# Welcome

### **We are on a mission to help collaborative groups collect and spend money transparently.**

Open Collective is an online funding platform for open and transparent communities. We provide the tools to raise and share your finances in full transparency. *\*\**

This is the place to find all help and documentation related to Open Collective. It's a work in progress, so please feel free to give us feedback!

To suggest changes, click the Github icon on any docs page and make a pull request. If you're not sure how to do that, read our [step-by-step guide](https://github.com/opencollective/documentation/tree/0c915d6173307139ebeaaa50dccaba7d7149c9b2/contributing/documentation/suggesting-changes/README.md).

If you can't find the answer you're looking for, contact us at <support@opencollective.com> or on our [Slack](https://opencollective.slack.com).

## Overall FAQ

*See links for more details. Each chapter heading in the docs has its own more specific FAQ.*

### What’s an Open Collective?

An [Open Collective](https://github.com/contraexemplo/documentation-mirror/tree/64a4ad619be01803dff529e94dd2a76f1f227e98/product/README.md) is a place for communities to collect and disburse money transparently.

### Who is Open Collective for?

Open Collective is great for collaborative groups, like meetups, open source projects, [and more](https://github.com/contraexemplo/documentation-mirror/tree/64a4ad619be01803dff529e94dd2a76f1f227e98/collectives/README.md#what-is-open-collective-good-for)—and for the [sponsors and backers](https://github.com/contraexemplo/documentation-mirror/tree/64a4ad619be01803dff529e94dd2a76f1f227e98/backers-and-sponsors/README.md) who want to support them.

### How is it different from other platforms?

[Open Collective is different.](https://documentarians.gitbook.io/metadocumentation/product/comparison) It's fully transparent (you can see where money comes from and where it goes), and designed for ongoing communities, not individual creators or one-off campaigns.

### How much does it cost?

[Pricing](https://documentarians.gitbook.io/metadocumentation/about/pricing) is based on a small percentage of funds raised through the platform, 5%-10% depending on your [Fiscal Host](https://github.com/contraexemplo/documentation-mirror/tree/64a4ad619be01803dff529e94dd2a76f1f227e98/hosts/README.md).

### Does it work in my country?

People can contribute from anywhere by credit card, with donations denominated in the [currency](https://documentarians.gitbook.io/metadocumentation/product/currencies) of the Fiscal Host. Payouts work everywhere our payment providers, Stripe and Paypal, serve.

### Can I get a receipt for my donations?

Yes! One main purpose of Open Collective is to provide unincorporated projects the legal and financial structures to provide [people](https://github.com/contraexemplo/documentation-mirror/tree/64a4ad619be01803dff529e94dd2a76f1f227e98/backers-and-sponsors/README.md) receipts and invoices.

### Where can I learn more?

You've come to the right place! These docs explain the whole platform in detail.

### How can I contact you?

Email <support@opencollective.com> or join our [Slack](https://opencollective.slack.com)!

### How can I contribute?

We are an open source project and run as an Open Collective ourselves. You can contribute [money](https://opencollective.com/opencollectiveinc), [code](http://github.com/opencollective) or [translations](https://crowdin.com/project/opencollective). And we'd really love it if you [started your own Collective](https://opencollective.com/create) and contributed by growing the community!

For more info about how you can contribute to Open Collective, check the [contributing page](https://docs.opencollective.com/help/about/contributing).