stable releases. Maybe that’s release notes. Maybe that’s backwards compatibility. Whatever it is: again, you don’t owe anyone anything.”
- Andrew Nesbitt on AI, Transitive Dependencies, and the New Open Source Security Crunch: https://podcast.sustainoss.org/290
Have you read, watched, listened to, or created anything yourself about open source lately? Lets keep the conversation going by sharing links below. You can also email us if you’d like us to consider featuring it in our next update!
📅 Upcoming
- Open Technology Fund is accepting applications to the Information Controls Research Program (ICRP), which supports applied research into emerging threats to internet freedom and countering the most repressive digital authoritarianism. Researchers embed with a supportive host organization full-time for the duration of their project (3, 6, 9, or 12 months) and receive a monthly stipend of USD $7,000.
****The 2026 application window will be open until September 7, 2026. More information at - https://www.opentech.fund/research-2/icrp/
- Now Open: Applications for Session 5 of the GitHub Secure Open Source Fund. You can apply before August 24. For more information, please see: https://github.com/open-source/github-secure-open-source-fund
Thanks for being part of the OSC community. As always, if you have any questions, feedback, or ideas for future updates, send us an email at [email protected].
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I was wondering: If Wise is your payment provider - some projects are just located in an area and might want to receive payments in the local amount. Would it be possible to allow different currencies, not just dollars? I don't know if this is the right place to post about it. But surely, some have a lot of EUR donors, live in Europe and then need to convert back and forth between dollars from donation to payout.
Is there a way to let projects choose their currencies?
BTW. I am working with Stripe/Django and also worked on a Python Wise API package. So, I think, this is technically possible.