To follow up on my “thinking bigger” thread, I’ve been thinking a lot about where I would spend budget if we had it. I’m going to drive ahead with the encouragement that Sander and others have given me to pursue this. But I will note that every single one of these items is contingent on at least two other people stepping up and saying, yes, I’d like to help steer and staff that.
Attached is what I would propose that we ask for in budget, and how I believe we should be spending it. Summary: Pillar Year 1 -------------------------------------------+----------- Event Support & Speaker Travel | $79,600 Mentoring Program Assistance | $6,000 Ambassadors & Project Health | $2,325 Contingency (10%) | $8,793 -------------------------------------------+----------- TOTAL | $96,718 Optional: Community Identity & Belonging | $5,500 TOTAL with optional spend | $102,218 Full proposal follows. (Formatting is terrible, See it at https://hackmd.io/@rbowen/Syviw28NGx for easier reading, but I wanted the whole thing in the archive for future reference.) --- # Apache Community Development: Budget Proposal ## Executive Summary ComDev requests **$96,700** for (FY2027) to fund community support programs targeting projects and contributors who lack corporate backing and cannot get support elsewhere. Over 85% of the budget supports program activities (event logistics, travel to speaking engagements, and contributor sprint infrastructure) that directly advance the Foundation's charitable mission of producing software for the public good. | Pillar | $$$ | | --- | --- | | Event Support & Speaker Travel | $79,600 | | Mentoring Program Coordination | $6,000 | | Ambassadors & Project Health | $2,325 | | Contingency (10%) | $8,793 | | **TOTAL** | **$96,718** | | *Optional: Community Identity & Belonging* | *$5,500* | | **TOTAL with optional spend** | *$102,218* | --- ## Pillar 1: Mentoring Program -- $6,000 | Item | Cost | | --- | --- | | Mentoring program event attendance (2 trips @ $2,000) | $4,000 | | Mentor/mentee swag kits | $2,000 | Coordinate participation in third-party mentoring programs (Outreachy, GSoC, and others as they emerge). Swag kits (t-shirt, lapel pin, stickers) go to mentors and mentees across all programs as recognition and to build cohort identity. Travel budget covers attendance at mentoring-related events where ASF presence builds partnerships and keeps us connected to the broader mentoring ecosystem. One example: the Mentoring Unconference at Open Source Summit (EU and NA editions), where foundations coordinate on shared mentoring infrastructure. Depending on which programs we participate in, other similar opportunities will arise -- this line funds two such trips per year. Direct mentor stipends are handled by the third-party programs themselves -- ASF's role is coordination and matching projects to program slots. **Fundraising note:** Third-party mentoring programs often seek foundation partners and bring their own funding for stipends or donations to the hosting foundation. Our participation in these creates a pipeline for targeted donations -- this pillar is potentially revenue-positive over time. **At $0 (Tier 0):** Participation in 3P programs continues as-is with no dedicated coordination budget. **Coordination:** This pillar operates in partnership with whoever is coordinating GSoC/Outreachy participation for the ASF (currently ad hoc among interested Members). Budget holder coordinates with the President's office on any new program partnerships. --- ## Pillar 2: Event Support & Speaker Travel -- $84,000 | Item | Cost | | --- | --- | | Evening meetups (24 events x $400) | $9,600 | | Contributor sprints (10 events x $1,800) | $18,000 | | Single-day project summits (3 events x $6,000) | $18,000 | | Speaker Travel Program (10 grants x $3,000) | $30,000 | | Event materials reimbursement | $4,000 | ### Three tiers of community events **Evening meetups ($1,000/event)** -- 20 people, 3-4 hours, pizza and drinks. Low barrier to organize; good for project awareness and recruiting new contributors. ~$50/person. **Contributor sprints ($1,800/event)** -- 15 people, single day. Focused coding on curated issues with experienced reviewers present. The format that most directly produces commits and new contributors. ~$120/person. **Single-day project summits ($6,000/event)** -- 40 people, full day with catering and AV. For projects that want a focused community day but lack corporate sponsorship to fund one. ~$150/person. **Multi-day conferences are explicitly out of scope.