[talk-au] OSGeo Oceania as a not-for-profit entity? Your feedback, please

[John Bryant]

Thanks for the feedback Graeme. I agree 100% with holding an AGM &
producing financial reports. In all likelihood, we'd aim for holding an AGM
at the annual conference, which is easily our best opportunity for a
face-to-face meeting. Details will be sorted out in due course, but I
definitely encourage you to keep our feet to the fire on this :)

Re: getting professional help. I agree - it's not necessarily hugely
complicated. However I think what we're facing is a bit of complexity in
the order of operations, and optimising the process. While we could likely
figure it out ourselves, it would be helpful to have someone with
experience to save us time & effort, and possibly help us avoid making
mistakes. So, the thinking behind paying a professional is to 1) lighten
the volunteer load a bit, while 2) ensuring we do this correctly and
efficiently. That said, if there is someone in the community who has
experience with this, and wants to lend a hand, let's talk...

On Tue, 19 Mar 2019 at 06:42, Graeme Fitzpatrick <graemefitz1 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Thanks for keeping us posted, John, & good work!
>
> I'd agree with the suggestion of a stand-alone CLG as a SPC, together with
> charity status.
>
> Although, as you have noted, this combination reduces the need for an AGM
> & Financial reporting; in the interest of transparency, I would urge you to
> still hold an AGM & produce financial reports for the benefit of members.
> This would / should not need to be a fully audited report produced by an
> accountant - anybody who is capable of entering info into QuickBooks can
> produce a simple profit & loss statement to show where money has come from,
> & gone to, over the preceeding year.
>
> Do you need to get professional help in setting the Company up? While
> there is a bit involved, it is all relatively straight-forward, & mainly
> involves filling out govt forms (which, to anybody able to use the OSM
> wiki, should be a piece of cake! :-)) Having said that, my experience is
> only with Incorporated Associations, so a CLG may be a bit different, but
> shouldn't be hugely more complicated?
>
> Good luck with it all!
>
> Thanks
>
> Graeme
>
>
> On Mon, 18 Mar 2019 at 19:04, John Bryant <johnwbryant at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> As promised, following on the heels of the successful FOSS4G SotM
>> Oceania conference <https://foss4g-oceania.org/> in November 2018, we
>> have embarked on a journey to lay down a strong foundation for the growth
>> of this community. In addition to planning a new instance of the conference
>> in Wellington, New Zealand, for November 2019, we are also doing
>> significant ground work on establishing a not-for-profit that can manage
>> funds, enter into agreements, and act as a local chapter of OSGeo and OSMF.
>>
>> We have developed a recommendation for an initial path forward, and we'd
>> like you, the community, to provide your feedback. If you have experience
>> or knowledge here, and can provide insight, or wish to contribute your
>> thoughts, please chime in. Your comments are most welcome, and can be
>> provided by responding to this email, or by commenting in the Google Doc.
>>
>> The draft recommendation is attached as a PDF, and a live Google Doc
>> version is linked here
>> <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LCoaNY9xACkpE_E1pTn3pGkNV41rqmoK5QkKl2FAfwY/edit?usp=sharing>.
>> We will take input until the end of next week (29 March). At that point,
>> we'll make adjustments where warranted, and hopefully be in a position to
>> raise a motion to the OSGeo Oceania board to accept the recommendation, and
>> begin the process.
>>
>> If this is all new to you, and you're wondering what the heck OSGeo
>> Oceania even is, please check out this basic wiki page
>> <https://wiki.osgeo.org/wiki/Oceania> that will give you a bit of
>> background. We'll be fleshing this out in the coming months, but I hope it
>> gives you enough of an idea. We will certainly be aiming to increase our
>> outreach, and get people involved from across the region.
>>
>> Any questions, please ask!
>>
>> Cheers
>> John Bryant
>> on behalf of OSGeo Oceania
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>
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