Finance Committee

From OpenStreetMap Foundation

The creation of the committee, initially named "Fundraising Committee" and with an initial charter focused on fundraising, was decided in December 2020, and initial charter approved by the OSMF board on 2022-05-23. The committee was renamed to "Finance Committee" and its scope was expanded on August 2022, and further revised in June 2023.

Charter

The Finance Committee gathers financial needs from across OSMF, forecasts budget requirements, develops the strategy for raising funds, maintains donor relationships and coordinates implementation of fundraising plans, and tracks actual spend.

The Finance Committee is open to members external to the Board, in addition to Board members. External members are approved by the OSMF Board. Some portion of the Finance Committee work may be limited to Board members only.

The Committee will communicate among themselves and meet periodically. The Committee will communicate its activities and results in the Treasurer's report at the OSMF Annual General Meeting, maintain minutes of meetings, and may share additional communication about its work from time to time.

What we do

Budgeting

  • Take a multiyear perspective on budget requirements
  • Gather budget needs annually, and on request, from OSMF Working Groups, the Personnel_Committee and the Board
  • Assess needs against available funds, and arrange for approval of budgets by Board
  • Regularly track actual spend

Fundraising

  • Set fundraising targets inline with operational budget set by OSMF Board.
  • Develop fundraising pitch and materials.
  • Maintain relationships with our funders.
  • Organize fundraising drives targeting community members and supporters.
  • Investigate and pursue diversification of funding sources.
  • Coordinate fundraising with other entities in the OSM ecosystem.

Guidelines and Policies

  • Fundraising Guidelines were adopted on 2023-05-25. The guidelines aim to preserve the integrity of the project, respect the diverse cultures of our community, and ensure that our fundraising practices align with the Foundation’s mission and values.

Composition of the Finance committee

We can be reached at fundraising@osmfoundation.org.

Board members

Fundraising advisors

The Finance Committee selects various advisors to lend their experience and expertise to our fundraising activities. They are invited to our meetings, but not expected to regularly attend. They are consulted from time to time as need arises. They are not full members of the committee, but do have access to some internal documents, so are required to have an Non-Disclosure Agreement with the OSMF.


Advisors were approved on 2022-05-23 and 2023-03-30.

Ambassadors and other assistance

Want to get involved? Be an Ambassador!

For our fundraising campaigns, we engage OSM community members from around the world to promote and advocate for OSMF. These ambassadors rally support for the campaign in their local communities.

We also engage with volunteers to help with various tasks, like design help with our donation site and other communication assets.

Contact us at fundraising@osmfoundation.org.

Meetings and workshops

Meeting minutes at Committees/Minutes.

Workshops: Start 2022-09-19. Series of ten to eleven fundraising workshops with Geoffrey MacDougall (Aspiration Tech), offered to the OSMF board for free. Attended: Mikel Maron, Roland Olbricht and Guillaume Rischard. (Some of the dates: 2022-09-19, 2022-09-23)