As a volunteer-based organization, the Apache Software Foundation stands most in need of dedicated volunteers who can work on software, documentation, or administrative issues within each of the ASF projects, including the Foundation project itself. Other ways to contribute include providing services or equipment for use by the Foundation, or donating money to the Foundation.

You may also support the ASF indirectly by purchasing officially licensed ASF apparel from Jinx Hackwear. The ASF will receive a percentage of the profit of all items sold.

In terms of software developers, there is typically a large need for people willing to test the various pieces of software, in various environments, and to track, reproduce, isolate, and fix problems reported by the user community. Speaking of which, we consider the reporting of problems to our tracking systems to be a valuable contribution as well. Directions for how you can contribute in these ways can be found in each of the project websites.

The Apache Software Foundation is also looking for new or existing collaborative software development projects that are in need of a home. This includes both projects related and unrelated to the existing ASF projects.

Not a software developer? Don't worry, there are plenty of other ways you can contribute. Our customers, the users of our free software products, are part of the Apache community as well. Organizing local user groups, volunteering to work on user conferences, and helping less experienced users on the various on-line forums are all ways in which you can contribute to the ASF projects. Likewise, the Foundation project can often benefit from people with administrative experience or access to specialized communication facilities.

If you wish to provide equipment for use by the Foundation, please contact us before attempting to send it "here" directly -- the nature of our virtual enterprise is such that the equipment and services used to support our projects are located all over the world.

Individuals and companies can now donate funds to support the Foundation and its projects. You can do so by sending a check or money order, payable to "The Apache Software Foundation", directly to our Treasurer at

Apache Software Foundation
220 El Camino Road
Sedona, AZ 86336-5129
USA

Please include the name under which you wish the donation to be credited, either your own or the third-party if it is a gift on behalf of someone else, and an e-mail address to which we can acknowledge receipt. This information will not be used for any other purpose. We will send a physical receipt by normal mail for any donations of US$100 or more, provided you include a return address.

We are currently working on a process for making donations easier through the use of a secure server for credit card transactions.

The Apache Software Foundation is a private operating foundation that is registered as a nonprofit, charitable organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code. This means that, for individuals within the U.S., donations to the ASF should be tax-deductible. We are not accountants, so this cannot be trusted as financial advice of any kind, but hopefully this description will be useful to those who advise you in these matters.

More information about this and related issues can be found at the Internet Nonprofit Center.