Finance & Grants

Revenue model

flowchart LR
    Grants --> BNIF[BNI Foundation]
    OpenCollective[Open Collective\ndonations] --> BNIF
    BNILLC_Sponsorship[BNI LLC sponsorship\n~15–20% of revenue] --> BNIF
    BNIF -- "Open-source software" --> BNILLC[BNI LLC]
    BNILLC -- "Enterprise contracts\nManaged hosting\nConsulting" --> Clients

BNI Foundation revenue streams

Source	Type	Notes
BNI LLC sponsorship	Recurring	Contractual annual donation, ~15–20% of BNI LLC revenue
Open Collective	Donations	Individuals and corporate supporters
Restricted grants	Project grants	e.g. "MPowerUP Phase 2 deployment"
Unrestricted grants	General operating	Mozilla, Ford Foundation, Knight, McGovern — see grant strategy below

BNI LLC revenue streams

Source	Description
Enterprise contracts	Support SLAs, custom deployments of BNI Foundation open source
Managed hosting	Run BNI software for orgs that can't self-host
Consulting	Architecture, implementation, training (see Commercial Services)
White-label apps	Custom-branded versions of MPowerUP, RlivN, and other BNI platforms
Smart device products	IoT and smart home devices built on BNI Foundation hardware frameworks
Hardware partnerships	Revenue-sharing and integration agreements with device manufacturers

Fiscal sponsorship (interim)

While BNI's 501(c)(3) application is in process, Open Collective serves as fiscal host:

• BNI can receive tax-deductible donations immediately
• Transparent public ledger for all income and expenses
• ~3% platform fee on transactions
• Build a public financial track record for the IRS application

Anthropic path

Phase	Claude access	Cost
Now	Individual accounts (Kevin + Corey)	~$100–200 / person / mo
501(c)(3) letter received	Apply to Anthropic non-profit program	~40–60% discount expected
Scale (5+ devs)	Claude for Teams or Enterprise at non-profit rate	TBD

[HYPOTHESIS] The ~40–60% discount is an expectation, not a confirmed rate. Anthropic operates a documented non-profit program; the specific discount BNI would receive is not yet established. Once the determination letter is received, apply at anthropic.com/nonprofit or contact sales@anthropic.com with the letter.

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Grant strategy

BNI's open-source, social-good mission aligns with several major funders. All grants below fund open-source technology for underserved communities.

Timing

Apply after receiving the 501(c)(3) determination letter, or via Open Collective fiscal sponsorship before that. Open Collective's fiscal host status satisfies most grant eligibility requirements.

Priority targets

Funder	Focus	Typical grant	Notes
Mozilla Technology Fund	Open internet, privacy, security	$50K–$200K	Annual cycle, competitive; strong fit for MPowerUP's privacy-first P2P architecture
Knight Foundation	Journalism, community, technology	$25K–$150K	Good fit for MPowerUP as community infrastructure
Patrick J. McGovern Foundation	AI for good, social impact	$100K–$1M	Strong AI + social good mandate

Secondary targets

Funder	Focus	Typical grant	Notes
Ford Foundation	Social justice, digital equity	$100K–$500K	Multi-year grants available
Open Society Foundations	Civil society, democracy	$50K–$300K	Strong fit for vulnerable population focus
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative	Health, education, community	$50K–$500K	Broad mandate
Protocol Labs	Decentralized web, IPFS/libp2p	$10K–$100K	Direct alignment with MPowerUP Phase 4 (Helia IPFS, OrbitDB)

First application recommendation

Mozilla Technology Fund or Knight Foundation — both have strong precedent funding peer-to-peer privacy tools for underserved communities. MPowerUP Phase 1 provides a concrete working artifact to demonstrate in the application. (For the first submission, the Formation Timeline suggests Protocol Labs or a smaller regional funder for faster cycle time.)

Grant writing assets

Before applying, prepare:

• [ ] 501(c)(3) determination letter (or Open Collective fiscal sponsor letter)
• [ ] One-page executive summary of BNI mission and MPowerUP
• [ ] Theory of change diagram (see Mission & Vision)
• [ ] Budget narrative — what the grant funds specifically
• [ ] Demo video or TestFlight link for MPowerUP
• [ ] Letter of support from a partner organization

Per the Epistemic Honesty directive, grant applications must distinguish what research establishes, what BNI hypothesizes, and what pilot data has confirmed — overclaiming to funders is an integrity problem, not a tactic.