Loomio
Mon 22 Feb 2021 9:40PM

SPC Discretionary Fund Allocation

JS Jeremy Simon Public Seen by 108

Over the years, the EnableFund and the Loomio voting process have funded some worthy initiatives. However, for small projects or expenses, the process -- launching a discussion, submitting a proposal, running a poll -- is too burdensome.

The Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) recommends it be given the authority to allocate limited funds from the EnableFund up to a specified amount, to cover expenses that may not warrant a full proposal and voting process. For example:

  • Reimbursement of web hosting costs and other infrastructure-related expenses

  • Addressing needs or requests from chapters or volunteers that involve less than $1,000 in funding

  • Paying selected contractors for work that supports the community (i.e. the Communications Coordinator role)

Participation in our online SPC meetings is open to anyone in the community. Typically 1 to 3 people join the 4 "regulars":  Jeremy Simon, Jon Schull, Bob Rieger, and Ben Rubin. Notes and videos of the meetings are published to the hub for community review and oversight.

We propose that each week, SPC participants would review and discuss any funding needs or requests and would vote on whether or not to fund them. If all SPC participants agree to support a request, it is approved. If anyone strongly objects, there will be further discussion and/or changes to the proposed funding until a consensus is achieved.

The following limitations and guidelines would be observed:

  • Up to one thousand dollars ($1000 USD) per individual discretionary award

  • Up to 30% of the average available funds allocated annually (can be updated if new money comes in)

  • The program would start upon approval of this proposal, with the discretionary limit for 2021 based upon 30% of the current balance of the e-NABLE Fund. Moving forward, the discretionary limit would be determined at the start of each calendar year and updated as needed when new funds are received.

Nothing would change with the existing mini-grant process. Funds would still remain available to support initiatives approved through community voting. This would just provide a more expedient way of funding smaller expenses and critical infrastructure costs.

M

Magi Mon 15 Mar 2021 1:26PM

Jeremy,

I read the message,as an invitation. Was it not? What time are the meetings?

Magi

JS

Jeremy Simon Mon 15 Mar 2021 2:56PM

Absolutely! I just wanted to make sure that's what you meant by "the team". We meet each Friday at 10am CST / 11am EST. I'll add you to the invite list and send you the invitation.

M

Magi Mon 15 Mar 2021 7:40PM

Shoot! I would love to be a regular. However, I am a teacher and that is right on the middle of my school day. I plan to retire from teaching in about 15 months, so if there is a spot then I would love to help.

Magi

B

Ben Wed 17 Mar 2021 8:53PM

@Teri Sanor you may be thinking about Wishbone, no? That does have a $1000 limit, but is a different project (one focused specifically on Chapters)

JS

Jeremy Simon Thu 18 Mar 2021 12:59AM

Sorry, that was my fault, @Teri Sanor. When the initial discussion thread was started, a possible limit of $1,000 was mentioned. Then, when I wrote up the proposal for voting, I used $2,500 as the limit based on all of the discussions we had about the intended uses of this program. But I think the original discussion write-up got included in the post when the proposal went out, so it created some confusion by showing two different amounts.

...

UPDATE: We had a meeting today to discuss this and other related topics, and we decided that it would be better to start this program with a limit of $1,000 per transaction. So we have changed it back to that in the proposal. Anything over that amount will need to go through the existing Loomio discussion and voting process. We can revisit this in the future, but that seems to make the most sense for now.

BR

Bob Rieger Fri 26 Mar 2021 1:24AM

👍 Congrats!!