After careful consideration and deep conversation across SPN’s leadership, fiscal sponsor, and community, we are sharing an important update about the future of the Software Preservation Network.
SPN will be entering a structured, twelve-month sunsetting process. This is a deliberate and values-aligned decision to bring the current iteration of the Network to a close while honoring the people, partnerships, and field-building work that have defined it.
How we arrived at this inflection point:
Since its founding, SPN has existed to advance collective action around software preservation, bridging legal, technical, and organizational practice in service of long-term access to digital cultural heritage. To ensure our fiscal sustainability, SPN actively pursued multiple strategies, including:
- Renewed membership recruitment efforts
- Formalizing and integrating the EAASI Research Alliance into SPN’s project work
- Hiring a new Program Manager to strengthen engagement and coordination
- Re-energizing SPN’s working groups and committees in closer alignment with the Network’s mission
Over the past year, however, a convergence of factors has significantly impacted SPN’s financial sustainability:
- Changes to our membership dues structure to an equity-focused tier model that resulted in higher fees for some our financial institutions during a price-sensitive time
- The need to sustain increased staffing expenses associated with our full-time Program Manager
- The recent departure of at least two dues-paying member organizations
- Ongoing challenges in recruiting new institutional members amid political and economic constraints affecting higher education and cultural organizations
- Increased legal and software hosting expenses associated with incorporating the EAASI Research Alliance into SPN’s programming
Taken together, these dynamics placed SPN’s budget at a point where continued operation without structural change would risk instability for members, partners, and staff. Along the way, Along the way, circumstances continued to shift as SPN would no longer be the entry point for the EAASI Research Alliance.
Even with these efforts and commitments, SPN’s financial outlook made clear that continuing in its current operational form would not be responsible or equitable.
“This isn’t where we thought the organization would be when we started off in 2025, but I’m still proud of the work we were able to accomplish this year, and in all the years that SPN has existed. It is my belief that, sometimes, organizations have to take a step back in order to create more possibilities and opportunities for their field of work. As we venture into 2026, I hope we’ll be able to enjoy the process of reflecting on the role SPN has played and provide guidance to future volunteers about how organizing around this work can be strengthened for future networks.” – Chelle Sanders, SPN Program Manager
The decision to pursue a thoughtful sunset:
SPN’s Operational Reserve Policy states that if the combination of remaining revenue in a calendar year and unrestricted net assets falls below nine months of operating expenses, SPN will initiate a structured sunsetting process. We have now reached that threshold.
Choosing to sunset proactively allows SPN to:
- Provide clarity and sufficient notice to members, working groups, contractors, and partners
- Wind down SPN’s deployment of the EAASI software
- Complete or thoughtfully close out in-progress working group deliverables and research
- Close out financials in an orderly and transparent way, including invoicing, vendor payments, and final audits
- Compost SPN resources such as documentation, tools, frameworks, and lessons learned so they can continue to benefit the broader field of digital stewardship
- Rather than an abrupt ending, this approach reflects SPN’s long-standing commitment to care, transparency, and collective responsibility.
What this sunset enables:
SPN will sunset this current iteration using its operational reserves, while enabling volunteers and partners to continue the work using SPN infrastructure where feasible. Further decisions regarding the stewardship or redistribution of remaining funds will occur through a community-informed process in Q2 2026. Over the coming months, SPN will focus on:
- Finalizing a detailed sunsetting timeline
- Developing a Sunset Transition Team
- Advancing the following sunset objectives:
- Legacy preservation and composting
- Responsible member support
- Asset redistribution and partnership development
- Transparent process documentation
- Sustained field-building impact
Staying in relationship:
SPN has always been more than an organization. It is a community of practice grounded in shared purpose, care, and collaboration. We invite members, partners, and peers to remain in thought partnership and, where possible, active collaboration with us during this transition.
There will be opportunities to connect through upcoming events, conversations, and announcements every quarter. If you have questions, ideas, or would like to be involved in this next phase, we warmly encourage you to reach out to contact@softwarepreservationnetwork.org
We are deeply grateful for the trust, labor, and imagination that so many have invested in SPN over the years. We remain committed to stewarding this transition with integrity and care, and to ensuring that SPN’s work continues to inform and strengthen the field beyond this chapter.