Minutes/2021-03-12

Present: TM, RL, JE

• Administration
  • The Board met with Pia Mancini of Open Collective to discuss how things would work in practice. Summary of findings:
    • We must select a fiscal host (and be accepted by them on application). While payments and donations can be processed in many different currencies, each fiscal host may use a certain one internally, and so we should be mindful of currency conversion fees. For example, the Open Source Collective is US-based and deals internally in USD, whereas Open Collective Europe is based in Brussels and deals internally in EUR. Another thing to keep in mind is that different fiscal hosts may have different legal status, which can matter for the tax-deductibility of donations. (Open Source Collective is a registered non-profit but donations are not tax-deductible.)
    • Donations would be processed via a web page portal that is provided for us. We can accept one-off or recurring donations to our general fund. We can also accept donations for individual events. It is possible to see the list of top contributors, the budget, and individual transactions.
    • Anyone can submit receipts or invoices for reimbursement, which we would then have to review and approve/reject.
    • Pia said our case was interesting and so she would write us up for their newsletter if we join.
  • It was agreed that Board members would independently investigate the various fiscal hosts (including Open Collective Europe and the Open Source Collective) and come back to the next meeting with the pros and cons of each.