** Those require external sponsorship and fall under VP Conferences. This fund covers the cheaper, higher-frequency formats. ### Speaker Travel Program ($30,000) 10 grants of up to $3,000 each for contributors with accepted talks at non-Apache conferences who lack employer funding for travel. Covers economy airfare + 3 nights accommodation. **Process TBD:** Considerable discussion is still needed on: - Eligibility criteria (who qualifies, what disqualifies) - Expected deliverables from grant recipients (blog post, slides published, video recording, trip report to dev@community, etc.) - Reimbursement mechanics (pre-approval vs. post-hoc, receipts, etc.) - Approval process (who reviews, who votes, turnaround time) - Intake process (application form, timeline, rolling vs. batched) This will be developed on [email protected] before any grants are awarded. ### Event Materials Reimbursement ($5,000) Organizers purchase materials locally (stickers, name badges, signage, power strips) and submit receipts for reimbursement -- up to $200 per event. No shipped kits, no inventory, no volunteer shipping labor. ### Eligibility This fund targets projects and contributors who **cannot get support elsewhere**: - Individual contributors whose employers don't cover travel - Communities growing in regions without big-tech presence **Not eligible:** Projects with multiple vendor sponsors already funding their meetups/summits; speakers whose employers cover travel; events with existing corporate sponsorship covering costs. Principle: **ASF resources go where the market won't.** **Important:** ComDev provides funding and self-serve guides -- not logistics support. Event organizers handle their own venues, catering, promotion, and day-of coordination. Actually putting on an event falls under VP Conferences; ComDev's role is to get organizers across the financial line, not to run their event for them. **Coordination:** This pillar has significant overlap with other ASF officers and must be run in close coordination: - **VP Conferences / [email protected]** -- for events co-located with Community Over Code, or any event using ApacheCon infrastructure - **Travel Assistance Committee (TAC)** -- the Speaker Travel Program extends TAC's mission; grant criteria and process should align - **VP Brand Management** -- for trademark review on event naming --- ## Pillar 3: Ambassadors, Project Health & Company Liaisons -- $2,325 | Item | Cost | | --- | --- | | Ambassador t-shirts: 75 × $22 (print-on-demand, shipped direct) | $1,650 | | Ambassador sticker packs: 75 × $9 (shipped direct) | $675 | Ambassadors are volunteers recruited from within projects -- ComDev equips and supports them, not employs them. The goal is an ambassador in every active project (212 currently); realistically, ~75 will participate in Year 1. Each receives a branded t-shirt and sticker pack, ordered on-demand via existing ASF print-on-demand vendors (TeePublic/TeeMill) and shipped directly to them -- no inventory, no volunteer shipping labor. Graduation outreach to newly-TLP'd projects is one recruitment channel, but most ambassadors will come from existing active communities. The comdev-metrics project health dashboard supports this work by surfacing at- risk projects and triggering outreach. Hosting is provided by ASF Infrastructure (no cost to ComDev); development and maintenance is volunteer effort. **At $0 (Tier 0):** Program runs entirely on volunteer effort. No recognition items -- digital-only acknowledgment. **Coordination:** Ambassador outreach to newly-graduated projects requires awareness of Board resolutions (monthly). Project health metrics may surface concerns that should be raised with the relevant PMC chair or the Board -- coordination with the President's office. --- --- ## Pillar 4: Community Identity & Belonging -- $5,500 (optional) | Item | Cost | | --- | --- | | Member T-shirts: catch-up batch (200 recent