Fund the network that no one — including us — can own.
Your contribution funds formation, audits, grants, and conformance infrastructure now, and builds a permanent endowment. It buys recognition and nothing else — not the protocol, not the users, and not a seat, a vote, or a grant decision.
01
What your contribution funds
Four destinations. Every euro has a public ledger line. The round's target, three-year founding budget, and the split between funds are published on Transparency before any pledge converts.
Independent audits
Security and conformance examinations of the components everyone relies on, published openly.
governed by public spending rules
Conformance infrastructure
The public test suites that make "anyone can build a compatible component" true in practice.
governed by public spending rules
Grants
Seeding the first operators of new seats: registries, auditors, arbiters, couriers in new regions.
governed by public spending rules
Permanent endowment
A default share of every unrestricted contribution, which you may decline, plus contributions endowed in full. Ordinary annual appropriation is capped at 5% of the trailing 12 quarter-end average, subject to the stricter legal, restriction, prudence, liquidity, and budget limits.
governed by public spending rules
Where your money goes: at Contributor, Supporting, and Sustaining tiers, a default share goes to the permanent endowment and the remainder funds current mission work through the Founding Fund. You may decline the endowment share when you give, in one election, without giving a reason — then the whole contribution funds current work. Endowment and Principal Endowment sponsorship is allocated to the permanent endowment in full, subject to accepted gift terms. A sponsor may request a different permitted allocation before the pledge is accepted. The split rule →
02
What you receive
Recognition and information. Itemized, and nothing more — sponsorship carries no governance path at all.
Recognition
- Named entry in the Foundation's public sponsor register
- Annual and quarterly reports
- Foundation-hosted event materials
- Public pages of the grants and audits your class funded
- Foundation newsletter and documentation
- An acknowledgements page in Foundation-published apps
"Every placement is labeled 'Sponsor'. Equal typography within a tier. Rotation, not secret ranking."
Information
- Quarterly and annual reports, from the first period of legal existence
- A written summary of what the Foundation funded in the period and what it cost
- Named recognition of an endowment gift in the annual report — Endowment tiers
Everything a sponsor receives is either published or sent to every sponsor at once. No sponsor sees a grant proposal, a shortlist, an audit finding, or a vulnerability disclosure before it is public, at any tier. Reporting is not consultation, and none of it is a route into a decision.
03
What sponsorship does not buy
Read this list as carefully as the one above it.
No ranking in Discovery catalogs or provider search results.
No placement in conversations, safety warnings, consent or payment screens — ever.
No influence over audit results, conformance marks, or vulnerability disclosures.
No access to users or their data.
No token, equity, interest, or financial return.
No seat on either organ, no vote, no nomination right — at any tier, at any amount.
No influence over which grants are made, to whom, or on what terms.
No goods, services, preferential terms, or any other financially appraisable benefit in return for a gift.
"If a sponsorship pitch offers you any of these, it isn't ours."
Directors with a conflict are excluded from the discussion and the vote and do not count toward quorum — the recusal rule — and every recusal is recorded in the public conflict register. Control-group disclosure is in concentration and accountability.
04
Founding tiers
Proposed launch constants, pinned before the round opens.
| Tier | Contribution | Destination | Term | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Contributor | from EUR 100 | Founding Fund — current work | 12 months | Public register listing (opt-in) |
| Supporting Sponsor | from EUR 2,500 / rolling 12 mo | Founding Fund — current work | 12 months | Register listing by tier; written period summary |
| Sustaining Sponsor | from EUR 10,000 / rolling 12 mo | Founding Fund — current work | 12 months | The above; acknowledgement in Foundation-published apps |
| Endowment Sponsor | from EUR 25,000 | Permanent endowment — designated in full | 36 months | The above; endowment gift named in the annual report |
| Principal Endowment Sponsor | from EUR 100,000 (tier floor) | Permanent endowment — designated in full | 48 months | The above; a Named Fund inside the endowment, if the Named Fund minimum is met |
Every tier is recognition only — no tier carries a seat, a vote, a nomination, or influence over a grant. Thresholds are proposed launch constants, pinned before the round opens · pledges convert to contributions only when the legal entity exists · related entities aggregate as one control group, so that recognition and conflict disclosure track real control rather than legal wrappers. The full proposed terms are public: the Onym Foundation sponsorship profile →. Final statutes, gift terms, investment policy, and tax treatment require Estonian legal and accounting review before any money is accepted.
05
How your money is governed
Designed so that the largest donor and the smallest user can trust the same books. Proposed governance — must be lawfully adopted; not yet in force.
3·3·3
Sponsor-class, Ecosystem, and Independent Public-Interest Directors of the supervisory board (nõukogu). No seat has a selection route that depends on contribution size. Chair and treasurer: never sponsors. Which organ is which →
6/9
An annual budget or ordinary endowment appropriation needs 6 of 9 directors, including 2 Ecosystem and 2 Public-Interest Directors.
5% · 7%
Ordinary endowment appropriations are capped at 5% of the trailing 12 quarter-end average. Up to 7% for one financial year requires 7 of 9 votes including 4 non-sponsor directors—at least 2 from the Ecosystem and 2 from the Public-Interest class—published with reasons. Distributions above 5% cannot occur for more than 2 consecutive years. A conflicted director does not take part or count toward quorum. The full policy →
No rule is yet in force. The pinned upstream drafts contain known percentage and voting conflicts; pledges cannot convert until those drafts, the final articles, and this public summary agree. See the activation gates →
06 — THE FOUNDING MOMENT
"The first sponsors are remembered differently."
The register of founding sponsors is permanent. The audits and first-seat grants it pays for are the network's bootstrap. This is the one tier of recognition that can never be bought later.
FAQ
Plain answers
What is the legal form and governing law?
An Estonian sihtasutus — a foundation under Estonian law, with no members and no membership vote. It is not yet established: no entity, registry entry, or bank account exists today. The registry entry will be published on this site when it exists. Final articles, gift terms, investment policy, and tax treatment require Estonian legal and accounting review before the Foundation accepts money.
How are pledges handled while no entity exists?
A pledge is a countersigned record of intent, exchanged by email. No payment details are requested and nothing is collected before the entity exists. When formation completes, each sponsor is contacted to convert — or decline to convert — their pledge.
Is my sponsorship permanently locked?
Not most of it. A default share of an unrestricted contribution is endowed permanently, and the rest funds current mission work through the Founding Fund. You may decline the endowment share at the point of giving — one election, no reason required — and you may instead endow the whole contribution. Endowment tiers are permanent in full. You may request a different permitted allocation before your pledge is accepted; donor restrictions and accepted gift terms override the general spending policy.
What happens to my pledge if formation fails?
It lapses. Nothing is collected.
Which currencies and assets are accepted?
The founding round is denominated in euros. Accepted payment methods and any non-cash contributions are settled with each sponsor at conversion, when the entity exists.
Can I stay anonymous?
Contributions are accepted; recognition is optional. Any tier may decline a public listing. Control-group identification is still required at the tiers that aggregate related entities, so that recognition and conflict disclosure describe real control — it buys nothing and unlocks nothing.
What happens when a vote touches my company?
Conflicted directors are excluded from the vote and don't count toward quorum. The conflict is recorded in the public conflict register.
How do I leave the register?
On request. Removal is recorded; history is not rewritten.
Can a sponsor also operate seats?
Yes — disclosed, and conflicted votes excluded.