Batin

Non-profit association

Org.nr 938 045 348

Governance document

Funding and Donations Policy for Batin

Adopted by the board: 9 July 2026. Version 1.0. Norsk versjon: Norsk.

Batin exists to pay real engineers to build software people can trust. That means the money must be trustworthy too. This policy states where money may come from, on what terms, and what is never for sale.

Regardless of amount, no donor, sponsor or grant maker buys:

• influence over architecture, technical choices or the roadmap,
• voting rights or a seat in governing bodies,
• exceptions from the core promises (no ads, no telemetry, no tracking, no profiling, nothing sent to any server),
• access to data about users or members. In practice such data does not exist, and it is not created for anyone.

Money offered on such conditions is declined, whatever the size.

1. Public and non-profit grants (such as NLnet, NGI, Norwegian grant schemes). The preferred source. Terms are checked against this policy before applying.
2. Donations from individuals. With no consideration in return. Donors cannot earmark beyond pointing to an existing project.
3. Corporate sponsorship. Only as a gift, acknowledged in the transparency report. No logo placement in the products, no wording implying endorsement, no influence.
4. Membership fees. Currently NOK 0; set by the annual meeting.

• Actors whose core business is surveillance, ad profiling, data brokering or gambling, or who otherwise stand in direct conflict with the purpose.
• Amounts with conditions that breach this policy.
• Anonymous single contributions above NOK 10,000. We must be able to account for where the money comes from.

Doubtful cases are decided by the board, under the impartiality rules in the Privacy and Impartiality Policy.

• All income sources are stated in the annual accounts and the transparency report.
• Single contributions above NOK 50,000 are named (a donor may decline naming, in which case the amount is listed as "larger contribution, donor wishes not to be named").
• Earmarked grants are accounted for separately and used only for their stated purpose.

If a donor turns out to breach these assumptions, or a contribution harms trust in the association, the board may decide to return the amount or pass it on to another non-profit, and shall document the decision in the board minutes.