[Oceania-Board] 2024-2025 budget

John Bryant johnwbryant at gmail.com
Mon Apr 22 02:43:33 PDT 2024 

Thinking a bit more about TGP...

I suggest this:

   - we allocate $10k to TGP (including OSGeo $5000)
   - if the OSGeo request is declined, we reconsider our allocation
   - if/when conference sponsors provide extra TGP funds, we increase the
   amount accordingly

In total, this would be roughly in line with how much we spent last year,
and should be enough for the 10 TGP registrations allocated in the
conference budget, potentially with money left over for other events.

Cheers
John

On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 at 15:28, John Bryant <johnwbryant at gmail.com> wrote:

> I wasn't at the March meeting, but it sounded like the outcome was that
> the discussion would happen later when we talked about the budget. I don't
> think we've had any other discussions about it?
> So I reckon this is the budget discussion where we should make that
> decision.
>
> These seem like relevant points:
>
>    - the Hobart conf budget accounts for 10 TGP regos
>    - this year we spent ~12k including the OSGeo $5k
>
> I haven't seen an accounting of last year's TGP (number and amount of
> grants) but it would be useful, if anyone knows about it?
>
> Cheers
> John
>
> On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 at 15:12, Alex Leith <alexgleith at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Oh, I thought we agreed on $20 k like last year?
>>
>> Apologies if I remembered wrong.
>>
>> Was the $10 k you thought we agreed including the OSGeo money?
>>
>> *Alex Leith*
>> m: +61 419 189 050
>> https://auspatious.com
>>
>>
>> On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 at 5:11 PM, John Bryant <johnwbryant at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Thanks everyone, great comments so far.
>>>
>>> Alex, one question, you said "We have earmarked $20 k for the TGP for
>>> the Hobart conference"... all I'm aware of is a discussion at the March
>>> board meeting where the outcome was: "Intent to allocate 10k to TGP
>>> (pending FY24/25 budget discussion and approval)"
>>>
>>> Where does the $20k figure come from?
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>> John
>>>
>>> On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 at 09:04, Jonah Sullivan <jonahsullivan79 at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I'm really glad to see Alex and John engaging on the very important
>>>> topic of financial probity. I probably shouldn't have raised my hand as
>>>> treasurer, considering my lack of experience and annoying work commitments,
>>>> but I'm glad to be more involved in the process - I'm learning a lot
>>>> already.
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, 22 Apr 2024, 08:53 Alex Leith via Oceania-Board, <
>>>> oceania-board at lists.osgeo.org> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hi John
>>>>>
>>>>> For this FY, here's some comments:
>>>>>
>>>>>    - I requested travel grant funding from OSGeo a week ago for
>>>>>    $3,500 USD. That should be received this FY, I expect.
>>>>>    - The other hard to forecast difference is sponsorship and ticket
>>>>>    sales for the conference, which should start happening this FY. I'm hoping
>>>>>    to start reaching out to potential sponsors, and some organisations like
>>>>>    spending money in the current FY. I expect to have some money flowing in
>>>>>    soon.
>>>>>    - I want to note that since our term deposits matured in December,
>>>>>    and we received ~$1,800, we haven't now got any cash earning interest. I
>>>>>    think it would be a good idea to put money away in a 12 month term deposit,
>>>>>    as we can now achieve 4.75% interest, so on $50 k, that's over $2,000 of
>>>>>    free money!
>>>>>    - We perhaps need a budget line for conference 2024, since we have
>>>>>    paid the deposit for the venue at $14 k.
>>>>>
>>>>> For the 2025 budget:
>>>>>
>>>>>    - The $25 k surplus is quite conservative. I think we'll do better
>>>>>    than that for the conference, but it's nice to be conservative in budgeting!
>>>>>    - We have earmarked $20 k for the TGP for the Hobart conference.
>>>>>    With $5 k coming from OSGeo, that leaves a worst case of $15 k from OO.
>>>>>    (This will be topped up by the conference with a portion of sponsorship
>>>>>    going to TGP.)
>>>>>
>>>>> And just a note that we should be doing budgeting with the balance
>>>>> sheet in mind too. We currently have $60 k in the bank, which is unusually
>>>>> low, mostly because we have started paying expenses for the 2024
>>>>> conference, but haven't got any income yet.
>>>>>
>>>>> Now it's a fairly minor thing, but I would prefer to have a separate
>>>>> line for conference income and conference expenses. We sometimes have
>>>>> smaller regional events, and it's good to see the difference in
>>>>> expense/income per event.
>>>>>
>>>>> And one of those boring reminders too that as Board Directors, we need
>>>>> to remember that we are all individually accountable for the financial
