Loomio
Fri 29 Sep 2017 10:51PM

e-NABLE Project Proposals

JS Jeremy Simon Public Seen by 124

Have a project you'd like to undertake for the e-NABLE volunteer community? Create a new thread in the E-nablio to discuss it, and when you think it's it's ripe, write a proposal in that thread to allow the community to vote on whether or not the project should move forward. Project proposals may include a request for funding, but this is optional (some projects may not require funding).

To ensure everyone has the information needed to make an informed decision, each project proposal should include the following information at a minimum:

  1. Clear description of work to be performed
  2. Expected results/impact
  3. Estimate of work effort involved (# of hours)
  4. Estimated timeline for completion of the effort
  5. Names of individuals responsible for completing work
  6. Amount of funding being requested (if any) - please specify an exact amount, not a range. If the project is approved, we need to know how much funding to allocate
  7. A brief overview of your background with e-NABLE (work you've done in the past) - so people know who is proposing the project

Feel free to include a link to a Google Doc with a more detailed project outline.

Ownership of work products

In the spirit of the e-NABLE community, any work products resulting from a funded project will be considered open source and available for anyone to use. Please be prepared to share your work so others may benefit from your results.

To Submit a Project Proposal

To submit a project proposal, go to the main E-nablio page on Loomio and click the New Decision button, then select Proposal. Copy and paste the template content below and provide the details for your proposal. Set the voting duration to at least one week (preferably longer) to allow sufficient community input.

Project Approval

Each project proposal must receive at least 15 votes with at least 80% of the votes in support of the project in order to be approved. This number of required votes may increase in the future, as participation in this process grows stronger.

For determining the approval percentage, "Abstain" votes are not counted in the total. So the formula for the approval percentage is:
(A / (A + D)) * 100
Where A = # of Agree Votes and D = # of Disagree Votes

To be approved, both criteria (minimum number of votes and percentage support) must be met. For example, if a proposal has 20 "Agree" votes and 10 "Disagree" votes, that would meet the minimum number of votes, but it would not meet the required percentage (since only 66.7% of the votes are in support of the project). In this case, the project would not be approved.

Project Sponsorship

While not required, it is recommended that mini-grant proposals be sponsored by an e-NABLE Chapter. A proposal that includes a chapter sponsorship will have a higher likelihood of being approved.

Here are some suggestions for having a proposal sponsored:

  • The project owner can be part of an e-NABLE Chapter and the chapter can act as project sponsor.
  • If the project owner is not part of a chapter, the project owner may connect with an existing chapter and ask them to sponsor the project.
  • The project owner will report the project status to the chapter, and the chapter will report back to the community via weekly SPC (Strategic Planning Committee) meetings.
  • The funds will be given to the chapter, and the chapter will allocate funds to the project owner/team based on project deliverables.
  • The project owner will be accountable for the project deliverables and the Chapter will act as the project sponsor, ensuring that project deliverables are completed and commitments fulfilled.

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Project Proposal Template (copy and paste the below content to create your own proposal)

Proposals can also include images, links, etc., using Markdown.

A convenient markdown editor can be found here:


Description of Proposed Project:

[Replace with your content]

Expected results/impact:

[Replace with your content]

Estimate of work effort involved:

[Replace with your content]

Estimated timeline for completion:

[Replace with your content]

Names of individuals responsible for deliverables:

[Replace with your content]

Amount of funding being requested:

[Replace with your content]

A brief overview of my background with e-NABLE:

[Replace with your content]

NOTE: The formatting will not transfer when you copy and paste to a new proposal. Preface a line with # (followed by a space) to format it as a heading.

CC

Cole Carter Tue 7 Nov 2017 4:34PM

Thanks for your reply, Rich. This is hopefully a good starting point for other studies with a larger sample size. Once I have some proof of concept, I would be happy to help with a larger study which incorporates a greater sample size. I also agree that retrospective follow up study would also be valuable. All exciting things to consider.

SAP

Poll Created Tue 21 Nov 2017 10:26PM

Let's Make a Newsletter Closed Fri 15 Dec 2017 10:03PM

Description of Proposed Project:

e-NABLE launched a newsletter this summer, but with no one to lead the project, it has not yet flourished. By Jon Schull's invitation, I would like to propose that I write a monthly newsletter for e-NABLE.

