Re: Board of Directors Elections 2018 - Candidacy - Allan Day

[Allan Day <aday gnome org>]

Hi Michael,

Big apologies for the delay in responding. I'm busy with personal
stuff at the moment.

<mcatanzaro gnome org> wrote:
...
> How do you intend to ensure that the Foundation expansion occurs in a
> sustainable manner? It would be unfortunate if this donation becomes
> just a temporary windfall.

That's a really good question.

Ensuring that the expansion is sustainable is important for the
existing board and for Neil, and it forms an important part of our
existing plans. I'll therefore divide my answer into two parts: first,
what I understand the existing plan to be, and second my personal
perspective as a candidate in the board elections.

My understanding of the existing plan:

We want to avoid a situation where the Foundation expands its
operations and subsequently has to contract. The existing plan is
therefore to make any expansion self-sustaining. Some of the donation
will be spent on increasing our income through other sources, and one
of the first priorities will be fund-raising. We're aiming to increase
income through a range of sources, including personal donations and
grants. There are some sources of funding that haven't been an option
due to the Foundation's small size that might become accessible once
we've expanded.

Another aspect to our plans is ensuring effective financial tracking
and planning, and Neil and Rosanna have been working to upgrade our
accounting systems for this reason.

Neil has been taking the lead on our expansion planning, and he can
answer questions if you have them.

My personal view on the expansion:

The board is obviously going to have to keep a close eye on the
budget. Directors will need to ensure that accounts and budget
projections are scrutinized whenever major financial decisions are
made. They're going to have to plan and think long-term.

The board is also going to have to support its staff during this
transition. This means empowering Neil to take the lead as well as
ensuring effective oversight. Long-term, the hope is that the board
will be able to offload some of its existing duties to staff members,
but in the short-term, we're going to have to keep an eye on everyday
activities, to make sure that areas aren't neglected as we ramp up.

I think I can personally contribute to this process: I'm conscious of
the need to plan the Foundation's finances over the long-term and want
to see us develop accounting and budgetary processes that effectively
inform any budget decisions we make. I have a good overview of the
Foundation's operations, as well as the project's requirements more
generally, and I'm able to jump in and fill gaps as necessary. I think
I've also got an understanding of where the Foundation needs to head
organisationally, with the board shifting to a more high-level
governance role and passing operational functions to staff.

I hope that makes sense. I'm sure I've missed some things, but it
hopefully covers some of the important points.

Allan