About ROR financials
In line with ROR’s commitment to openness and transparency, and in order to provide useful information about the costs of maintaining free and open infrastructure, we aim to share annual financial reports starting with 2023. This year is the most useful benchmark for establishing ROR’s operating costs as it represents the period in which the current resourcing model and complete staffing structure were solidified.
The Crossref accounting team administers ROR’s financial operations on behalf of ROR. Financial processes are described in full in the ROR Memorandum of Agreement. Accounting periods are for calendar years. Accounting currency is the US Dollar (USD).
2023 report
In total, it cost $607,810 to operate ROR in 2023. This is fairly consistent with the past couple of years, and we therefore budgeted a similar amount for 2024.
Thanks to the generous support of the community, we were able to cover 58% of ROR’s operating expenses in 2023 from ROR supporter contributions and from our multi-year grant from the Institute for Museum and Library Services. The remaining 42% of ROR’s expenses were covered in-kind by ROR’s three operating organizations.
People power open infrastructure, and ROR is no different. The majority (87%) of ROR’s expenses go toward dedicated personnel (see more information on the ROR team). The remaining 13% were non-personnel expenses, including AWS hosting fees, travel to meetings and conferences, and administrative expenses.
| Available funds (in USD) | |
|---|---|
| Funds on hand (as of 1 January 2023) | 68,305 |
| Funds raised in 2023 | 252,498 |
| Grant funds applied in 2023 | 79,026 |
| 2023 expenses as covered by funding source (in USD) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROR Funds | CDL | DataCite | Crossref | Total | |
| Personnel (salary & benefits) | 285,100 | 47,986 | 37,841 | 151,570 | 522,497 |
| Metadata curation contractors | 8,892 | 8,892 | |||
| Travel & meetings | 24,022 | 185 | 24,206 | ||
| Hosting | 17,745 | 17,745 | |||
| Admin (e.g., software licensing, website development, grant fees, bank fees)* | 31,237 | 3,233 | 34,470 | ||
| Total | 349,251 | 47,986 | 55,586 | 154,987 | 607,810 |
| % by funding source of total expenses | 58% | 8% | 9% | 25% |
*Admin fees for 2023 reflect a one-time fee of 25,000 EUR paid to SCOSS for administrative support as part of ROR’s participation in SCOSS’s 2023-2025 funding cycle.
2024 projection
| 2024 budget by funding source (in USD) (mid-year projection) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROR Funds | CDL | DataCite | Crossref | Total | |
| Personnel (salary & benefits) | 85,293 | 160,056 | 198,276 | 443,625 | |
| Contractor projects | 60,000 | 60,000 | |||
| Travel & meetings | 22,000 | 22,000 | |||
| Hosting | 20,000 | 20,000 | |||
| Admin (e.g., software licensing, website development, grant fees, bank fees) | 6,500 | 6,500 | |||
| Total | 88,500 | 85,293 | 180,056 | 198,276 | 552,125 |
| % by funding source of total expenses | 16% | 15% | 33% | 36% |
2025 projection
| 2025 budget by funding source (in USD) (projected) | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ROR Funds | CDL | DataCite | Crossref | Total | |
| Personnel (salary & benefits) | 127,764 | 160,056 | 226,200 | 514,020 | |
| Contractor projects | 70,000 | 70,000 | |||
| Travel & meetings | 30,000 | 30,000 | |||
| Hosting | 22,000 | 22,000 | |||
| Admin (e.g., software licensing, website development, grant fees, bank fees) | 7,800 | 7,800 | |||
| Total | 107,800 | 127,764 | 182,056 | 226,200 | 643,820 |
| % by funding source of total expenses | 17% | 20% | 28% | 35% |