[Qgis-psc] Feedback on statute change from german QGIS user group

[Andreas Neumann]

Hi all,

I got some feedback on the planned change in the statutes from the German
QGIS user group.

1. They wonder if a voting member can also be a sustaining member. This is
of particular interest to country user groups, who are voting members but
had also been sponsors in the past. Personally I would say yes - this
should be possible. But apparently it is currently unclear. Tim - can we
have a look at it and change the wording acoordingly?

2. Currently theres is a practice that German donors (companies and privat
persons) who want to have a tax-deductible receipt but still want to appear
as sponsors at QGIS.ORG can donate towards the German QGIS user group who
will forward that amount to QGIS.ORG. That way they can get the receipt as
a donation from the German QGIS user group (they are registered as a
non-profit organization in Germany), but we still accept it as a
sponsorship at QGIS.ORG if the amount is forwarded to QGIS.ORG. The
question is, if this practice would still be possible in the future with
the change from sponsorship to sustaining member - as the sustaining
membership seems "more formal" than the sponsorship.

Personally I don't know about it. I would be ok to treat it the same way
like in the past. I really don't care if the money comes directly from the
sustaining member, but is transferred through QGIS-DE. But I am not a
lawyer.

3. The German user group suggests to remove "each year" from the sentence
"Membership fees are approved or changed each year by the general
assembly." Personally I am ok with either way. I don't think it is an
administrative burden to decide on it each year, or only when a change is
planned. At other associations it is simply one item on the AGM "approve
membership fees again, no changes planned, same fees as last year".

4. There are some cross-reference number that have to be changed (I can
deal with it)

5. They suggest that the membership fees are defined as "minimum amount or
more", so that a sustaining member of category "medium" could pay at the
minimum 3k €, but can decide to raise this to e.g. 4k € if they want.

I think this is all useful input that we should deal with. I can give it a
try tonight when I am in A Coruña and make a proposal for a revision. I
would be glad, if Tim could double check it.

I would definitely do something about 1, 4 and 5. Not sure about 2 and 3. I
would be ok with 3 - but not sure how important it is. If we keep the "each
year" it will remain on the Agenda and won't be much additional work I
think. But I am happy to remove "each year" if you like.

@Thomas: thanks a lot for your feedback. We appreciate the thorough review
the german QGIS user group does!

Greetings,
Andreas

--
Andreas Neumann
QGIS.ORG board member (treasurer)
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