Hey all,

Today, I’m writing to share our intention to join Fedecan, a Canadian not-for-profit organization committed to supporting the Fediverse. We believe this partnership will foster collaboration among like-minded individuals who share a common goal: to create a safe, welcoming space where people can connect freely.

Together we will help deliver a fast, reliable, and consistent experience for all and continue to be free from corporate influence and guided by the values of openness, community, and trust.

Who is Fedecan

Fedecan is a registered non-profit organization based in Canada, with the goal to provide a safe and welcoming space for people to connect with each other on the Fediverse. More information can be found here.

You may also know them by their Canadian lemmy instance lemmy.ca.

What does this mean for sh.itjust.works?

From the outside everything will stay much the same, especially with the admin team. Internally, we will collaborate on tasks related to non-profit compliance, policies, banking and common infrastructure elements such as backup/disaster recovery infrastructure. We will continue to operate separate equipment and instances in geographically isolated locations under different names. We will work towards aligning on safety and security practices in order to ensure that data is secure.

From an organizational structure, sh.itjust.works will fall under the Fedecan umbrella and will share common bylaws, policies, methodologies on best practices, security and legal considerations.

Where do donations go?

Donations to sh.itjust.works will continue to support our mission and objectives exclusively. However, users will also have the option to donate directly to Fedecan, which will allocate funds amongst its projects including sh.itjust.works. Operational costs related to running the non-profit will be shared among projects and these expenses will be transparently disclosed in annual reports published on the Fedecan website.

Option to withdrawal

sh.itjust.works will have the right to withdraw from the Fedecan umbrella should our mutual goals no longer be aligned. In such a case, a predefined provision and action plan will be in place to ensure a smooth transition back to independence.

Why Now?

As the Fediverse continues to grow, we believe it’s important to collaborate more closely with others who share our values. Joining Fedecan allows us to do just that, strengthening our operation through a non-profit while staying true to our mission.

Timeline / Next Steps

Over the coming weeks, we’ll begin the process of integrating with Fedecan on the organization side. You won’t notice many changes but we’ll keep you informed throughout the process.

Looking Ahead

We’re excited about this next chapter and the opportunities it brings. By joining forces, we’re reinforcing our commitment to the Fediverse and to the principles that brought us all together in the first place—openness, community, transparency, and trust.

Our core mission remains unchanged. We’re still independent in spirit and practice and we remain committed to being a space that’s not driven by profit, but by people.

I invite your questions or concerns on this thread or on our https://matrix.to/#/#sh.itjust.works:matrix.org)

Stay connected,

–The sh.itjust.works and Fedecan Team

  • SwizzleStick@lemmy.zipEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    Seems like a no-brainer & an all-round win-win, given that you already align closely on many fronts.

    These two statements could use some hair-splitting though (emphasis mine):

    Donations to sh.itjust.works will continue to support our mission and objectives exclusively.

    Operational costs related to running the non-profit will be shared among projects and these expenses will be transparently disclosed in annual reports published on the Fedecan website.

    Would donations to sh.itjust.works support the instance exclusively as per the first quote? Or as a Fedecan project, would those donations to sh.itjust.works backfeed into Fedecan in some way as per the second quote?

    Will you make public the action plan for withdrawal when it is prepared?

    I’m not a user here (nor a contributor) - just looking for clarification :)

  • egerlach@lemmy.caEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    I’m an @lemmy.ca user and subbed to multiple @sh.itjust.works communities. I didn’t know you were hosted in Canada. I’m all for Canadian unity, and glad to see us all working togther for a stronger Canadian Fediverse based on mutual, continuous consent and agreement.

    • Picasso@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      0·
      4 months ago

      Legally it looks like they fall under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act I didn’t check to see what exactly that means. Whether not-for-profit or non-profit… isn’t that 1000 times better than being a for profit corporation?

      I feel that this development is interesting and a positive one.

      • prodigalsorcerer@lemmy.caEnglish
        0·
        4 months ago

        They seem to use the term interchangeably, but legally, they’re registered as a not-for-profit corporation.

        @Shadow@lemmy.ca : Can you provide some clarity, and can you get the fedecan website updated to use the correct terminology?

        • Shadow@lemmy.caEnglish
          0·
          4 months ago

          We are registered as a corporation under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act. We have no plans or desire to make money from this. All donations today go strictly towards infrastructure costs, and not to any reimbursement of time.

          Hopefully that’s clear, but happy to answer any questions.

  • masterspace@lemmy.caEnglish
    0·
    4 months ago

    Didn’t know the shitjustworks team was Canadian, and didn’t know that Fédécan existed.

    Welcome, and I’m now a donor!

    Edit: interesting to see that Fédécan is a non-profit but not a charity … I would have thought something like Lemmy would fall under a pretty clear ‘other’ charitable cause:

    providing certain public amenities to benefit the community (for example, public recreation grounds)