Membership Fees

The membership fees in accordance with Article 3 of the ODBA Articles of Association are defined as follows. Updates to these fees may from time to time be agreed upon by the Board of Directors. After such a change the new rate will apply for the next installment of the membership fees, in no case shall any such change become effective retroactively.

1. Platinum Members. Annual Membership Dues US$ 500,0001
2. Gold Members. Annual Membership Dues:

Employees / Members	Annual Membership Fees
0-30	US$ 34,995
31-60	US$ 44,995
61-200	US$ 54,995
201-1000	US$ 64,995
1000+	US$ 74,995

3. Silver Members. Annual Membership Dues:

Employees / Members	Annual Membership Fees
1-52	US$ 6,995
6-30	US$ 14,995
31-60	US$ 16,995
61-200	US$ 19,995
201-1000	US$ 21,995
1000+	US$ 24,995

Alternatively to the above, Silver Members can choose to have their Annual Membership Dues set to 3% of their annual turnover3.

Membership Fee Distribution Policy

The Open Database Alliance (ODBA) maintains a variety of technical, administrative, business related and policy activities to strengthen, promote and protect the ecosystem around Open Source Databases and the membership fees are the most important source of funding for these activities. While there are common interests of all members, the ODBA also recognizes that there are particular interests, especially when it comes to technological challenges.

In order to address this both commonality and diversity of interests, ODBA members have the right to prioritize the distribution of a part of their membership fees individually, while the remainder is used for the common interests of all members under the guidance of the ODBA Board of Directors.

The key for allocation of funds is set by the ODBA Board of Directors as follows. Updates of this key may from time to time be necessary.

Membership Fee	Designation
30%	Reserved for administration costs, member recruitment, web, marketing
20%	Reserved for projects at the Boards discretion
50%	Reserved for ODBA activities based on weighting provided by each member

Member Individual Weighting Process

Step 1:Proposed Weighting by the Board of Directors

The board prepares a list of projects and activities for fund allocations after a member has applied for membership, and when subsequent membership fees become due. The board will give each member opportunity to provide weights to each ODBA activity by making available a list of all such targets that funds can be allocated to. The Board may also provide its own opinion of which activities are important in the following year, based on the current strategy of the ODBA.

Step 2:Adjustment by individual member

Upon being provided with a distribution proposal by the Board of Directors, members shall respond within the deadline set for such responses providing their individual preferences for use of the share of each member's own fee reserved for such weighting. If the weighting among ODBA activities provided by the member does not add up to 100%, the Board of Directors shall adjust the weighting accordingly, remaining as close as possible to the member's preference in the distribution between eligible ODBA activities.

Step 3:Silent consent

If a member does not respond within the deadline to the proposed distribution of its own share of funds available for such allocation, that silence shall be understood as explicit agreement with the proposed distribution.

Step 4:Application of weighting by the board

The Board shall honor the weights given by each member in preparing a unified budget for the next year. However, in the interest of efficient use of funds, if some allocations are deemed to be too small to achieve anything of reasonable value, the Board may a) re-allocate such funds to similar targets or b) save the funds for future years to allow them to accumulate.

Step 5:Usage of funds

The Board will either directly or through duly authorized representative, such as the Executive Director, use the so-budgeted funds as efficiently as possible to provide most value to ODBA members. This may be in the form of allocating (or hiring) ODBA personnel to work on a project, or by subcontracting to an external party, where ODBA will have the role of contractor, asking for bids and ensuring that the project is executed in the best interests of ODBA.

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1The board is authorized to negotiate Platinum member packages, including a reduction in fees and special benefits packages.

2Upon request by applicant this category is also available for companies of up to 10 employees, provided their request is approved by the Board of Directors or a duly appointed representative.

3Annual sales revenue for the most recent fiscal year.