In 2017, the WordPress Foundation and its subsidiary provided support and guidance for a total of 128 WordCamps and hundreds of meetup groups, organized by volunteers in communities all over the world. There were 49 events in the US and 79 events outside the US.
In 2016, the WordPress Foundation created a subsidiary public benefit corporation, to provide a fiscal entity to support organizers of WordPress community events. This B-corp is named WordPress Community Support. We’ll report on both entities’ 2017 financials on this page.
WordPress Foundation
WordPress Foundation’s total revenue was $3,519, with $3,420.70 in donations and $98.17 in royalties.
Expenses for the WordPress Foundation totaled $72,710.89. Major 2017 expenses include:
- Charitable Contributions to other organizations $45,000
- Intro to OSS workshop grants $885
- do_action charity hackathon grants $6,003
- Video recording equipment 2,229
- Web services (file transfer fees): 2,526
- Dues & Subscriptions $669
- Kim Parsell Scholarship expenses $2,170
- Legal & Professional Fees $6,700
WordPress Community Support, PBC
The total revenue of the Foundation’s subsidiary B-corp, WordPress Community Support, was $4,296,241:
- Sponsorship Income: $3,512,572 (81.8% of total revenue)
- Ticket Sales $783,669 (18.2% of total revenue)
Expenses for WordPress Community Support, PBC totaled $4,340,767, as detailed below:
- WordCamp expenditures: $3,869,572 (89.1% of total expenses)
- Meetup expenditures: $178,238 (4.1% of total expenses)
- WordPress.tv content production: $59,600 (1.4% of total expenses)
- Operations: $233,357 (5.4% of total expenses)
As usual, major WordCamp expenses were concentrated in food & beverage and venue.
| Category | Expense | % of total expense |
| Food & beverage, including after-parties and speaker events | $2,062,737.94 | 53% |
| Venue Rental | $771,376.58 | 20% |
| Event tees and other swag* | $362,033.06 | 9% |
| Audio visual services | $211,738.75 | 6% |
| International sponsorship grants** | $158,327.65 | 4% |
| Event accessibility | $152,233.97 | 4% |
| Printing & signage | $85,965.91 | 2% |
| Event supplies | $30,755.52 | > 1% |
| Travel scholarships*** | $18,524.34 | > 1% |
| Advertising | $13,179.01 | > 1% |
| Furnishing | $2,699.59 | > 1% |
* Classified as advertising and promotion on tax documents.
** WPCS helped some 2017 WordCamps that didn’t use WPCS as their financial entity by forwarding corporate sponsorship payments from companies unable to send them money directly.
*** These expenses are associated with the WordPress Community Summit, which provides travel assistance for contributors with financial barriers to participation.
WordPress Community Support also supported the publishing of 1,837 videos from WordCamps held in 2017 to WordPress.tv by providing video camera kits to WordCamps. These kits include an HD camcorder, tripod, external microphone, SD cards, lavalier microphone, and a hard case for shipping.
The total expenditure of this program was $59,599.85:
- Video Processing or Videography: $53,207.42
- Video Kit Shipping: $6,392.43
Major operational expenses for WPCS included:
- Bank Charges & Merchant Fees: $93,082
- Dues & Subscriptions $5,421
- Insurance: $15,905
- Legal & Professional Fees: $60,748
- Taxes & Licenses: $58,201