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Volunteering in the FOSS United Community

Volunteers are the backbone of the FOSS United community. While the FOSS United Foundation has a small core team, it's the energy and dedication of hundreds of volunteers across the country that bring our initiatives, events, and programs to life.

Why Volunteer?

Volunteering at FOSS United offers an opportunity to:

  • Contribute to the open-source movement in India
  • Learn and grow alongside like-minded individuals
  • Develop leadership and organizational skills
  • Build a network with contributors, developers, and professionals from across the country

Read more on perks of volunteering.

However, volunteering is a serious commitment. Many active volunteers contribute 10–20 hours (or more) each month. Volunteers are held to a higher standard within the community because of their role in shaping and sustaining it.

What Do Volunteers Do?

Volunteers are involved in many aspects of running FOSS United activities. Some typical responsibilities include:

  • Organizing and promoting events (meetups, conferences, hackathons)
  • Finding venues, handling logistics, and managing operations on the ground
  • Putting out calls for proposals and coordinating with speakers
  • Engaging with attendees and gathering feedback
  • Designing posters, banners, and other creative assets
  • Promoting events and initiatives on social media
  • Reporting what went well and areas for improvement

Volunteering Roles and Opportunities

Volunteers can contribute in a wide variety of ways. Here are some of the main areas where your skills and time can make an impact:

  1. Event Organization Help plan and execute events such as FOSS Hack, IndiaFOSS, and local meetups.

  2. Community Engagement Participate in discussions on the FOSS United Forum, answer questions, welcome new members, and keep the community active and welcoming.

  3. Design and Creativity Create visual assets like posters, logos, slide decks, or social media graphics using standard templates and FOSS United branding. Refer to the design templates by the Chennai team for inspiration.

  4. Marketing and Outreach Help promote events, write blog posts, manage newsletters, and grow the community on platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram.

  5. Educational Programs Contribute to initiatives like FOSS Clubs and Mon School through mentoring, content creation, or coordination.

  6. Public Policy and Advocacy Support our work on open-source policy, government engagement, and research.

  7. Fundraising and Financial Support Assist in sponsorship efforts, donor communications, or event budgeting.

  8. Companies can join as industry partners

  9. Individuals can donate any amount (donations are eligible for 80G and CSR tax benefits)

  10. Code Contributions Developers can contribute code to projects supported by FOSS United or help maintain tools used by the community.

  11. Join Specialized Teams Depending on your interests, join focused groups working on policy, education, tech infrastructure, or community development.

  12. Propose Your Own Contribution Have a unique skill or project idea? We’re open to custom contributions that align with our mission.

How to Get Started

Join a City Chapter

If you're interested in volunteering with a local chapter:

  • Reach out to existing volunteers from the chapter
  • If you're already a chapter volunteer, you can add others via the "Members" tab on the Dashboard

Add members

Start or Restart a Chapter or Club

Interested in starting a new city chapter or reviving an existing one? Want to set up a FOSS Club at your educational institution? Reach out to the FOSS United Foundation team directly.

Tools and Platforms

Dashboard

Once you're on-boarded as a volunteer, the Dashboard becomes your central tool to manage tasks, events, members, and chapters.

Dashboard

Chapter Management

Manage city-specific tasks, track event planning, and collaborate with other volunteers from the Manage Chapter section.

Manage a chapter

Learn More

To explore current volunteering opportunities and responsibilities in detail, check out this forum thread: Draft: Tasks and Responsibilities Overview - FOSS United Foundation

Also, visit: How can I contribute to FOSS United?

Volunteering at FOSS United is a chance to be part of something bigger, to help build a sustainable, inclusive, and impacting open-source ecosystem in India. Whether you're a student, professional, designer, developer, or educator, there’s a place for you here.