[Osmf-talk] Treasurer's Report

[Courtney]

Here are my tables in Markdown, which I didn't know I needed to do.  I hope
this works. If it doesn't, then someone has to help me figure out how to do
formatting in the listserv.

| Type | FY2020 | FY 2021 | FY2022 | 2023 YTD | 2023 Goal |
|----------------------|--------|---------|--------|-------------|-----------|
| Broad base | | | 66,367.91 | | 100,000 | | membership | | | 6,769.67 | |
| | corporate membership | | | 107,590.22| | 300,000 | | SotM | | |
17,985.69 | | | | Other gifts | | | | | 100,000 | | total | | | 198,713.49|
| 500,000 |




| type | fy2020 actual | FY2021 actual | FY2022 actual | 2023 to date |
Q4'23 expected | 2023 planned |
|-----------|---------------|---------------|---------------|--------------|----------------|--------------|
| OWG | | | 41,339.43 | | 169,197 | | | EWG | | | | | 50,000 | | | LG | | |
5,168.64 | | 1,000 | | | Other WG | | | 181,018.14 | | 5,000 | | |
Personnel | | | | | 275,000 | | | Overhead | | | 16,268.84 | | 40,500 | | |
SotM | | | 533.95 | | 0 | | | debt | | | | | | | | Total | | | 202,989.57 |
| 371,500 | |








On Sun, Oct 1, 2023 at 8:05 AM Courtney <courtney.williamson at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Hello, everyone,
>
> As someone who works on the fundraising side of things, I have the same
> question as Steve, plus several others.
>
> To start, with regard to the fundraising, I can answer Steve's particular
> question. The issue is that in the current table the "broad base"  category
> of fundraising has been incorrectly conflated with the overall fundraising
> goal. So that the fundraising report should look something like this:
>
> Type FY2020 FY 2021 FY2022 2023 YTD 2023 Goal
> Broad base 66,367.91 100,000
> membership 6,769.67
>
> corporate membership
>
> 107,590.22 300,000
> SotM 17,985.69
> 0ther gifts 100,000
> total *198,713.49* 500,000
> Importantly,* this is fundraising for FY 2024*. No fiscally responsible
> organization would fundraise "as you go" for the current year's expenses.
> It is confusing that the numbers for FY24 fundraising goal seem to have
> been matched to the FY23 goal for budget.  That is not how a healthy
> nonprofit should be administered. If you have people on payroll
> and contracts to honor, you need to be raising money, at the very most
> minimum, for the year ahead. Better, five years ahead.  It is my belief
> that the OSMF does do this, but it is not reported as such. So my next
> question is, why not?
>
> Which brings me to my many questions about the "expected" reporting.
> 1. What is this year's budget, based on this year's expected expenses? The
> numbers in the table do not look like a current year budget for several
> reasons:
> a.) "Reserves" are not budgeted expenses, so why are they reported as
> such?  It would, indeed, be nice to know, somewhere, what are the
> foundation's reserves and how the foundation contributes to them, but that
> should be a different table.
> b) What is the current year operating budget in actual GBP?  Because the
> only way to know if we are "in the red" or "in the black" for the year is
> if we know what is the actual budget for this year in real money, not in
> hypothetical money.
>
> I have other questions:  2. What is the year on year top level comparison
> for the budget so that it is possible to know some context? How is this
> year compared to other years?  It is always illuminating to compare the
> past with the present. 3. Why is the "overhead" number not included in the
> main budget, but rather marked there as N/A?
>
> To me, in the simplest terms, the top level budget, based on the numbers
> currently being reported, should look something like this:
>
> type fy2020 actual FY2021 actual FY2022 actual 2023 to date Q423 expected 2023
> planned
> OWG 41, 339.43 169, 197
> EWG 50,000
> LG 5,168.64 1000
> Other WG 5000
> Personnel 181,018.14 275,000
> Overhead 16,268.84 40,500
> SotM 533.95 0
> debt
> Total 202,989.57 371500
> If the previous years were filled in and if we knew what the operating
> reserve was, we could have a real conversation about the health of
> the organization. As it is currently reported, it's impossible to know what
> is going on at all. I find this deeply problematic. If this level of detail
> is not something that should be public, that is fine, but then something
> else should be reported here.  (Please note that I didn't report any
> numbers that were not already in the treasurer's report. I simply put them
> in a different table.)
>
> With both of these new charts in hand, I am able to see something that
> inspires another question.  4.) Why are we reporting almost 18,000 in
> revenue from a SotM that is not taking place? Are these monies corporate
> gifts that are not corporate memberships that have been allocated to either
> US or EU SotM?  Or are they monies that came in from last year's SotM in FY
> 2023?  That's a lot of incoming money for an event that isn't happening. I
> personally know there is a good answer to this, but I want to raise this
> question on behalf of people who don't have additional detail as it's quite
> confusing as presented here.
>
> The reporting of the OSMF finances has troubled me for a long time, and as
> someone involved in the fundraising, I want to note that if we are to
> credibly ask for donations, small and large, we owe the people who give to
> the foundation a level of reporting that matches standard accounting
> practice on a quarterly and annual basis.  We don't have to give all the
> details, but we do have to offer a rational lens into how we are managing
> our finances. If we can't do that with a volunteer board, because it does
> take time, we need to pay someone. Or we need to designate one of the board
> slots as requiring an accountancy background. The OSMF budget is not large,
> but as an employer and an entity that takes donations, it requires good
> reporting and accounting.
>
> Finally, I hasten to add that I know enough about the fundraising to know
> that these numbers can, indeed, be properly accounted for. I am critiquing
> the presentation of the accounting, not the accounting itself. I know it is
> difficult as an all volunteer board, but I have an English literature
> degree and I pulled these charts together this morning.  This is important.
>
> Courtney Williamson
>
> On Sat, Sep 30, 2023 at 7:50 PM Steve Coast <steve at stevecoast.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I noticed there were some mixed feelings about the treasurer’s report
>> during the last board meeting.
>>
>> For those who'd like to review, it’s here:
>> https://osmfoundation.org/wiki/Board/Minutes/2023-09/Treasurer%27s_report
>>
>> The report discussion seemed to suggest we're in the red this year, and
>> the report is not in a standard GAAP-like format. I have a specific
>> question:
>>
>> Actual Amount Description Remark
>> 66 367.91 521 000 Donations Planned target of the donation drive
>>
>> This implies we’ve hit about 13% of our donation goal. Is that the
>> correct interpretation or can we represent this in a clearer, more standard
>> way?
>>
>> Best,
>>
>> Steve
>>
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>
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