Here's the thing about non-profits—and this is coming from someone who just founded one.
When money gets tight, the organization will face a crisis where their mission and values will clash with where the money can come from. If you take the tainted money, you start down a path where the mission becomes the survival of the organization, reverse-engineered into the original mission, by following that money. It controls you, no matter who sits on the Board.
I've watched it happen time and again with organizations I've cared about. We watched it happen with Mozilla. I don't know if that's what's happening with Blender, but I do know that revenue is down and costs are up.
https://www.blender.org/news/blender-foundation-annual-report-2024/
When money gets tight, the organization will face a crisis where their mission and values will clash with where the money can come from. If you take the tainted money, you start down a path where the mission becomes the survival of the organization, reverse-engineered into the original mission, by following that money. It controls you, no matter who sits on the Board.
I've watched it happen time and again with organizations I've cared about. We watched it happen with Mozilla. I don't know if that's what's happening with Blender, but I do know that revenue is down and costs are up.
https://www.blender.org/news/blender-foundation-annual-report-2024/
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