[CIMC-working] (proposed financing methodology) Fwd: RE: [IMC-Atlanta] Fw: [Imc-finance] Funding requests by IMC Brazil

[Chris Kaihatsu]

-- Forwarded Message --

Short answer.

I (personally) support both, especially the second proposal (buy a
projector).


Long answer.

In general, I am deeply hesitant and concerned about any expenditures that
are "consumed", that is, for food and travel and hotels, renting eqipment
instead of buying, etc.  This particular situation seems worthy of an
exemption to this (to me), due to:

1) The extreme importance of the changes occuring in South America.
2) The obvious difficulty in rasing this kind of money in Brazil.
3) The importance of the World Social Forum.
4) The importance of supporting and extending the indymedia network in Sout=
h
America
5) The wonderful work being done in Brazil and South America by indymedia
volunteers.


Of far greater concern to me is the complete lack of any plan to our
expenditures. I do not know the current balance, but, this expenditure
represents 10 % of the last known balance. Viewed in that light, the
question SHOULD be: Is this worth 10% of all of our money?  (I answer yes,
but think it imperative that we ALWAYS view EVERY request in terms of the
overall picture, NOT the merit of the request alone).

Of EVEN MORE concern to me is the complete refusal to address the concerns
raised by the Atlanta IMC in its formal proposal to establish a methodolgy
for expenditures for the last six months. (submitted in August, 2002)

***********************************************
Proposal to Establish an IMC Finance Methodology

All proposed expenditures must be considered in the following manner:

1. Each expenditure must fall into a predetermined category or type of
expenditure. If an appropriate category or sub-category does not exist, it
shall be created.

2. Each category must have a defined process and procedure for discussion
and approval of any expenditure which is contained in the category or
sub-category.

3. Each category and expenditure shall have a defined mechanism for all
funding and disbursement of funds.

**********************************************


(http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/imc-finance/2002-August/001385.h=
t
ml   (Has german translation)

french translation
(http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/translation/2002-August/002008.h=
t
ml)


"However, they have asked that we address the issues they raised, and we
have a responsibility to do so..  iii.  IMC Finance Methodology"

http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/public/imc-finance/2002-July/001365.html
 )


Our issues have NOT been addressed, they have been ignored.


jrw


***********************************************************************

EXAMPLES, DISCUSSION, AND CLARIFICATION ONLY

************************************************************************
************************************************************************

The Atlanta Indymedia Collective proposal for a suggested Framework for IMC
Finance Methodology

Explanation:  For the purpose of clarity the following includes a lot of
explanation and hypothetical examples.

These are the 3 basic steps for any expenditure request:

1. Categorize
2. Proceduralize
3. Fund
____________________________________

1. Categorize   Not all expenditures are created equally. They may require
different disbursement methods (ie a one time payment or recurring expense)=
.
They may have different priorities or importance. The merit of an
expenditure is NOT a categorization criteria. This process simply creates a
context for all discussions, providing an easy picture of the relationship
of any proposed expenditure to the full overall financial situation. It
allows for different policies and procedures to be established for differen=
t
types of expenditure.

 As a working example, let's use these 4 suggested categories:

1. Cover our Ass (aka Legal)
2. Making Things Run (Operational)
3. Spread the Word ! (Development)
4. Oh Shit ! (Emergency Reserve)

Every expenditure must fall into one of these categories or a sub-category.
If it doesn't, make a new category.   These catagories are just suggestions=
.
Many different categories are possible. We are only concerned that we
establish categories.   We anticipate that working groups could be formed
from the body of global finance to handle funding requests within each
category.
____________________________________________________________________

2. Proceduralize   This process defines all detailed methods for discussing
and approving different types of expenditures within a category or
subcategory.

A. Legal
Each request to be determined individually.
No requests considered except impacting the global collective.

B. Operational
Recurring expenditures less than US$100
Some process more than US$100
Another process

One-time non-equipment expenditures less than US$100
Some Process more than US$100
Another Process

One time Equipment expenditures less than US$100
Some Process  more than US$100
Another Process  etc, etc. as needed.

C. Development

Each request to be determined individually.

D. Emergency Reserve

Each request to be determined individually.

No  requests considered except impacting the global collective.

These procedures are just examples. Many different procedures are  possible=
.
We are only concerned that we establish procedures for each  different
catagory.
________________________________________________________

3. Fund

***Establish a framework for the overall allocation of current and future
non-earmarked funds between the categories.

Example: All current unallocated funds and future donations shall be
apportioned equally between all categories.

