Join
Two ways to join the Foundation
Pick the class that matches how you or your organization participates. Membership (either class) is required to participate in the working groups that author the specs and maintain the software; using the public open-source code and specs needs no membership. Membership is governed by the Foundation Membership Agreement. Neither class confers governance, voting, or validator rights, and neither is a path to the Verana Council.
Associate Member
dues by org sizeSupporters & aligners.
Contributor Member
freeTechnical & standards contributors — organizations or individuals.
| Associate | Contributor | |
|---|---|---|
| Who it's for | Organizations that support and align with the mission — strategic engagement, advisory input, ecosystem development, research, public-interest participation. Non-technical. | Organizations and individuals contributing technical & standards work — software, specifications, credential schemas, registry artifacts, documentation — on a recurring or substantial basis. |
| How you participate | Attend meetings; non-voting consultation & comment periods; may join working groups (no obligation to contribute code); access to certain non-public materials; eligible for programs, pilots & research partnerships; public recognition. | Join & contribute to any working group; propose new WGs; submit contributions to repos, specs & schemas; review and propose changes; access non-public repos & drafts. |
| Obligations | Code of Conduct; cooperative posture; respect IP, licensing & confidentiality. Technical contributions optional. | Materially greater: follow coding/schema standards & WG procedures; license all contributions per the IP rules (open-source licenses for code, e.g. Apache 2.0 / MIT / AGPL; CC BY-SA 4.0 plus a W3C Royalty-Free patent commitment for specs; CC0 / CC-BY-4.0 for schemas); disclose essential patents. |
| Annual dues | Sliding scale by org size: €1,500 (1–10 employees) up to €50,000 (10,001+ employees). Non-refundable; hardship & non-profit/government adjustments at the Foundation's discretion. | free. |
| Governance | None — no voting, governance, validator, or financial rights; no path to the Council. | None — same as Associate. |
Become a member
Sign in and apply online: review and sign the Membership Agreement, and you can start participating in the working groups now, while the Foundation is in formation. Full membership rights vest once it is incorporated and ratifies the agreement.
Questions? Use the contact form (inquiry type Membership). We do not publish email addresses.