Today we kicked off our first crowdfunding campaign with the goal of raising enough funds to cover about one month of our operations - $200,000. That amount covers the operational and engineering staff, the hardware and the software, and general operating expenses needed to securely and reliably issue and manage many millions of certificates.

We decided to run a crowdfunding campaign for a couple of reasons. First, there is a gap between the funds we’ve raised and what we need for next year. Second, we believe individual supporters from our community can come to represent a significant diversification of our annual revenue sources, in addition to corporate sponsorship and grants.

We will provide updates on our progress throughout the campaign via Twitter (@letsencrypt).

Thank you for your support!