Community Donations
Individuals contribute via OpenCollective. These funds primarily support full-time maintenance and developer experience work.
- Monthly & one-time options
- Public backer wall & transparent ledger
Basis Funding
BasisVR is an MIT-licensed, creator-first VR framework. This page explains how we run the project, where the money goes, and how you can help.
Status: We ship frequently and are building toward a stronger process (versioning, migration guides, moderation tooling).
Some pieces are still in progress - thanks for your patience while we get this vision across the line.
How We Are Funded
BasisVR is sustained by a mix of community donations and collaborations with companies who build on the framework. Funds are pooled to tackle shared problems (e.g., networking, embodiment, tooling) that benefit everyone.
Company Collaborations
Companies sponsor roadmap items or co-fund features (e.g., networking improvements, avatar systems). Work lands upstream and remains MIT-licensed by default.
- Shared infrastructure > bespoke forks
- Clear deliverables, open development
Grants & Philanthropy
When available, grants fund foundational R&D and documentation. Grants do not affect project licensing or independence.
Optional Services
Limited consulting, training, and integration support are offered when capacity allows. Revenue here helps stabilize maintenance.
How Funds Are Allocated
We keep a simple and transparent allocation model. Percentages may shift with project needs; we document changes in monthly notes.
| Category | Examples | Typical Share |
|---|---|---|
| Core Maintenance | Architecture, reviews, bug fixes, releases | ~40–60% |
| Roadmap Features | Networking, embodiment, DX improvements | ~20–40% |
| Documentation & Community | Guides, examples, onboarding | ~10–20% |
| Infra & Operations | Hosting for tests, CI, tooling | ~5–10% |
These ranges are indicative, not contractual. We publish adjustments alongside release notes when priorities shift.
Transparency
- Public ledger on OpenCollective
- Quarterly updates summarizing expenditures and their impact
- Attribution for sponsored work in release notes
Independence
Sponsors do not control the project. The Pillars are accountable to the community and the long-term health of the framework.
How We Operate
Community Talent
One of the most exciting parts of BasisVR is how it creates opportunities for contributors. Many people from our community have been hired or contracted to build features directly within the project. This is a win-win: contributors get paid and gain real experience, while Basis gets stronger and better aligned with the needs of its creators.
Pulling talent directly from our contributor base ensures that work is done by people who understand the framework deeply and share in its vision.
The Pillars
The project is stewarded by the Pillars - trusted contributors who keep the work aligned and on-mission. They maintain quality, ensure scope discipline, and help sequence what lands when.
- Guardrails on scope & architecture
- Roadmap stewardship & release approvals
- Onboarding maintainers and reviewing RFCs
Maintainers & Full-Time Work
Today, Dooly works full-time on Basis. The maintainer(s) focus on core architecture, stability, and developer experience. Donations and collaborations directly fund this work.
Decision Process
- Issues / Proposals: Open an issue or discussion for bugs, features, or questions.
- RFC (optional but encouraged): For meaningful changes, submit an RFC summarizing the problem, approach, and trade-offs.
- Review: Maintainers and Pillars provide feedback; contributors iterate.
- Land & Ship: When stable, we merge behind feature flags where appropriate and plan releases.
Admins & Moderation
We want healthy spaces for building and testing. Admins ensure people behave and handle admin-related posts (announcements, keys/access, incident handling). Moderators keep conversations constructive, de-escalate conflicts, and apply community guidelines.
Admin Responsibilities
- Access control & server/test event logistics
- Rule enforcement for severe or repeat issues
- Incident response & transparency notes
Moderator Responsibilities
- Day-to-day conversation moderation
- Guidance for newcomers & conflict mediation
- Escalation to admins when needed
We’re developing clearer tools, flows, and public policies to support admins/mods and keep community spaces welcoming.
Releases & Stability
Frequent Releases
We release frequently to keep the pace of development high. Experimental features are available quickly, letting early adopters test and give feedback before stabilization.
Long-Term Support (LTS)
Every few months, we cut an LTS (Long-Term Support) release. These versions roll up experimental changes that have been tested and validated by the community, promoting them to stable.
LTS releases give teams confidence: they can build on a stable foundation while still knowing that innovation is happening in the background.
Work in Progress
- Semantic versioning across core packages is not yet in place.
- Migration guides for breaking changes are still being developed.
We’re working towards these milestones, alongside better release notes and upgrade tooling. Until then, expect some churn—but know that stability is a top priority.
Releases & Stability (Work in Progress)
Where We Are Today
- We release frequently to keep momentum high.
- No formal semantic versioning across all packages yet.
- No full migration guides for breaking changes yet.
If you’re adopting Basis right now, expect change. We’ll call out risky areas in notes and try to minimize churn in core paths.
What We’re Working Toward
- Introduce semantic versioning for core packages
- Publish migration guides when breaking changes land
- Expand release notes with “breaking/risky” callouts
- Harden CI and add upgrade test suites
We’ll announce milestones in Discord and summarize changes in docs/release threads as this matures.
Where We’re Headed
Process & Stability
- SemVer in core packages
- Migration guides & upgrade tooling
- Better pre-release channels
Community & Moderation
- Clear admin/mod policies
- Incident playbooks & transparency posts
- Moderation/UI tooling for tests & events
Developer Experience
- Example scenes & quickstarts
- More modular packages
- Performance & networking guides
Openness & Interop
- Documented protocols & boundaries
- Federated discovery experiments
- Upstream-first collaboration norms
There’s more to do. If you want to help, sponsoring features or contributing code accelerates everything.
Ways to Support
Back the Project
Become a monthly backer on OpenCollective. Your support keeps a maintainer full-time and speeds up releases.
OpenCollectiveSponsor a Feature
Have a roadmap need? Fund a piece of core infrastructure. We scope deliverables together and land work upstream for everyone.
Chat with us on DiscordContribute Code & Knowledge
- Fix issues, improve docs, or add examples
- Share performance findings from load tests
- Help triage, review, and mentor new contributors
FAQ
Is Basis a platform?
No. Basis is a framework. You can build a platform with it, but Basis itself doesn’t operate one.
Who decides what gets built?
Proposals are discussed in public. Maintainers and the Pillars steward scope and sequence based on impact, fit, and resourcing.
How do paid collaborations work?
We co-define deliverables, timelines, and checkpoints. Work lands upstream by default and remains MIT-licensed unless explicitly negotiated otherwise.
Can I earmark funding for a specific feature?
Yes. We’re happy to scope a feature sponsorship. If accepted, it gets a labeled milestone and public tracking.
Do you publish spending reports?
OpenCollective provides a public ledger. We also share periodic summaries tying spend to outcomes in release notes or community updates.
Help Drive Open VR Forward
We’re moving fast, tightening process, and building tools creators need. If this vision resonates, jump in.