members) | $4,400 | | Member T-shirts: new members (50/year) | $1,100 | Restore the tradition of ASF Member T-shirts -- discontinued ~20 years ago. A tangible marker of belonging that reinforces identity across a geographically distributed, volunteer organization. **Cost model:** ~$22/shirt via print-on-demand vendor (TeePublic/TeeMill), shipped direct to each member globally from regional fulfillment hubs. No inventory, no volunteer shipping. **Phased approach:** - Year 1: Design setup + first batch of 200 (recent members, last ~5 years) + 50 new members elected in 2027 = **$6,200** - Year 2: Remaining backlog (~450 members who want one) + new members = ~$11,400 - Year 3+: Ongoing ~$1,140/year (50 new members) Full catch-up (all 1,187 current members at 55% response rate) would cost ~$16,500 total. The phased approach spreads this over two years. **This item is optional** -- the core budget request stands without it. It's included because visual identity and tangible belonging markers matter for volunteer retention in distributed organizations. **Coordination:** Design and logo usage requires approval from VP Brand Management. Fulfillment is self-serve: members receive a discount code and order directly from the vendor (TeePublic/TeeMill). ComDev sets up the code with the vendor; members handle their own shipping address. No volunteer involvement in logistics. --- ## Program Administration -- $5,800 10% contingency for unplanned costs, currency fluctuations on international events, or mid-year opportunities. --- ## Budget Summary | Pillar | Amount | % | | --- | --- | --- | | Events & Speaker Travel | $50,000 | 77% | | Mentoring Program | $6,000 | 9% | | Ambassadors & Project Health | $2,325 | 5% | | Contingency (10%) | $5,800 | 9% | | **TOTAL** | **$64,100** | | | | | | | *Optional: Community Identity & Belonging* | *$5,500* | | | **TOTAL WITH OPTIONAL** | **$69,600** | | --- ## If the Board wants a smaller number | Reduced ask | What's cut | | --- | --- | | $75,000 | Cut summits from 3→1, reduce meetups from 13→10, drop 3 speaker grants | | contingency | | | $35,000 | Events only: 12 events ($12K) + 7 speaker grants ($21K) + kits | | ($2K) | | --- ## Success Metrics (Year 1) - 12+ community events completed with outcome reports - 8+ speaker travel grants awarded - Events on 3+ continents - 50%+ of events organized by someone other than ComDev PMC members - At least 3 new contributors onboarded through funded events - Quarterly reports to the Board showing spend and outcomes --- ## Appendix A: Small Events Historical Analysis (2011–2013) ### Background The `[email protected]` mailing list was active from October 2011 to June 2013 (~20 months). Led primarily by Nick Burch (VP Conference Committee), it produced 11 community events across 4 continents -- all at $0 ASF cost. ### Events Executed | Event | Location | Date | Size | Est. Cost | | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | | BarCamp Sevilla | Spain | Oct 2011 | 30 | $675 | | Amsterdam Hackathon | Netherlands | Oct 2011 | 25 | $575 | | Apache Retreat Knockree | Ireland | Dec 2011 | 20 | $2,175 | | BarCamp Sydney | Australia | Dec 2011 | 30 | $675 | | BarCampDC | Washington DC | 2012 | 40 | $875 | | Community Building Colombo | Sri Lanka | Feb 2012 | 40 | $875 | | Apache Meetup NL #1 | Utrecht | Apr 2012 | 22 | $515 | | Apache Meetup NL #2 | Utrecht | Jun 2012 | 22 | $515 | | Pre-ApacheCon BarCamp | Portland | Feb 2013 | 40 | $875 | | Apache Hackathon Bangalore | India | Mar 2013 | 50 | $1,075 | | Struts Hackathon | Augsburg, Germany | Sep 2013 | 50 | $2,025 | **Total: ~$10,900 across 11 events. Average: ~$1,000/event.** Cost model: $20/person/day catering + $75 materials + venue (usually donated for single-day events). ### Why It Failed 1. **Bus factor of one** -- Nick Burch was the entire initiative. No co-lead, no succession plan. When he stepped back, everything stopped. 2. **No money** -- When Christian Grobmeier asked for ~€1,250 for the Struts Hackathon (June 2013), Ross Gardler replied: "ComDev has no budget for this." The underwriting proposal on paper "was never really applied in practice." 3. **Governance limbo** -- Events bounced ConCom → President → ComDev with nobody clearly owning the mandate. 