OSC Outreach and Hosting Audit: Findings, Actions, and Next Steps
Published on November 18, 2025 by Grace
We wanted to share an update on our recent outreach to hosted Collectives whose linked repositories were:
- inactive
- archived
- empty
- missing an open source license in the root directory.
We’re now in the final stages of unhosting the remaining projects that haven’t responded to outreach. Below is an overview of what we’ve done so far, what happens next, and key takeaways for admins of active projects fiscally hosted by OSC.
Overview of the Audit
We currently host more than 2,600 Collectives. To ensure all hosted Collectives continue to meet our hosting requirements, we conducted an audit using Ecosyste.ms to identify hosted projects that showed signs of inactivity, private repos, or a potentially missing open source license. Specifically, we looked for projects that:
- Had no activity for over a year
- Had archived repos
- Had an empty repository
- Were missing an open source license in the root directory
In total, 411 projects met at least one of these criteria.
Outreach Efforts
To engage with these projects, we reached out in several phases:
- Initial Outreach (two rounds): We sent two initial messages to all admins listed on the identified hosted collectives, spaced at least 30 days apart.
- Additional Attempts: For projects with larger balances or where we knew an admin was active elsewhere, we made additional attempts, such as contacting them through GitHub or through another way.
- Termination Notice: f we did not receive any response from those attempts, we sent termination emails and asked admins to contact us, submit any final expenses, or to provide guidance on reallocating their remaining balances. This email noted that if we did not hear back, OSC would reallocate the funds to an appropriate project, per our terms of fiscal hosting.
- Final Attempt via Open Collective Update: We also published a public announcement on our Open Collective page, which notified all admins. Apologies for that wide notification; it wasn’t ideal, but it was necessary to ensure we exercised full diligence.
The termination notices and the Open Collective update resulted in a handful of projects reaching back out, which allowed us to resolve issues or move forward with guidance from the admins.
Finally, we later froze a number of projects that we expect to unhost, which also triggered a final notification to their admins.
Current Status
After all outreach attempts, here is where things stand:
- 158 projects remain unresponsive and are pending unhosting
- 15 projects have already been unhosted
- 64 projects have been frozen. The most common reason for freezing is because these projects haven’t had repo activity between 1-2 years
- The remaining 237 projects either:
- fixed the issue
- responded to show that it was a non-issue (ie: their work is happening in another repo, they already have an open source license, etc)
- were determined during an independent manual review to be non-issues (ie: the project had become active again since we pulled the initial Ecosystems data, project was no longer hosted by OSC, etc).
We are working through the final unhosting steps for the remaining projects with balances.
Next Steps for Hosted Collectives Pending Unhosting with Balances
For the 158 unresponsive projects that still have balances, we are using Ecosystems data to determine how to appropriately reallocate funds. Balances will be redistributed to other projects in alignment with OSC’s mission, such as:
- A Collective with substantially similar purposes
- An ecosystem related to the project (eg: same language, framework, or domain)
These projects were frozen in the meantime. All admins of these projects were notified about the freeze. Since then, two additional projects reached out after receiving that notification.
At this time, we expect to reallocate approximately $23,000, though this may change if any remaining projects contact us before the process concludes.
Once this process is complete, we’ll share a follow-up update detailing where the funds were distributed.
Steps for Admins to Take
To help prevent future issues and ensure your hosted Collective stays in good standing and that we can reach you, here are a few important reminders:
- Keep your linked repo updated on its Open Collective page
- Ensure your project has a valid open source license, ideally in the repository root, so GitHub can surface it in the repo metadata and display it on the right side in the project details
- Respond to communications. Please keep your contact information current and respond to outreach attempts by OSC asap
- Reach out before you go inactive. If the Collective is winding down or entering a low-activity period, let us know. We’re happy to work with you on the next steps so your balance doesn’t become stranded.
Ongoing Outreach and 'Clean Up'
This cleanup is not yet finished. We'll continue reviewing additional hosting criteria and following up with projects that require action or conversation. Moving forward, OSC will conduct similar audits on a regular basis to make sure our hosted Collectives stay active, compliant, and reachable.
If you have any questions about the above or this ongoing work, please email us at [email protected].
This cleanup is not yet finished. We'll continue reviewing additional hosting criteria and following up with projects that require action or conversation. Moving forward, OSC will conduct similar audits on a regular basis to make sure our hosted Collectives stay active, compliant, and reachable.
If you have any questions about the above or this ongoing work, please email us at [email protected].
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