fidzu : cms

Today Acquia announced something I'm really proud of. We're calling it the Acquia Fair Trade Initiative.

When an Acquia partner closes a deal, 2% of that deal flows directly to the Drupal Association, credited in the partner's name, to fund Drupal's infrastructure and long-term growth.

Imagine an Acquia partner closes a $100,000 Drupal deal with Acquia. $2,000 goes to the Drupal Association, attributed to that partner. The 2% comes from Acquia, not from partner margins, so the partner keeps their full revenue and incentives.

The donation is publicly attributed in the Acquia Partner Portal and counts toward the partner's standing in the Drupal Association's Certified Partner Program. It is recognized as financial support for the Drupal Association, separate from non-financial contributions like code, case studies, or community participation.

Most of all, I like that this program is structural. It is not a one-time gift or sponsorship campaign. It is built into the economics of Acquia's partner program, so Drupal's funding grows automatically as Acquia and its partners grow.

Too often, funding for Open Source projects depends on periodic fundraising or individual goodwill. That can work, but it rarely scales in a predictable way.

Open Source sustainability works best when incentives align. With the Fair Trade Initiative, the Drupal Association receives more predictable funding, partners receive recognition through the Drupal Association's Certified Partner Program, and Acquia invests in the long-term health of the Drupal ecosystem its business depends on. And yes, this also creates more incentive for partners to work with Acquia on Drupal projects. Drupal wins, Acquia's partners win, and Acquia wins too. That is what incentive alignment looks like.

I set a reminder for myself to report back in a year, maybe sooner. I'm curious to see what this model can become.

14 May 2026 9:12pm GMT

The DropTimes invites wider participation from across the Drupal ecosystem through an upcoming Townhall focused on project updates, community initiatives and ecosystem discussions. The session will create space for contributors, agencies, developers and community members to present ongoing work, exchange feedback and discuss outreach and collaboration efforts across Drupal.

14 May 2026 2:34pm GMT

Drupal AI Summit NYC will take place on 14 May 2026 at Convene on Madison Avenue in New York City, bringing together Drupal contributors, enterprise platform teams, digital strategists and AI practitioners for a day centred on the operational use of artificial intelligence inside Drupal ecosystems. Sessions throughout the event will examine governance, migrations, workflow integration, structured content systems and digital sovereignty, with speakers focusing on implementation challenges already emerging in production environments rather than speculative AI adoption.

14 May 2026 1:22pm GMT