Membership Policy (DRAFT)

Overview

The OWASP Foundation is a member-led organization. Members serve as Board Members, Leaders, and volunteers for our community. Members have a vote in the election of OWASP Leaders. Membership is a privilege guided by the Code of Conduct, which has dues set by the OWASP Board of Directors, and are detailed below. Discounts are available for students, multi-year memberships, and for people living in developing economies. Complimentary membership is available for active leaders, and Distinguished Lifetime Membership may be granted by the Board of Directors for extraordinary service to OWASP and its mission over a long period of time.

Membership

Membership is explicitly defined as people or corporations that pay dues along with those granted by the Board of Directors. Nearly all OWASP activities are open to both members and nonmembers. Some example activities include participating in a Project or Chapter, attending chapter meetings, joining mailing lists or attending events. Merely participating in the activities of the OWASP Foundation does not make that person a Member; membership includes only those who pay dues to the OWASP Foundation.

Individual Members can check their Membership Status, renewal dates, and for auto-renewing Memberships update their billing information by visiting the Manage your Membership Form. Members must provide the email address used when applying for membership, and if a member matches that address, an email will be sent to verify or update membership.

Members in “good standing” are defined as those who have paid dues appropriate with their membership level while also not subject to any disciplinary action(s) by the OWASP Foundation. When determining “continuous” membership status, a grace period of seven (7) days is permitted between the expiration and resumption of a person’s membership.

While the Foundation will make diligent efforts to inform members of their membership - in particular expiration dates - it is the sole responsibility of the member to manage their membership and renewals.

Individual Membership Benefits

• Ongoing support of our mission
• Discounted conference and training fees
• Vote in OWASP elections
• Complimentary owasp.org email address
• Priority access to grants, awards, and scholarships
• Priority access to discounts and offers for training
• Access to partner events on a discounted basis
• Access to the OWASP learning platform, including OWASP projects and commercial offerings from our sponsors and partners
• Access to Membership benefits offered by our partners
• And many others

Becoming an Individual Member

Individuals can only become members of the OWASP Foundation by completing the Membership Form on our website and paying dues, and complying with the following conditions:

• Membership dues are to be paid by the Member and cannot be subsidized or funded by OWASP Projects, Chapters, or Events.
• Applicants must provide their country of residence, postal code, email address, name, and billing information. These details are subject to GDPR privacy protections, and the Foundation will not share private information without consent.
• Members are not attached to any particular Chapter or Project but are at-large members by submitting the Membership Form.
• Applicants consent to receive communications from the OWASP Foundation concerning membership status.
• Only qualifying individuals will be eligible for Complimentary, Regional, and Student Memberships.
• Once paid, Membership Dues are not prorated, nor can they be canceled once purchased.

The OWASP Foundation is the exclusive grantor of OWASP Memberships. No person or entity can act as a membership agent or grant Distinguished Lifetime Membership or Complimentary memberships except for the OWASP Board of Directors.

The Foundation will revoke fraudulent membership submissions without notice and no refund. Memberships and member benefits are not transferrable.

Individual Membership Types

One or Two-Year Dues $50 and $95 for each respective period. Individuals can choose either a single or two-year membership. Members will begin to receive renewal email reminders as early as 60 days before renewal. The OWASP Foundation will do its best to notify members of impending renewals. It is the sole responsibility of the Member to monitor their membership status.

Lifetime Membership When a member makes a one-time non-refundable $500 payment to the Foundation, they are granted a lifetime membership, which gives them all membership rights, including the ability to vote. Lifetime membership applies until the member passes away.

Student Membership Dues $20 per year. Full-time students may apply for this discounted membership. Student Members cannot auto-renew.

Developing Economy Membership Pricing Persons living in developing economies as defined in the lower 50% percentile Adjusted Net National Income Per Capita Countries, according to the World Bank, shall be offered any membership class at 2/5ths the rate of the standard membership, so $8 for student, $20 for one year, $35 for two year, and $200 for Lifetime membership.

Distinguished Lifetime Membership Distinguished Lifetime Membership is awarded by the Global Board of Directors once or twice a year for extraordinary contributions to OWASP over an extended period of time. Nominations for Distinguished Lifetime Membership can be sent to the submitted here.

Complimentary Membership

Complimentary Membership may be offered on an opt-in and automated basis to the top 5 active leaders of any chapter, project, event, or committee that supports the Foundation’s mission and purpose, is in good standing subject to our Code of Ethics and has been in the top 5 position continuously for six months prior to applying for complimentary membership.

Complimentary Membership is valid for one year. Leaders do not need to accept any offer of complimentary leadership. Complimentary members in good standing for 12 months may stand for the Board, but if elected, must maintain good standing with paid Membership. Directors who are eligible through the above criteria must not accept Complimentary Membership during their term and maintain good standing with paid Membership.

Active leaders can accept the complimentary membership using the standard “Join” or “Renew” OWASP membership form. Complimentary membership must be manually renewed each 12 months.

Leaders must be Individual or Complimentary Members

Leaders must be Individual or Complimentary Members to be an OWASP Leader.

This is for legal and technical reasons. Legally, leaders of a non-stock membership organization such as the OWASP Foundation, Inc., who can set strategy, policy, lead committees, projects, chapters, and events, and submit expenses, must be members. Technically, the OWASP association management system requires an active membership to assign roles and permissions to manage chapters.

Transitional addendum (to be removed after December 31, 2024):

Per a Board vote on March 18, 2024, Leaders must be members by September 30, 2024

Non-member leaders can either join as a member as either an Individual membership or a Complimentary membership, or step down as a chapter leader role, or for projects or events by logging a ticket.

Notifications to affected non-member leaders will be sent by email to their owasp.org email address and statistics posted regularly on the OWASP Slack workspace.

The following actions will be taken:

• After October 1, 2024, non-member leaders will be unable to submit expense claims
• After October 1, 2024, non-members will not be able to submit tickets to create new events, projects, or chapters
• Once it goes live, non-member chapter leaders will be unable to manage their chapters in the new association management system
• After November 1, 2024, non-member leaders will be demoted from admins of their chapter, project, committee, or event GitHub repo
• After December 1, 2024, non-member leaders GSuite, Zoom, and Meetup access will be suspended
• After January 1, 2025, non-member leaders will be removed as leaders, with their access to GitHub, Meetup, and Zoom removed
• After April 1, 2025, suspended non-member leader GSuite accounts will be deleted

When a non-member leader becomes an OWASP Member, they will need to log a ticket to regain access to suspended systems, they will not automatically be reinstated.

Once removed as a leader after January 1, 2025, any non-member leader must follow the same process as becoming a new leader for their chapter, project, or event, which includes becoming a member before applying for a leadership role.