Affiliations Committee/Resolutions/Update of Internal Process on Spending – December 2012

Whereas the Committee may request funding for operating expenses and grants in accordance with its Charter,
Whereas proper disbursement of said funding necessitates the existence of internal procedures and controls on spending,
Recalling the Committee's resolution of September 14, 2012 approving an Internal process on spending,
Whereas in using the process a number of improvements and clarifications have become necessary

Resolved, that the Internal Process on Spending is amended to read in full:

Internal Process on Spending

NOTE: If possible, all requests should be made with enough lead time for the Committee to review them and the process to be finalized before travelling. Making a request 3-4 weeks before the activity being the preferred time-frame.

Amounts below $350

Making the request

• Propose a budget request. The request should include:
  • person/s involved/conducting the activity/expense
  • the estimated amount of money needed for the activity (detailed expenses list), in US dollars (and/or the currency of reimbursement, if different)
  • timeline
  • justification of why it is needed (allignment with Wikimedia mission/vision & AffCom purposes)
  • clearly defined target goals for the expense/s

Announcing and approving the request

• Request is posted on the AffCom wiki, and AffCom members are notified via mailing list.
• The request is approved if the Chair and Treasurer approve it and no one opposes it within 3 days. If a member voices opposition, the request is put up to a vote for 7 days, and considered approved if a simple majority of members, including the Chair and Treasurer approve it.

Amounts above $350

Making the request

• Propose budgetary resolution. The resolution should include:
  • person/s involved/conducting the activity/expense
  • the estimated amount of money needed for the activity (detailed expenses list), in US dollars (and/or the currency of reimbursement, if different)
  • timeline
  • justification of why it is needed (allignment with Wikimedia mission/vision & AffCom purposes)
  • clearly defined target goals for the expense/s

Announcing and approving the request

• Resolution is posted on the AffCom wiki, and AffCom members are notified via mailing list.
• The voting time of the resolution is 7 days from the time the notification is posted to the mailing list.
• The resolution is approved if a simple majority of the members, including the Chair and Treasurer approve it.

All amounts

Failure to produce the expense report, receipts and/or activity report in a timely and orderly manner as set down here may result in severe warnings, no further disbursements for the individual in the future, and in extreme cases removal from AffCom as laid down in the Rules of Procedure.

Advance disbursement

In the case advance disbursement is required before travel, the following additional steps must be followed before continuing the process (see the steps under "non-advanced disbursement" and "activity report", below):

• Member's approved funding request is forwarded to WMF by the Treasurer
• WMF acknowledges receipt, and helps the member as needed (e.g. forwarding him or her to the travel coordinator, or sending an advance if necessary)

Non-advance disbursement process and reporting

• Member submits Expense Report and scans of all pertinent receipts to the Treasurer within 30 days after activity.
• Treasurer checks that claimed expenses are in order, and that all cited receipts are included.
• Member's approved funding request with receipts is forwarded to WMF by the Treasurer for disbursement.
• WMF will check to ensure that proper documentation and approvals exist.
• WMF contacts the member to request personal information required for disbursement.
• WMF pays member and informs the Treasurer of the amount deducted from the Committee budget.
• WMF files the documentation (including receipts), funding request, and personal information collected for each disbursement on a secure server.

Activity report

• It will be mandatory to:
  • Submit within fourteen (14) days a detailed written Report of the Activity, ONWIKI and announcing it via the Committee mailing list. Reports must include dates, background for making the request, completed target goals, fulfillment of any other Committee goals, potential follow ups of this activity, and total amount of money needed for the request. This report must be written having in mind that it may be not only for AffCom purposes, but for WMF and Wikimedia movement members also (ie. an edited version of it could be posted on Meta, too).
• If multiple members are involved in an event, one report will suffice.

• After each completed process the Treasurer will remind AffCom members, via their mailing list, of the current budget amount available.

Special rules for scholarships

When awarding scholarships the procedures for Committee member travel will be used, with the appropriate changes:

• The request will be submitted on behalf of the scholar by a Committee member. (Scholarships cannot be awarded to Committee members.) It will be the responsibility of that member to show that he/she has informed the scholar of the funding process, and that the scholar has agreed to follow it.
• The scholar will submit his or her report to the Committee mailing list (and in general, use the mailing list for any of the steps that prescribe the use of the closed Committee wiki).
• The Committee may require in the authorizing budget resolution that the scholar submit a public report or a translated report to the relevant Wikimedia communities.

Special rules for grants

"Based on the request of the Committee and the submission of the [WMF] Executive Director, the [WMF] Board intends to make an allocation of funding to be administered by the WMF Grant Program (GAC) according to the GAC's regular review process, due diligence, and decision-making procedures to support grants for activities falling under the responsibility of the Committee, with these conditions: (1) no minimum limits on the amount of requested funding shall be imposed by the GAC under this allocation; (2) a maximum annual limit of $5,000 shall be in effect with respect to any request for funding by a single entity or person to the GAC under this allocation; and (3) the GAC shall give due deference to any funding request under this allocation that is endorsed by the Committee." – Affiliations Committee charter

In administering this allocation, the following process shall be used:

1. The applying entity discusses with the Affiliations Committee the proposed terms of the grant.
2. Upon the advice of the Affiliations Committee, the entity submits a draft grant proposal to the WMF Grants Program.
3. Affiliations Committee reviews the draft.
4. Through a budget resolution (with a simple majority of the Affiliations Committee concurring, including the Chair and Treasurer) the Affiliations Committee recommends to the Grant Advisory Committee (GAC) that the grant in question be funded from the Affiliations Committee's allocation for grants. Furthermore, it requests that the WMF inform the Affiliations Committee of all developments connected to the grant (including review status, decisions related to the grant, reporting status, etc.), and any amounts deducted from the Affiliations Committee budget.
5. The published resolution is linked to from the grant request, and its status changed from "draft" to "open" submission.
6. The grant goes through the regular WMF Grants Program process, including review, decision, processing, reporting and post-processing.

Votes

Resolution passed with 6 votes in favor, 0 votes against, 0 abstentions, 4 votes not cast, on 27 December 2012.