The Commons Conservancy is the result of people questioning the need for having a separate legal entity per project. It is designed as a shared legal infrastructure designed for multitenancy, which can be reused by open source/free software projects at no cost. It is not a panacea but aims to solve a number of issues people normally start foundations for pretty well - and arguably in some cases does a better job. It is a very nimble and flexible solution, allowing eligible projects to benefit without setup cost or a lot of arguing over details.