IOF Funding and Membership

Introduction

IOF requires funding to effectively develop ontologies and promote their implementation. In Q4 2019 the Governance Board prepared a budget, which included membership fees. Minutes of the 13 March 2020 meeting state:

The board agreed that it is unreasonable to expect companies to consider new commitments (like IOF membership) in light of the COVID-19 concerns.

The Governance Board has recently concluded that companies have assessed COVID-related risks to their operations and it is time to fund IOF. The Governance Board recognizes that while it has provided periodic updates to IOF participants regarding funding plans, the reality of being assessed dues may nevertheless catch some participants unprepared. Considering this, the Governance Board also recognizes that some member organizations may require flexible fee-payment options.

Annual IOF membership fees effective 01 October 2023

All amounts in USD.

	Annual Revenue	Annual / Monthly Member Fees
	Annual Revenue	Governing	Contributing
Business tier 8	10,000,000,000	30,000 / 2,500	15,000 / 1,250
Business tier 7	1,000,000,000	20,000 / 1,667	10,000 / 834
Business tier 6	250,000,000	15,000 / 1,250	7,500 / 625
Business tier 5	5,000,000	10,000 / 834	5,000 / 417
Business tier 4	500,000	10,000 / 834	3,750 / 313
Business tier 3	250,000	10,000 / 834	2,500 / 209
Business tier 2	100,000	10,000 / 834	1,250 / 105
Business tier 1	0	10,000 / 834	750 / 63
Government agency	N/A	10,000 / 834	3,000 / 250
Non-profit (other than research institute)	N/A	N/A	500 / 42
Research or academic institution	N/A	10,000 / 834	500 / 42

Annual membership period

By default, the annual membership will be from the first day of the first month following the month in which the organization’s membership was approved through the next twelve months. For budget reasons, some organizations want to specify an annual membership period other than the default.

Month in which membership was approved	Default annual membership period	Other options for annual membership period
January	`01 Feb - 31 Jan`	Choose any one of the following: `01 Jan - 31 Dec` `01 Feb - 31 Jan` `01 Mar - 28 Feb` `01 Apr - 31 Mar` `01 May - 30 Apr` `01 Jun - 31 May` `01 Jul - 30 Jun` `01 Aug - 31 Jul` `01 Sep - 31 Aug` `01 Oct - 30 Sep` `01 Nov - 31 Oct` `01 Dec - 30 Nov`
February	`01 Mar - 28 Feb`
March	`01 Apr - 31 Mar`
April	`01 May - 30 Apr`
May	`01 Jun - 31 May`
June	`01 Jul - 30 Jun`
July	`01 Aug - 31 Jul`
August	`01 Sep - 31 Aug`
September	`01 Oct - 30 Sep`
October	`01 Nov - 31 Oct`
November	`01 Dec - 30 Nov`
December	`01 Jan - 31 Dec`

Payment options

Members may choose either of the following two options:

Annual
- First payment: If accepting the default annual membership period, pay the full annual membership fee amount. If choosing another annual membership period, pay the pro-rated amount.¹
- Subsequent payments: Pay the full annual amount no later than the 15^th of the first month of the annual membership period.
Monthly
- Recurring monthly payments will occur automatically on or after the 1^st of each month. The first payment will be the first month after membership is approved.

¹Pro-rated amount calculated as follows:

A = annual membership fee amount
N = number of full months between the date membership was approved and the beginning of the annual membership period
Pro-rated amount = A x N / 12