Reps/SOPs/Budget
Warning: With effect from 1st September 2023, the Mozilla Reps program was closed and activities ended.
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Contents
Overview
In order to effectively support Mozilla Rep activities/projects around the world, a budget request SOP exists to evaluate, approve budget requests submitted by Mozilla Reps and efficiently disburse funds.
This SOP outlines/answers the following questions:
What questions should I ask myself before requesting a budget
- Opening a bug can be a lot of work. Make sure that you have answered all the questions mentioned on the assessment criteria before you open your bug. If you’re not sure about a question please don’t hesitate to reach out to your mentor. He/She will be able to help you plan your event.
What things do I have to check to submit a budget
- So what is the information that I need to add in my bug and my event page so my bug can be ready for review? On the budget guidelines section you will be able to find a small checklist with the necessary things, a small blogpost from Regnard and a table with all the things that can be approved in the Program
How does the process work once I submitted the budget?
- The Reps program follows a double approval procedure. Check the procedure page for more technical details.
What should I do to get reimbursed before and after the event?
- So you got approval but you’re unsure on how you will receive the funds. Check the Disbursement of Funds and Follow up.
Can we use left over budget from the other event?
- The Reps should file a new budget request in order to use the budget even if s/he already have the budget. Reps are not allowed to use the budget without advance approval from the review team.
Assessment Criteria
The Assessment Criteria for Budget Requests can be found on ReMo/SOPs/Budget/Assessment-Criteria.
Disqualification of Budget Requests
Budget requests received less than 3 weeks before the targeted launch date of the event/activity in question will automatically be rejected (exceptions can be made but only with council approval).
This 3-week “buffer” guarantees that each budget request undergoes the same thorough selection process.
Budgets that don't reply to the basic information asked in this SOP will be moved back to mentor review.
Basic information to be provided:
- Which functional area goals is this supporting and how?
- What are the event goals? What's success for this event? How are you going to measure it?
- Why this budget is needed for the success of the event?
- Detailed agenda (what are we doing, activities to support the event goals)
- Budget breakdown attached to the bug once created (who are we covering?)
- Are there "optional" costs not needed for the success of the event? Which ones? What the minimum viable budget?
Make sure that you have attached all of your receipts at your previous budget requests. Reps that haven't submitted previous receipts will not be able to request budget for their new events.
Budget Guidelines
Budget Checklist
Here is a short checklist with all the things you need to have into your budget request before submitting it:
- number of attendees expected at the event
- venue
- date
- description and purpose of the event
- event schedule / agenda
- list of other mozillians who are going to participate
- target audience
- 3 success metrics
- clear break down of expenses (form made by Michael Kohler based on the template the Filipino community is using)
As an additional resource, it would be recommended for Reps to read The Quick Guide to Writing Budget Requests for Mozilla Reps.
To request a budget, get in touch with a Resource Rep.
Once you open a budget request, make sure that you have added the bug number on the event page.
Budget guidelines table
There are certain services that you can ask to be reimbursed at a budget request. Here are the categories and the list of services that a rep can ask:
| Reimbursement list - Event Category |
Community meet-up / Intercommunity meet-up | Industry and FOSS events | Specific Hackathons (WebVR, Rust, Firefox, etc) |
General events (talks in university, booths in local events) |
MozCoffee | Moz Tours | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| subcategories | up to 10 participants | 10-100 participants | up to 50 participants | 50-200 participants | more than 200 participants | up to 50 participants | 50-200 participants | more than 200 participants | ||||
| Travel | for the organizers | no | yes | yes | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
| for the participants | no | yes | yes | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | |
| Local transportation | for the organizers | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | no | no |
| for the participants | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | |
| Accommodation | for the organizers | no | yes | yes | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
| for the participants | no | yes | yes | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | |
| Food and Drinks (no alcoholic beverages) | for the organizers | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | yes | no |
| for the participants | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no | no | no | yes | no | |
| Supplies/ Miscellenious |
no | yes | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no | |
| Swag | low budget gear (for example stickers, buttons etc) | yes | yes | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | yes |
| expensive gear (for example t-shirts) | no | yes (only for core contributors) | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | |
| Visa fees | no | yes | yes | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | |
| Courrier fees | no | yes | yes | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | no | |
| Venue | no | yes | no | no | yes | yes | no | yes | yes | no | no | |
| WiFi at the venue | no | yes | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no | |
| Printing flyers | no | no | no | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | yes | no | no | |
It's important to understand, that these are not 'all the things Mozilla will cover, but rather, things that might be considered with supporting metrics, and where diligence has been given to alternative solutions (like community partnerships, and donation)
Disbursement of Funds
In the primary comment of the bug, the Rep needs to define if he/she needs an advance payment or he/she wants to be reimbursed after the event is over. There are 2 ways to be paid 1) paypal 2) wire transfer
Payment via Paypal
In most of the cases we are using payment via Paypal because it is more easy and safer to proceed. The Rep should provide the bug wrangler his/her Paypal account in order to proceed with the payment. The transaction costs on Paypal are not to be paid by the Rep. Bug wrangler has to add an additional 4% of the amount in order to cover them.
Payment via wire transfer
In some cases, particularly in cases where Paypal does not exist in a specific country, payments can be made via wire transfer. In order to proceed with this type of payment, the ReMo payment coordinator must follow these specific steps:
- collect an invoice (or pro-forma invoice in case of advanced payment) from the Rep
- fill out the dedicated wire transfer form
- send an email to Mozilla accounting and attach the invoice and the corresponding wire transfer form
- update the budget request bug to inform that payment has been processed via wire transfer
Once the bug is being paid the bug wrangler leaves the following comment:
Payment has been processed, please confirm
Whiteboard is being changed to:
[approved][full processed][waiting for receipts][waiting for report and photos]
As soon as the rep is notified by the the bug wrangler that he/she has been reimbursed, he/she should confirm the reimbursement by attaching a screenshot of the transaction indicating how much the rep received on local currency.
Want to know more about our accounting rules? check this page
Follow-up
The bug wrangler must carry-out a follow-up of of all projects whose budget requests have been approved and update the bugs regularly.
Things that the Rep must submit after the event is done:
- receipt (see the guideline here)
- budget breakdown
- blogpost and photos
- post event metrics
Payment after the event is completed
In case you want to be reimbursed after your event make sure you would have all the mentioned things on the follow-up section completed and notify the bug wrangler that you’ve submitted all your receipts.
Once the bug is being paid the bug wrangler leaves the following comment:
Payment has been processed, please confirm
Tolerance threshold for events going "over" budget
- Budgets < $500 USD: maximum of 30% over-budget
- Budgets > $500 USD: maximum of 20% over-budget
- Budgets > $5,000 USD: maximum of 10% over budget
Tracking and Follow-up
The bug wrangler must carry-out a follow-up of all projects whose budget requests have been approved and update the bugs regularly.
Contact
For any questions, suggestions or comments, please also contact Konstantina, Kiki, or Ruben.
