# Community plan

We welcome applications for our community plan from organizations that meet certain criteria. Broadly, these fall into one of three categories:

1. Non-profit organizations
2. Open source organizations
3. Education-related groups

{% hint style="info" %}
If you won’t need to collaborate with others and/or can use [Git Sync](https://gitbook-v2-4dzgvme1g-gitbook.vercel.app/url/gitbook.com/docs/getting-started/git-sync) to collaborate via GitHub and GitLab then your needs should be covered by our Free plan!

If you want to publish a docs site for free too, you can choose from either a Basic site with limited features, or [a Sponsored site](https://gitbook-v2-4dzgvme1g-gitbook.vercel.app/url/gitbook.com/docs/account-management/plans/community/sponsored-site-plan) which has more features and earns you funding through small, relevant ads. See [our open source page](https://www.gitbook.com/solutions/open-source) for more details on these plans.
{% endhint %}

If you will **need** to collaborate with others, then please continue reading.

## Our criteria

### For all

{% hint style="warning" %}
We apologize in advance if we reject your application. We don’t have the resources to share details. We’ll do our best to give you some context if possible, but please check our criteria below to figure out what might be wrong. Please note you can reapply at any time if you are able to adjust and meet our criteria.
{% endhint %}

Your organization should **not**:

* be a church, affiliated with one, or promote any specific religion.
* be a school, college, university, etc. (but it can be a student group, lab group, course group, etc.).
* be a government office, ministry, or function (but can be a small municipality local office).
* be a private foundation.
* have political affiliations.
* promote a dogma.
* promote a religious position as part of its activity.
* promote discrimination of any kind, on the basis of gender (identity or expression), race, ethnicity, political or religious opinion, sexual orientation, or anything else.
* be a crypto currency related project

### Criteria for non-profit organizations

Your organization **needs to**:

* Be a company with an official non-profit status.
* Share a valid charitable status (501(c) or equivalent for your country).

### Criteria for open source projects

Your Git repository **must**:

* Exist *publicly* on GitHub or GitLab.
* Be a truly open source project that is not associated with a for-profit or venture-backed company.
* Not be an empty repository.
* Not be a fork with no activity of its own.
* Have a `README.md` file that clearly explains what the software is about.
* Have a `CONTRIBUTING.md` file that explains how to contribute to the project.
* Have a `LICENSE` file with [a valid OSS license](https://choosealicense.com/).
* Have a `CODE_OF_CONDUCT.md` file.
* Make it easy for others to [contribute](https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/exploring-projects-on-github/finding-ways-to-contribute-to-open-source-on-github#finding-good-first-issues).

### Criteria for education-related groups

* The organization *must not* represent a school, college, or university as a whole.
* The organization *may* represent a small group related to a school, college, or university.
* You *may* be a small student group or a teacher organizing a course for a small group of students.

{% hint style="info" %}
Individual students who want to keep their personal and course notes should use our **Free** plan. This plan provides unlimited private spaces at no cost, without needing to apply for the Community plan, and if you want to publish docs sites you can select a Basic or Sponsored site for free.
{% endhint %}

## How to apply

1. **Sign up or sign in**\
   Start by [signing up](https://app.gitbook.com/join) for a GitBook account if you don’t have one yet, or [signing in](https://app.gitbook.com) if you do.
2. **Choose an organization**\
   Decide which organization you would like the Community plan to be applied to. This could be one that you’ve already created, or you might want to create a new organization.\
   \&#xNAN;*(To create a new organization, click the switch organization toggle near the top of the* [*sidebar*](https://gitbook.com/docs/getting-started/overview#sidebar)*, then click **create an organization**, and follow the prompts.)*
3. **Get the organization’s URL**\
   In the [sidebar](https://gitbook.com/docs/getting-started/overview#sidebar), click on the name of the organization you chose in step 2. Copy or make a note of the URL in your browser. It will be in the format `app.gitbook.com/o/[string]/home`, where `[string]` will be a unique string of letters and numbers used to identify that organization.
4. **Contact us via our messenger on** [**our website**](https://www.gitbook.com/contact)\
   Select ’Contact Support’ and then ’I have a question about pricing’ then ’I want to apply to the Community plan’, or alternatively send us an email with the required info to <support@gitbook.com>

### Submitting your application via email

Depending on which type of organization you are applying for, please follow the relevant steps listed below.

{% tabs %}
{% tab title="Non-profit organizations" %}

* Briefly describe the purpose of your non-profit organization.
* Share a link to your organization’s public website.
* Attach your non-profit organization’s valid 501(c) or equivalent documentation for your country.
* Include the link to your organization. Finding this link is described in step 3 of the section above.
  {% endtab %}

{% tab title="Open source projects" %}

* Briefly describe the purpose of your open source project.
* Share a link to your public Git **repository** on GitHub or GitLab.
* Include the link to your organization. Finding this link is described in step 3 of the section above.
  {% endtab %}

{% tab title="Small education-related groups" %}

* Ask each member of the group to create their own GitBook account using their school email address, and invite them to the organization. Please only send your application once this has been done.
* Briefly describe your group and its purpose.
* Share a link to a public website associated with your education group, if you have one.
* Include the link to your organization. Finding this link is described in step 3 of the section above.
  {% endtab %}
  {% endtabs %}

If you have any questions, feel free to contact our support team.
