[Oceania-Board] 2024-2025 budget
Alex Leith
alexgleith at gmail.com
Tue Apr 23 16:24:05 PDT 2024
Hi John
I think targeting a $4 k surplus is ok in the pessimistic scenario.
I really hope that we can deliver something like a $60 k surplus from the
conference, like we did in Melbourne and Wellington. I'm always fairly
optimistic, but I have had a lot of people say that they're excited to come
to Hobart, and we can handle a pretty big crowd... so maybe we'll exceed
expectations.
I'm ok with starting the budget with a modest TGP allocation of $15 k
including the OSGeo cash and increasing if we can.
Cheers,
On Tue, 23 Apr 2024 at 19:32, John Bryant <johnwbryant at gmail.com> wrote:
> Thanks Elisa, that's really helpful input. I had a rough idea of what had
> happened, but I didn't know we hadn't actually planned to do PGRSC as part
> of the program. So this year, should we proactively include other events in
> our TGP budget?
>
> Let me ask everyone... what if we zoom out for a moment, simplify, and
> think of the budget as having 3 major components:
>
> - *Conference surplus*: Virtually all of our income is derived from
> this one source, and needs to pay for everything else, so this is crucial;
> but it's handled in detail by another budget - we can provide oversight
> using that budget.
> - *Operational expenses*: These are relatively predictable and fixed;
> we can fiddle with them a bit, but it looks like they'll be somewhere in
> the range of $6000-10000.
> - *Community Investment expenses*: This is where we have the most
> discretion. For the current financial year we're on target to spend around
> $20k.
>
> *So.... what if we figure out the total amount we can afford to spend in
> the Community Investment category, and then allocate that into TGP, Grants,
> Sponsorship, and Committees/WGs?* The benefit of this approach is 1) we
> spend what we can afford and 2) we consider the relative impact where
> we invest. We have a finite amount of money - if we spend $10k on X, we
> can't spend it on Y or Z, even if Y or Z might actually have a bigger
> impact.
>
> It forces us to contend with the question: If our total community
> investment spend is $25k, and we spend $15k on the TGP, do we cut back on
> other grants and sponsorship?
>
> I've added a "simple" version to this tab of the budget sheet
> <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1gRWZXt1bZqTqNMf5sr7Ff5dH4Sp_Nabe4QoZHPPPpmw/edit#gid=1487652216>
> to make it a little easier to reason with, and I've adjusted a couple of
> numbers based on Alex's suggestions. Even with ops costs cut right back,
> and "only" 10k allocated to TGP, it leaves us with a relatively modest
> surplus of $4300. Increase the TGP to 15k and we're in the red - would need
> to cut it from somewhere else (or ensure we have a bigger conference
> surplus).
>
> John
>
> On Tue, 23 Apr 2024 at 15:47, eli <elipuccioni at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Actually I have an input re:TGP:
>> The higher budget we had for Auckland and (hopefully) we will have for
>> Hobart is aiming to enable more participation from the pacific. We have
>> noticed that smaller grants cut the majority of the pacific applicants off,
>> due to the cost of traveling. So I’m in full support of this higher
>> spending on TGP (no surprises here!).
>> Moreover, because of the problems with NZ immigration last year, we
>> “moved” people from Auckland to Suva, so PGRSC grantees were actually
>> FOSS4G winners, we didn’t have a separate budget and program for that
>> conference. That said, one of my personal goals would be extending the TGP
>> to relevant conferences in the Pacific, especially the PGRSC, but I
>> understand that might not be possible to implement every year and will
>> depend on our finances.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Elisa
>>
>> Potrebbe andar peggio...potrebbe piovere!
>>
>>
>> Il giorno mar 23 apr 2024 alle 19:36 eli <elipuccioni at gmail.com> ha
>> scritto:
>>
>>> Thanks both Alex and John for this and support of I’m not adding much
>>> input in this. As Jonah said, I am too learning from your expertise and
>>> feel I still have a bit of learning to do before contributing more actively!
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>> Elisa
>>>
>>> Potrebbe andar peggio...potrebbe piovere!
>>>
>>>
>>> Il giorno mar 23 apr 2024 alle 18:40 John Bryant via Oceania-Board <
>>> oceania-board at lists.osgeo.org> ha scritto:
>>>
>>>> Thanks Alex, I've made a few modifications to the sheet based on your
>>>> suggestions:
>>>>
>>>> - split event income & expenses (I used the Hobart budget middle
>>>> scenario for these amounts, ex GST)
>>>> - split the single conference line into separate lines for each
>>>> event
>>>> - put OSGeo TGP grant into 2024 projected rather than 2025 budgeted
>>>>
>>>> Having the conference items separated out like that is a bit more
>>>> complex, but I like the extra detail. The big thing that jumps out at me,
>>>> though, is the need to refine the conference estimates as early as we can.
>>>>
>>>> Re: TGP, I'm certainly open to the suggestion of increasing it (if we
>>>> have good reason), I think it's an important part of what we do.
>>>>
>>>> It would be great to have more insight into how much money we actually
>>>> need, and what we're aiming for. By my calculations, this is what we've
>>>> spent over the years:
>>>>
>>>> - Melbourne 2018: $4650 for 7 people
>>>> - Wellington 2019: $9000 for 14 people
>>>> - Auckland 2023: $6400 for 5 people
>>>> - PGRSC 2023: $5100 for 3 people
>>>>
>>>> Would the Hobart TGP be significantly different from Auckland? Should
>>>> we include other events this year (eg PGRSC) in our budget?
>>>>
>>>> One other thought - in 2018 and 2019, we started off with a modest
>>>> budget for the TGP and increased it as we became more confident we had the
>>>> funds. Could this approach work for us this year as well?
>>>>
>>>> By the way, everyone, Alex and I are engaging in this, but he's right,
>>>> all board members should be thinking about our finances and providing their
>>>> input (please).
>>>>
>>>> Cheers
>>>> John
>>>>
>>>> On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 at 18:32, Alex Leith <alexgleith at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Ok, so here's the notes from the march minutes
>>>>> <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LMz-7ENIqbuE-QGhqB6ryO9bDRYFS0E4bxZMgjJQb2w/edit>
>>>>> :
>>>>>
>>>>> - Intent to allocate 10k to TGP (pending FY24/25 budget discussion
>>>>> and approval)
>>>>> - Planning to request USD5k from OSGeo (Dorothy will write it up)
>>>>>
>>>>> It's a little ambiguous, but I'd like to request that we allocate $10
>>>>> k from the OO budget plus the $5 k (AUD) from OSGeo.
>>>>>
>>>>> We've kicked off the TGP early, and I'm hoping we can spend our
>>>>> allocation and bring as many people as we can along to the event in Hobart,
>>>>> so if we're as successful as we have been in past years, I'd love to
>>>>> increase the amount that's available too.
>>>>>
>>>>> If we have a starting point of $15 k, that will set Dorothy up nicely
>>>>> to start planning.
>>>>>
>>>>> On Mon, 22 Apr 2024 at 19:44, John Bryant <johnwbryant at gmail.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> 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
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> *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
>>>>
>>>
--
*Alex Leith*
m: +61 419 189 050
https://auspatious.com
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