Using the 4 suggested categories that would be:

Legal- $10,000

Operational- $10,000

Development- $10,000

Emergency Reserve- $10,000

This is just a suggestion. Many different allocations are possible.  We are
only concerned that we establish a framework to allocate funds.  There may
be times at which it might be desirable to transfer funds or  allocate a
larger proportion of future non-earmarked funds to a particular  category.
Such a decision wwould require the consensus of the Global Finance working
group.

Examples:   The global collective can consense to proposals of a strategic
or even  tactical perspective, say require Finance to "fund" a new IMC,
suggest  Finance allocate more future funds to the development category.  O=
r
perhaps a new server is needed but not enough funds exist in the
operational category. The Global Finance WG could choose to transfer the
missing funds from another category.   We could also leave a large portion
of funds unallocated. This itself would  constitute another catagory if we
decided to do this.   All options are still open for global to set directio=
n
for Finance.   Global Finance should also encourage other funding methods
such as: targeted  fundraising projects and matching grants.
_____________________________________________________

In Conclusion:   This methodology for financial decisions provides complete
flexibility,  ensures that all discussions will occur in context, allows
specific  procedures to be established for different types of requests, and
encourages  many innovative funding initiatives.   It creates a funding
process that is easily monitored and updated. Global  Finance WG can be
tasked with accounting and reporting on all aspects of the  expenditure
process for various projects as well as tracking donations and  funds
raised.   Nothing in this proposed methodology determines what our money
will be spent  on. Following this methodology could still lead to one
category, one policy,  and one lump sum expenditure, i.e. spend it all on
one thing now. It simply  defines how to think about finances, not what to
spend money on.   Like the original spending proposal, by using this
framework procedures  within each catagory can be set up to allow smaller
amounts of money to be  disbursed quickly while requiring more time for
discussion for larger  expenditures. However, by dividing the expenditures
into  categories/subcategories, developing different discussion/approval
processes  for each, and creating an overall framework for fund allocation
to these  categories, the Atlanta IMC's proposed methodology puts all globa=
l
finance  decisions into a "big-picture" context, thereby helping to ensure
that we  spend our money wisely.

************************************************************************

end rant  -- jrw



-----Original Message-----
From: imc-atlanta-admin@lists.indymedia.org
[mailto:imc-atlanta-admin@lists.indymedia.org]On Behalf Of frank
Sent: Friday, January 03, 2003 11:06 PM
To: imc-atlanta@lists.indymedia.org
Subject: [IMC-Atlanta] Fw: [Imc-finance] Funding requests by IMC Brazil


A global finance proposal.  Do people have input?

f

----- Original Message -----
From: "Luis" <luis@indymedia.org>
To: "IMC-finance" <imc-finance@lists.indymedia.org>
Sent: Friday, January 03, 2003 8:37 PM
Subject: [Imc-finance] Funding requests by IMC Brazil


