[Osmf-talk] Operating reserves

Tue Dec 15 08:35:24 UTC 2020

Am 15.12.2020 um 02:27 schrieb Allan Mustard:
>
> Salaries for the iD maintainer and fulltime paid sysadmin do not 
> figure into the calculation of reserves to cover expenses. As 
> currently envisioned, in a worst-case scenario, which we do not 
> anticipate but for which we must plan, OSM would revert to 
> all-volunteer staffing, and expenses would amount to hardware refresh, 
> software licenses, and bandwidth, which are circa $120K.  In other 
> words, we could revert to status quo ante and cut expenses to the 
> bone, with no paid software maintenance or development, and possibly 
> higher downtime / slower network response due to lack of a paid 
> sysadmin.  In other words, the higher budget is to be viewed as a 
> luxury that can be dispensed with in the event we face financial 
> hardship.  We do not anticipate this but are prepared to deal with it 
> if necessary.
>
That's why I would be happy with two years, 1 year continuing as is. 
Even with maximum foresight and control you are not going to realize 
that things are going wrong immediately so you are going to be well in 
to the fiscal year in any case. If the OSMF then sees no recovery in 
income, enough time to wind down operations in a responsible manner, 
with some reserves left.

Naturally some of this depends on the legal obligations towards the 
employees (I would argue that it actually depends on the ethical 
obligations regardless of what kind of contractual arrangements were 
made out of convenience, but that doesn't seem to be a popular POV).

Simon

> We do anticipate that with passage of the AoA amendment allowing Board 
> committees to include Foundation members who are not on the Board, a 
> fund-raising committee will be able to assure a steady income stream 
> from donations into the future.
>
> Cheers,
> apm
>
> *From: *Simon Poole <mailto:simon at poole.ch>
> *Sent: *Monday, December 14, 2020 7:30 PM
> *To: *osmf-talk at openstreetmap.org <mailto:osmf-talk at openstreetmap.org>
> *Subject: *Re: [Osmf-talk] Operating reserves
>
> Given that I'm on the record as suggesting the same more than once, 
> though I would be happy with two years, I obviously support this.
>
> I do have to point out that I believe that your annual expenses number 
> is too low, I suspect that the 2021 budget will  be more like 
> 250-300k€. No inside knowledge here, but we all know what the OSMF has 
> indicated what it wants to do going forward and that will increase 
> expenses substantially. As a result we should be looking at increasing 
> the reserves by quite a bit.
>
> Simon
>
> Am 14.12.2020 um 22:47 schrieb Jean-Marc Liotier:
>
>     As a new member of the Board, I wish to start term my with a
>     fundamental topic - the Openstreetmap Foundation's operating reserves.
>
>     In answer to a guest question during the December 12th General
>     Meeting, Alan Mustard mentioned that the Openstreetmap Foundation
>     strives to keep a reserve amounting to three years of operational
>     expenses. The Treasurer's report's profit and losses
>     <https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/w/images/1/12/OpenStreetMap_Foundation_Limited_-_Profit_and_Loss_2020.pdf>
>     show yearly operating expenses amounting to 130k£ and the Balance
>     Sheet
>     <https://wiki.osmfoundation.org/w/images/2/25/OpenStreetMap_Foundation_Limited_-_Balance_Sheet_2020.pdf>
>     shows net assets at 621 k£ - of which even the 400 k£ in the
>     reserves savings account does cover about three years. From a
>     cursory survey of non-profits, three years is at the prudent end
>     of the range, so I think it is a reasonable goal to continue pursuing.
>
>     Nevertheless, this satisfactory state of affairs remains the
>     informal result of the Board's cautious management. In keeping
>     with my pledge of reinforcing the Openstreetmap Foundation's
>     financial sustainability, I wish to take it a step further and
>     advocate for the Board to produce an Operating Reserve Policy for
>     a Board-Designated Operating Reserve.
>
>     As a novice in the business of operating reserves policies, I have
>     sought best practices and found the Grantmakers in the Arts'
>     Operating Reserve Policy Toolkit for Nonprofit Organization
>     <https://www.giarts.org/sites/default/files/Operating-Reserve-Policy-Toolkit_1stEd_2010-09-16.pdf>
>     to cover a lot of ground - interested individuals might wish to
>     take a glance.
>
>     Among other things, an Operating Reserve Policy would need to
>     include procedures, governance and conditions for drawdown and
>     replenishment.
>
>     This comes too late to be made a topic of the 18th December Board
>     meeting, so I'll propose it for the January meeting. Meanwhile,
>     let us please discuss the desirability of such policy and what it
>     might entail.
>
>
>
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