How to give money to the R project

by Mark Niemann-Ross, an author, educator, and writer who teaches about R and Raspberry Pi at LinkedIn Learning

I spend a LOT of time at r-project.org, in particular the sections for documentation and CRAN. But I hadn’t spent much time in the other areas: R Project, R Foundation, and links. When I recently wandered into the foundation area, I discovered something worth talking about: donations to the R Foundation.

I benefit from the work of the R Foundation. They oversee the language, but also encourage a healthy ecosystem. CRAN happens because of them. Updates to R happen because of them. useR! happens because of them. Every day, you and I are the recipients of some part of their time.

The least we can do is show them some appreciation. If you point your web browser at https://www.r-project.org/foundation/donations.html you’ll find a convenient (and surprisingly inexpensive) place to express your appreciation. As an individual, you can send these kind folks twenty-five euros to tell them you’re in favor of what they do.

You can send them more if you like. You can make your twenty-five euros an annual event. If you’re an institution, you can give 250 euros. If you’re really suave and sophisticated, you can give 500 euros. I suspect you could give more, but you may have to warn the R Board of Directors so they aren’t wondering what you’re up to. (kidding!)

Best of all – for your minimum of twenty-five euros you get listed on the R Donors Site. Look close – you’ll even see my name listed amongst the R glitterati.

Tax Deductible?

For those of us in the United States, donations to charitable organizations are tax deductible. However, The R Foundation is not recognized as such in the US. But take heart — The Society of Indian Academics in America has stepped in to provide a method for earmarking donations — and making donations deductible. Look at the very bottom of the foundations donor page for details on how to make this happen.

Take Action

Calculate the difference in time spent between working with R — and working without R — then divide twenty-five euros by that amount of time. If you’re like me, that becomes a pretty good value. I think it’s well worth the time to make a donation and keep the R Foundation feeling appreciated.

R Project: Membership Fees and Donations