4. **No self-serve path** -- Every event required personal mentoring. No templates, no guides, no "here's how you do it without asking someone." ### What's Different Now | Then (2011–2013) | Now (2026) | | --- | --- | | No budget | Tiered funding model with clear process | | One person (Nick) | Working group + rotation | | No templates | Self-serve templates on events.apache.org | | No recognition | Ambassador program | | Governance confusion | VP ComDev clearly owns it | | No metrics | comdev-metrics dashboard | | No funding mechanism | Funding request process with email template | ### More Recent Evidence of Demand In January 2025, Russell Spitzer (Apache Iceberg PMC) wrote to dev@community asking ComDev for help setting up travel grants/scholarships for the Apache Iceberg Summit ([thread](https://lists.apache.org/thread/4gsqyrsl9ogp9cmwqwmjnypo2m68ky18)): > "I've volunteered to take the lead on this project and I would like > to know how to set up doing this sort of thing. I have no experience > with running grants and would greatly appreciate the know-how of the > folks at ComDev to make this happen." -- Russell Spitzer, Jan 2025 This confirms the pattern from 2013: projects want to fund travel for contributors but lack the process and institutional knowledge to do it. ComDev's role is to provide that infrastructure. ### Key Quotes from the Archive > "If there is ASF support for such mini-events, I would be glad to know about > it." -- Christian Grobmeier, [small-events-discuss@, June > 2013](https://lists.apache.org/thread/8j4gr6rww585csns2v899tf4s9l9cjfb) > "ComDev has no budget for this. [...] it is currently unclear if > that community has the volunteer energy to support smaller events." > -- Ross Gardler, [small-events-discuss@, June > 2013](https://lists.apache.org/thread/8j4gr6rww585csns2v899tf4s9l9cjfb) > "We are currently approaching sponsors for the BarCamp Boston > effort. [...] What is the procedure for this?" > -- Matt Franklin, [small-events-discuss@, April > 2013](https://lists.apache.org/thread/8j4gr6rww585csns2v899tf4s9l9cjfb) --- ## Appendix B: Comparable Foundation Spending | Organization | Annual community events budget | | --- | --- | | Linux Foundation (community bridge) | ~$500K+ | | CNCF community events | ~$200K+ | | Python Software Foundation grants | ~$100K/year | | **ASF ComDev (proposed)** | **$97K** | --- ## Appendix C: Year 2 Projection Year 2 budget depends on Year 1 outcomes. This is speculative -- meant to show the Board what growth looks like if Year 1 succeeds. | Pillar | Year 1 | Year 2 (projected) | Change | | --- | ---: | ---: | --- | | Events & Speaker Travel | $79,600 | $95,000 | +$11K: more sprints + 12 speaker grants | | Mentoring Program Coordination | $6,000 | $7,000 | +$2K: additional partnerships + more swag | | Ambassadors & Project Health | $2,325 | $2,800 | No setup cost in Y2; ~100 ambassadors | | Community Identity & Belonging | $5,500 | $10,000 | Catch-up backlog (Phase 2) + new | | Contingency (10%) | $8,793 | $9,500 | | | **TOTAL** | **$96,718** | **$127,000** | | ### What drives the Year 2 increase **Events (+$15K):** If Year 1 proves demand (12+ events completed with positive outcome reports), expand to 24 events/year and increase speaker grants from 10 to 12. The self-serve infrastructure is proven; we're just funding more of what works. **Mentoring (+$2K):** Additional mentoring ecosystem events as program participation grows -- e.g., a third trip if we join a new program that requires in-person coordination. **T-shirts (+$5,200):** Year 2 completes the catch-up backlog (~450 remaining members) plus 50 new members. After Year 2, ongoing cost drops to ~$1,200/year. ### What we would NOT do in Year 2 - Hire staff (coordinator, program manager) -- stays volunteer - Fund large conferences -- that's a different budget - Pay mentor stipends directly -- 3P programs cover that - Fund well-resourced projects -- eligibility rules carry over ### Condition for Year 2 funding Year 2 request contingent on delivering Year 1 success metrics and publishing quarterly spend reports to the Board. --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [email protected] For additional commands, e-mail: [email protected]
