A few more thoughts about the WordPress Foundation

In my recent post about the WordPress Foundation, I glossed over a few pieces that informed my thinking, and which might be of interest to others. This post, then, is an expansion of my thoughts—consider it background information that could be useful to those interested in the WordPress Foundation. Unlike last week’s post, I don’t have a specific conclusion, but I think it’s helpful context for those interested in the WordPress Foundation.

In this post, I’ll cover my review of the WordPress Foundation’s finances, how donor amounts have changed over time, a brief foray into “private benefit” as it pertains to 501(c)3 organizations, and a quick look at how the WordPress Foundation might get pulled into the ongoing lawsuits.

But first, an update about Automattic’s new scholarship.

Automattic’s new scholarship will be managed by the WordPress Foundation

After my earlier post about the WordPress Foundation, both Automattic and the WordPress Foundation updated their respective announcement posts, noting that Automattic is donating money to the WordPress Foundation which, in turn, will manage the new Open Horizons Scholarship. (A note was added to Automattic’s post—“This post has been amended to clarify Automattic’s and the WordPress Foundation’s roles in the Open Horizons Scholarship.”—however, the WordPress Foundation’s post contains no such note.)

The original WordPress Foundation announcement wasn’t backed up by the Internet Archive, but here is the complete text:

We’re thrilled to share that Automattic has launched the Open Horizons Scholarship, a new initiative designed to support contributors from underrepresented regions in joining flagship WordCamps events. This program is a powerful addition to existing opportunities such as the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship from the WordPress Foundation and the Diversity Scholarship by WordPress Community Support.
 
Together, these scholarships reflect a growing commitment to ensuring that WordPress contributors from all corners of the world and diverse backgrounds can take an active role in shaping the project’s future. The Open Horizons Scholarship will be available starting with WordCamp US 2025, opening new paths for contributors to participate meaningfully in the community.
 
Interested in applying?
Apply for the Open Horizons Scholarship and take your next step toward joining the flagship WordCamp experience.To learn more, you can read Automattic’s full announcement about the program.

It is certainly better that the scholarship will be managed by the WordPress Foundation though, as I’ve noted a couple of times in the past, the WordPress Foundation lacks independence—any day-to-day actions appear to be managed entirely by Matt Mullenweg. My underlying point here stands: while scholarships to attend WordPress events may be a worthy and mission-aligned cause, a second scholarship does not change what the WordPress Foundation is or is not.

I do wonder “why now?” After all, this type of scholarship would have benefited the community long ago. I suspect there is a two-fold reason:

1. First, Automattic—and Mullenweg in particular—needs the publicity, especially ahead of WordCamp Europe this week. The “returning to core” announcement is part of that publicity, but a donation to the WordPress Foundation is a second piece of it.
2. Second, I don’t think a donation of this size would have been possible in the past. In reviewing the WordPress Foundation’s finances, it seems clear that a large donation from a single entity could have affected the public support percentage. (A bit more on that later in this post.)

I am explicitly not calling this a correction—both the WordPress Foundation and Automattic did not originally provide any clarity in their messaging of this scholarship—though I did update my previous post to point to this one. It’s good that the WordPress Foundation and Automattic have updated their posts, but a real foundation would have launched the scholarship correct from the start.