Expected results/impact:

To develop, maintain, and share news about the e-NABLE community.
To inspire and foster collaboration between e-NABLE volunteers through the sharing of information about their challenges and successes.
To contribute to the cohesive union of an international organization through the sharing of community.

Estimate of work effort involved:

This proposal provides a vision for the position of newsletter writer. The position would be 10 hours of work a month. During this time, I would research e-NABLE's biggest news, write the articles, and format the articles into an appealing document for easy sharing.

Estimated timeline for completion:

One newsletter completed per month, starting in January, for the duration of one year, to be renewed after the duration of one year.

Names of individuals responsible for deliverables:

Sarah Paynter

Amount of funding being requested:

I request $1,500 for the year contract, which is $125 per newsletter, or $12.50 an hour, which is half my professional rate. This is to be paid in installments, one per newsletter.

A brief overview of my background with e-NABLE:

I have been talking with Jon Schull about writing on several projects for him. I am the former founding CEO of a drone-based aerial data acquisition company, and I have both volunteer and professional experience in the maker field. Today, I work as a technical writer for Wevolver, an engineering community. I recently wrote a series of articles about exiii, another charitable organization that 3D prints prosthetic devices, and I am well-versed in the field. I have previously run newsletters for four nonprofit organizations, and I am comfortable with my expertise and ability to address the topics addressed by e-NABLE. Please visit www.sarahpaynter.net for my full credentials and work samples. Visit https://archive.benchmarkemail.com/e-NABLE/newsletter/e-NABLE-Newsletter---August--2017 for the previous August newsletter I would emulate.

I hope you will consider me to take up the torch for your newsletter. e-NABLE is an amazing global community, but with that comes challenges. As we seek unity among these varied parts, the sharing of information is vital. A community newsletter is a substantial step in walking with one another as we give the world a helping hand.

Results

Results Option % of points Voters
Agree 72.0% 18 JS EL E JS RB AT JS SM ELD PS MP CC RK ESL GF RV WM MVL
Abstain 16.0% 4 T PG CC DS
Disagree 12.0% 3 JO TO AJ
Block 0.0% 0  
Undecided 0% 44 AB DU J W ME JL MH AC PB JS AD JP LB DD GD JB B AT DU DM

25 of 69 people have participated (36%)

JS

Jeremy Simon
Agree
Tue 21 Nov 2017 10:31PM

I'd like to see this move forward, but I would suggest considering quarterly payments instead of monthly. Our financial mechanisms aren't as nimble as a typical organization with full-time staff, so it would be preferable to send money less often.

AT

Ashley Turner
Agree
Wed 22 Nov 2017 2:54AM

I like the idea. Instead of one person writing everything, perhaps some of the content could be solicited from members and groups of the community. Also, this could be a good forum for the leadership to post summary updates on issues.

PS

Phil Slusser
Agree
Wed 22 Nov 2017 6:44AM

With the membership growing this could be an excellent platform a 3 D printer company to reach a lot of potential customers. I would suggest we contact them for advertising.

JS

Jack Sutcliffe
Agree
Tue 28 Nov 2017 5:08PM

I'd liked to know what other people are currently working throughout the e-NABLE community. Will you be working through enablingthefuture.org/ e-NABLE Like Page using a 'posts' format? I just hope its not a separate e-NABLE web address.

GF

Goeran Fiedler
Agree
Fri 1 Dec 2017 5:47PM

Suggested to report some metrics on the success of the newsletter

RB

Rich B
Agree
Sun 3 Dec 2017 1:51PM

Having worked on the original news team, I believe the content of the newsletter should be suggested by the community. 3D Tech info and e-NABLE or just e-NABLE activity?

JO

Jen Owen
Abstain
Thu 7 Dec 2017 10:42PM

I would love to see a newsletter, but I would also love to see the cost for this a little lower as a more of a volunteer rate. Perhaps $75-100 per newsletter? With a review after 3 months with feedback on reach etc.

JO

Jen Owen
Disagree
Fri 8 Dec 2017 2:26AM

I would love to see a newsletter, but I would also love to see the cost for this a little lower as a more of a volunteer rate. Perhaps $75-100 per newsletter? With a review after 3 months with feedback on reach etc.

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