> Two separate funding requests, both of them directly related to World
> Social Forum 2003. We will be waiting for two replies from you, one for
> each proposal.
>
> Thank you,
> Luis,
> Liason for CMI Belo Horizonte, Brasil.
>
> P.S.: Should I send the proposal on plain text in addition to this html
> version?
>
> ______________________________________
>
>
> POSTED: [Friday, January 3, 2003] by IMC Brazil (brazil@indymedia.org)
> DISCUSSION PERIOD: [January 3 to January 17]
> DECISION DEADLINE: [January 17]; Noon GMT
>
> Summary:
>
> Funding request to support the last big international coverage of the
> World Social Forum by Indymedia and to support the first face-to-face
> meeting of all six collectives of IMC Brazil.
>
>
> Proposal:
>
> In order to accomplish a national IMC Brazil meeting, which would bring
> together the six IMC Brazil collectives (Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza,
> Goi=E2nia, Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro and S=E3o Paulo), and to support the
> Indymedia coverage of the World Social Forum 2003 by all present IMCs, we
> request this financial aid. This meeting would be extremely important for
> the IMC Brazil organization and for the sharing of experiences between th=
e
> 50 volunteers or more that intend to attend the WSF in January. Besides,
> the WSF represents a unique opportunity to connect IMCistas from several
> different countries, as well as social movements and activists from all
> over the world, making it a singular event and the perfect opportunity fo=
r
> a regional meeting. However, this time IMC Brazil has been working on the
> preparations for this coverage since early December. We intend not only t=
o
> cover the events happening at the WSF and at the parallel Forums, but als=
o
> to offer a space for all Indymedia volunteers where they could work
> together as a team. A real Indypendent Media Center.
>
> Brief historic about IMC Brazil:
> IMC Brazil was created on December of 2000. At first, there was only one
> collective on the whole country, based in the city of S=E3o Paulo. This
> collective was responsible for the website and for several local projects=
.
> By 2001, more volunteers appeared in another cities, and started to
> develop some local projects and to contribute for the growth of IMC Brazi=
l
> Network. After that, by the beginning of 2002, just after the WSF 2002,
> these initiatives resulted in the formation of five new local collectives
> in the cities of Belo Horizonte, Fortaleza, Goi=E2nia, Porto Alegre and Rio
> de Janeiro. In a short period of time, the six collectives approved an
> organizational proposal for the IMC Brazil Network. With this proposal,
> IMC Brazil was able to decentralize itself and the website passed to be
> administrated by volunteers from all six collectives, forming an national
> editorial team. Since this decentralization process, each collective has
> been developing local projects in their own cities, mostly to take
> Indymedia off the internet.
>
> The organizational proposal mentioned above can be found here: (in pt)
> http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/RedeCMIBrasil
>
> Due to our country size, this organizational proposal was created and
> based only on internet communication. Brazil is a country of continental
> extension, and because of that the costs of transportation, feeding and
> housing do not allow us to have frequent national face-to-face meetings.
> In fact, the six collectives could never have a real meeting due to these
> high costs. To illustrate that, the distance between the most northern
> collective (Fortaleza) and the most southern (Porto Alegre), is 4.174 km
> (approximately 2.590 miles).
>
> Still, with this organizational proposal, we managed to keep the website
> functioning and maintain a certain cohesion between the activities of the
> brazilian collectives. However, it's undeniable that virtual communicatio=
n
> limits our discussions, our actions as IMC Brazil and the organized growt=
h
> of the IMC Brazil Network. This last point is specially important at the
> moment, once three other cities and one state have showed interest in
> creating local collectives, like the city of Salvador and the state of
> Paran=E1, for example. With that growth possibility in such a short period
> of time and so that we can go even further in the organization we reached
> in 2002, we find extremely important to hold a regional meeting between
> our six collectives.
>
>
> About World Social Forum:
> The World Social Forum is a meeting of Movements, Unions, NGOs, Left
> Political Parties, and activists which will happen from January 23-28 of
> 2003 in Porto Alegre, south of Brazil. It is a meeting parallel to and
> questioning the World Economic Forum, which happens at the same time in
> the city of Davos, on Switzerland. Parallel to the World Social Forum,
> there will be alternative activities taking place. Among them are the
> Anarchist Journeys, the Meeting of Autonomous Movements and the Hub Camp.
>
> You can find more information about WSF at the website: (in pt, es, en,
> fr)
> http://www.forumsocialmundial.org.br
>
>
> Budget Breakdown:
>
> We ask for US$3,630.00. This amount would be used as described on the fiv=
e
> points bellow.
>
> 1. Transportation:
> Bus tickets for nine volunteers who depend on this funding. Three from
> Belo Horizonte, two from Fortaleza, three from Rio de Janeiro and one fro=
m
> S=E3o Paulo.
>
>    TOTAL: US$400.00
>
> 2. Feeding:
> Feeding for twenty two volunteers for about 10 days. This funding would
> pay for the feeding of three volunteers from Belo Horizonte, three from
> Fortaleza, fifteen from Goi=E2nia and one volunteer from S=E3o Paulo.
>
>    TOTAL: US$170.00
>
> 3. Housing:
> We want to rent two floors of a big building next to the Youth camp, wher=
e
> all Indymedia volunteers from all over the world could stay. The two
> floors are quite big, we believe that at least 50 people would be able to
> sleep on each one of them. The landlord decided to charge separately for
> each person who would stay there, so each one would have to pay US$3 a
> day, what is quite cheap. However, we will only be able to offer this dea=
l
> to the IMCistas if we get this funding. The agreement with the landlord