>>>>> health of the organisation, we can't delegate that responsibility to
>>>>> others, so please engage with this important work and make sure you
>>>>> understand it!
>>>>>
>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>>
>>>>> Alex
>>>>>
>>>>> [image: image.png]
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Cheers,
>>>>>
>>>>> On Sun, 21 Apr 2024 at 12:58, John Bryant via Oceania-Board <
>>>>> oceania-board at lists.osgeo.org> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi board,
>>>>>>
>>>>>> The 2024-2025 financial year (FY25) begins on 1 July.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> It would be good to move the FY25 budget forward, ideally we can
>>>>>> approve it in May but I'm sure there will be some discussion required.
>>>>>> Perhaps we can discuss in this thread over the next couple of weeks and put
>>>>>> it on the agenda for further discussion at the May board meeting?
>>>>>>
>>>>>> My ambition with this is to:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>    - come up with a realistic set of numbers we can use to guide
>>>>>>    spending decisions in the upcoming financial year
>>>>>>    - set targets for income, community investment, and ultimately, a
>>>>>>    surplus to help keep us solvent
>>>>>>    - provide clear and visible financial targets and priorities to
>>>>>>    the community
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Can you please review the attached PDF and/or the Google Sheet
>>>>>> <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gRWZXt1bZqTqNMf5sr7Ff5dH4Sp_Nabe4QoZHPPPpmw/edit#gid=61568483>?
>>>>>> I've listed several questions that I hope will help us move it forward.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Your comments and questions please!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks
>>>>>> John
>>>>>>
>>>>>> On Fri, 29 Mar 2024 at 16:15, John Bryant <johnwbryant at gmail.com>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hi all,
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> We discussed at the February board meeting that we should get moving
>>>>>>> on a budget for next year. I want to kick off a discussion towards
>>>>>>> hopefully having a first draft within the next few weeks, and a final draft
>>>>>>> for approval in May.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I have a sheet here
>>>>>>> <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gRWZXt1bZqTqNMf5sr7Ff5dH4Sp_Nabe4QoZHPPPpmw/edit#gid=0> with
>>>>>>> the current year projected and actual amounts for context.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> For now, do you have any specific items on your wish list for next
>>>>>>> year?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I have a few suggestions and questions:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>    - *Distinct "Operational" & "Community Investment" expense
>>>>>>>    categories*. By doing this, we make sure we allocate enough to
>>>>>>>    keep the lights on, and then we have better sight of what we can afford to
>>>>>>>    invest in community programs.
>>>>>>>    - *Separate grants and sponsorship*. They're accounted for
>>>>>>>    separately in Xero and I think it caused some confusion this year when we
>>>>>>>    overspent on the combined item. We ultimately increased the budget amount
>>>>>>>    but for a time the Grants committee was unsure if they should hit pause. By
>>>>>>>    separating these, I think we add clarity.
>>>>>>>    - *Remove "Special Interest Groups"?* We don't really have any
>>>>>>>    SIGs (OSM SIG has never been active, QGIS SIG wound up in June 2022). I
>>>>>>>    still think we should make these kinds of investments in OSM and QGIS
>>>>>>>    community groups of course, but maybe we do it under sponsorship and grants
>>>>>>>    line items?
>>>>>>>    - *TGP:* At the last board meeting there was talk of ~10k for
>>>>>>>    the Travel Grant Program, is this the right amount? It sounds like the
>>>>>>>    Hobart conference may have about $5000 to add to this, depending on
>>>>>>>    sponsorship (Alex correct me if I've got this wrong!).
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Also I think we'll need to make a projection on the conference
>>>>>>> surplus, perhaps this is an item for discussion at the next board meeting
>>>>>>> on the 3rd.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Your thoughts?
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Cheers
>>>>>>> John
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>>> Oceania-Board mailing list
>>>>>> Oceania-Board at lists.osgeo.org
>>>>>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/oceania-board
>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> *Alex Leith*
>>>>> m: +61 419 189 050
>>>>> https://auspatious.com
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> Oceania-Board mailing list
>>>>> Oceania-Board at lists.osgeo.org
>>>>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/oceania-board
>>>>>
>>>>
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