PHP Foundation Director Says PHP Saw Nearly Twice as Many Code Proposals

Executive Director Elizabeth Barron said the volume of PHP code proposals was close to twice its level a year earlier, while contributor numbers remained short of doubling.

Barron described herself as the foundation’s only full-time staff member. “We have one full-time staff member (that’s me) and 14 mostly part-time contractors,” she said.

Barron said people with relevant experience remain essential to evaluating code submissions and bug reports. The foundation funds developers working on PHP, but it does not control which language changes are adopted. PHP’s Request for Comments process is independent of the foundation, and the PHP Internals community makes language decisions.

The foundation’s live annual budget estimate stood at $974,117.80 at 2:51 p.m. ET Saturday, Oct. 24 (18:51 UTC). The estimate can change and is not a record of the foundation’s annual revenue or spending.

The estimate is separate from the foundation’s reported 2025 finances. It received $730,534 in donations that year and $645,191 after $85,343 in fees. Expenses totaled $784,376, about $139,000 more than receipts after fees.

The foundation deliberately spent more than its post-fee receipts to maintain technical headcount. It described itself as financially solvent with healthy reserves. Those annual figures reflect 2025 donations and expenses, while the live estimate is a changing budget figure.

The staffing and proposal figures describe different parts of the PHP ecosystem: Barron’s account concerns the foundation’s capacity, while language decisions remain with PHP Internals. Reviewing proposed changes still requires human input and experience, she said.