W3C adopted new fees in June 2013. The fee changes take effect according to this schedule:

• 1 July 2013: Introduction of a new fee level for organizations with annual revenues exceeding 1 Billion USD (0.8B Euros, 100B Yen, CNY to be determined in second half of 2014) .
  • Note: Fees for some Members affiliated with ERCIM and Keio decreased as of this date; see table below.
• 1 January 2015: Change in fee for some Members at that level.

The following table summarizes the net effect of these changes from the February 2012 fees:

Note: See the fee table for details about the threshold in each currency.

The full list of changes is:

• With the addition of a Host in China we added Chinese Yuan (CNY) as a currency.
• New fee level for organizations with annual revenues exceeding 1 Billion USD (or equivalent in other currencies).
• Change in fees (some decreases, some increases) for two levels. These changes help reduce the gap between Hosts due to accumulated currency fluctuations; see determination of currency below.
• Note: Members may delay any fee increases until 2017 by paying three years of (pre 1 January 2015) fees at the time of the 2014 renewal.

Determination of Currency

Each organization pays Membership fees in a currency that depends on the country of the Member's headquarters, as follows:

• In Europe, the Middle East, and Africa: EUR
• Japan and Korea: JPY
• China: CNY (as of 1 January 2013; otherwise USD)
• All other countries: USD

By working in multiple currencies, W3C can more easily manage Host operations. In addition, this provides budget predictability to Members.

Determination of Fee

Membership fees vary depending on certain characteristics of the organization.

• Nature of activity
  • For-profit
  • All other organizations, including not-profit organizations and government agencies.
• Annual gross revenue
• Country of headquarters

Regional Fee Adjustments

The country of headquarters influences affects the currency of payment, but also whether a lower fee level is available. To promote diverse Membership, W3C offers lower Membership fees for organizations in some countries, based on a World Bank classification of country income. This resource defines four categories of countries: high income countries (HIC); upper middle income (UMC), lower middle income (LMC), and low income (LIC). The World Bank revises their categorization each year on 1 July. The changes take effect in W3C fee calculations on the following 1 January.

Startup Level

We now offer lower fees to enable small companies such as "startups" to participate in W3C. The fee level is available to organizations:

• That are enterprises or non-profits with annual gross revenues of 3M USD / 2.25M EUR / 250M JPY / 18M CNY. Note: "Projects" (e.g., EU-funded projects and other Membership-based organizations) are not eligible for this fee level.
• That have 10 or fewer employees.
• That have never been a W3C Member.

This fee level is only available for the first 2 consecutive years of Membership. During the first year of Membership, if an organization changes to either an Affiliate or Full Membership level, W3C will give them a discount on the new fee (1/12 per month remaining on their current contract).

Members at this fee level are treated as non-Members for the purposes of W3C Business Group Fees.

Note: Due to regional fee adjustments, in some cases an organization is eligible to join at a lower fee level than the startup level. When that is the case, we do not show the startup level in the online fee table.