You can help a maintainer without funding by giving positive feedback, respecting stated project boundaries, taking on work they delegate, and engaging with the user community. Open Source Guides notes that praise and thanks matter, and that contributors can reduce load by respecting boundaries. Funding still helps, and the guide says so.
Say thanks, specifically
The guide says users usually report problems, not successes, and that positive feedback significantly helps maintainers stay motivated. A short note saying what the project let you do costs a minute. Be specific: what it saved, what it enabled.
Respect the stated limits
Read the README and contributing file before you open an issue. If the maintainer says reviews happen on weekdays, do not ping on Sunday. If large changes need prior discussion, discuss first. The guide lists respecting stated project boundaries as a way contributors reduce maintainer load.
Make issues easy to act on
A good issue includes the version, the steps, what you expected and what happened. For a security flaw, use the private channel, not a public thread. For help with that, see what a good vulnerability report contains.
Take on delegated work
Many maintainers label tasks they would gladly hand off. Pick one, say you are on it, and finish or release it. Dropping a task halfway adds to the load, so if your plans change, say so quickly.
Company team checklist
- List the open source projects your product depends on. A complete SBOM is a start.
- Rank them by how much you rely on them and how few maintainers they have.
- For the top few, assign an engineer a few hours a month for review, triage or fixes, if your employer allows it.
- Send fixes upstream instead of keeping private patches.
- Thank the maintainers publicly when a project saves you effort.
Money still matters
The guide reports that maintainers say more financial support would help them avoid burning savings or taking outside contract work to compensate. It also notes that GitHub Sponsors is one funding route. If your company can pay, do. For how funding models compare, see how sponsorship models compare.
What not to do
Do not demand features or timelines from a volunteer. Do not open duplicate issues to get attention. Do not ask a maintainer to sign security attestations on your behalf. A request that adds load without value is the opposite of help.
Why it is also self interest
Projects you depend on survive if their maintainers do. A little effort now lowers the chance you face an emergency migration later. Related: maintainer burnout signs.
Safeguard's SBOM and dependency scanning make the dependency list visible, and you can try a free scan.
Quick check
Is a thank you note really useful?
Yes. The guide says positive feedback significantly helps maintainers stay motivated.
Should I ping a maintainer for a faster review?
Check the project's stated review schedule first. Repeated pings add to the load.
Sources
Last reviewed: 19 October 2026.