> was that we would pay for 50 people before the WSF begins and then the
> rest of the people would pay for their stay when they arrived for the WSF=
.
> We reached this deal because there are exactly 50 IMC Brazil volunteers
> who are going to the WSF and who cannot afford to stay at the building.
> It's important to say that, since this building represents the cheapest
> and more secure housing option, many volunteers from other countries
> already intend to stay at the building. Besides, we all believe it would
> be the perfect opportunity to meet and work with volunteers from several
> different countries.
>   - Housing for 50 IMC Brasil volunteers who will attend the WSF:
>    US$3,00 * 50 people * 10 days =3D US$1,500.00
>
>    TOTAL: US$1,500.00
>
> 4. Working space and computers network:
> We want to provide a workspace where all IMCistas could work and exchange
> experiences. It will be set up in the same building described above. We'r=
e
> planning to rent 30 computers, get a 1MB  ADSL connection, printers,
> scanners and network nodes where laptops and notebooks could be plugged
> in.
>  - 1MB ADSL connection - US$205.00
>  - 30 Computers rent - US$1030.00
>  - 2 Hubs (24 ports) - US$115.00
>  - Cables needed to set up the network - US$60.00
>
>    TOTAL: US$1,410.00
>
> 5. Emergency fund:
> We ask for this amount for any emergencies that we might have. Since it's
> a huge coverage and plenty of things could go wrong, we thought it would
> be a good idea to have an emergency fund. If we do not get to use this
> money until the end of the WSF, we will return it to imc-finance.
>  - Emergency fund: US$150.00
>
>    TOTAL: US$150.00
>
>
> We would like to highlight that even if the costs above seem high at
> first, we can assure you that they are pretty fair considering the size o=
f
> this coverage and the number of people involved. It took us a while to
> write this proposal because all the decisions on each of these points wer=
e
> reached by consensus by the six collectives of IMC Brasil. Therefore, if
> we are requesting this amount of money, it is because we believe in the
> benefits that a national meeting and that a organized coverage of the las=
t
> WSF in Porto Alegre will bring to our network and to the other IMCsistas
> who will attend the WSF. We're excited by the possibility of meeting each
> other face-to-face, by the possibilities of growth of a network that has
> been working quite well since its creation and by all the new
> possibilities of organization after this meeting.
>
> Moreover, we compromise ourselves to make a register of all our expenses
> and to post this register on imc-finance in February. Thus, the same
> people who support our request now will be able to analyze and to
> criticize the way we managed this donation. And this way, the imc-finance
> working group could use this register as a pointer to approve or deny
> future funding request by IMC Brazil, for instance. We will work hard to
> make up to the expectations of those who support our request and to
> justify the spending of this amount of money.
>
> In solidarity with all the efforts we have dedicated into the organizatio=
n
> of the Indymedia coverage of World Social Forum 2003, we hope that the
> imc-finance working group can reach a decision about our request until
> January 13th (having a 10 days discussion period), because we need to pay
> part of these costs before the event begins (like the building rent, cost=
s
> for the installation of the internet connection, etc). If, unfortunately,
> that isn't possible, we will wait until January 18th. I'm the liaison for
> IMC Belo Horizonte in imc-finance and I am here to clarify any doubts tha=
t
> might emerge.
>
> We look forward to your response,
> Centro de M=EDdia Independente Brasil.
>
> ______________________________________
>
>
> POSTED: [Friday, January 3, 2003] by Rio de Janeiro collective, part of
> IMC Brazil (rio@indymedia.org)
> DISCUSSION PERIOD: [January 3 to January 17]
> DECISION DEADLINE: [January 17]; Noon GMT
>
>
> Summary:
>
> Funding request to buy a video projector that would be first used at the
> WSF and after that would be used by Rio de Janeiro collective on their
> local projects.
>
>
> Proposal:
>
> In addition to the proposal above, Rio de Janeiro collective asks for
> US$860.00 to buy a video projector. We are planning to hold video
> screening sessions at the Youth Camp, where more than 15.000 activists an=
d
> students will be staying. We intend to hold these video sessions every
> night, where we could screen the footages recorded during the day at the
> WSF itself. Besides, we have plenty of video productions from several
> different IMCs, which we could screen along with the other footages. This
> project would be great to give more visibility to IMC Brazil, gathering
> more readers/volunteers to join our team.
>
> It's important to remember that, even though this equipment could be
> rented, it would cost us around US$350.00, almost half of the buying
> price. Besides, this video projector would be really useful after WSF
> since Rio de Janeiro collective works mostly with video projects, having
> been responsible for several videos productions. Since internet is not
> accessible for most part of the brazilian population, Rio de Janeiro has
> dedicated its time to hold several video sessions, always followed by
> debates, on the more different places to the more different audiences
> (from college classes to associations of people who live in favelas
> [brazilian slums]). This video projector would assure the continuity of
> this project.
>
>
> Waiting for your response,
> Coletivo do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
>
> ______________________________________
>
>
> P.S.: This is the total amount in today's currency convertion rate. As yo=
u
> all probably know, we are facing currency fluctuation and this rate may
> have changed by the time this proposal is approved. We don't think tough
> that this variation will be significant but we are just warning that the
> total value might be slightly more or slightly less. I will provide the
> latest currency convertion rate at the day the money will be wired.
>

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