Values-driven policy design

Values-driven organizational policy design

Summary: Introductions, framing, discussion

Framing

FreeGeek Chicago Constitution

• Consensus based leadership structure (1 block per 5 year term... or something)
• Diverse, committed staff
• Direct democracy community council, CC eligibility based solely on hours
• All meetings are f2f
• CC chooses staff people

Constitution v2.0

• Split staff structure into paid (lots of effective power, relatively little policy power) and unpaid (advisory / keyholder status)
• Formalize current policies (socialist pay structure, privacy policy, funding)

Statement on funding

Examples

Last summer's intern project, both times we've had massive conflict.

Notes

Free geek Chicago constitution

• Have a community council governance structure
• There are other free-geek orgs in portland, twin cities
• No overarching structure for all free geek structures
• Been around for 6 years
• Operate on consensus process
• Block - nuclear option - can use once in the career of the blocker
• Agreement that everyone can live with
• Every stakeholder must be at each meeting
• Face-to-face meetings
• volunteer 35 hours - you get a vote. Count renews quarterly (or within the past 3 months)
• Created the constitution from frustration from grand-funded nonprofits
• Learn how to take apart and build up and fix computers, ethical recycling. get credit for volunteering to spend towards getting a computer
• Have a statement on funding. Incentive structure of your funding really matters. Part of the outcome was setting the bar very high for foundation funding.
• Someone else decides priorities
• Fundraising is hard work
• Funding can obscure failure, due to having no chance to fail
• Can be hard to get rid of them
• Funding is an exchange. Somebody wants something from you. Always strings attached
• Funders often follows trends

Questions

• who provides funding?
• plans for when runs out
• how can funding protect org structure

Requirements

• all funding approved by community process
• transparency in what funding you get and how
• set limits on how much % funding your org can have
• Funders sign a memorandum of understanding - abide by all decisions made by community council and all communication will be public

• Sell computers
• Biggest cost is recycling (20k this year, $50-80k next)
• funding comes from our own grassroots campaigns

• Were offered interns (a form of funding)
• Certain strings attached
• Raised our own money to take on our own intern

• Could we do collective borrowing?
  • Creating a bunch of co-signers to sign for a loan
• We are a 501c3 - but board is on paper only - not involved in daily governance at all

• Examples of where policies have saved an org?
  • Most people write policy too late
• Large distinction between grant funders, individual funders, and grassroots funding
• Causa Justa :: Just Cause example around grassroots funding - that structure means that they can't abandon their mission and have to meet their member goals
  • Use volunteers for grassroots fundraising - get read on involvement, remind them of the work they are doing
  • Inside funding
• Free Geek doesn't do fundraising like that due to capacity issues
• Earmark money for ethical recycling for funding. Taking money for those sorts of programs seem like they work for us.
• Free Geek hasn't done much internal funding. I think it would be helpful.
• It might work doing a gentle ask for fundraising
• Had an intern that sent out thank you cards
• Allow other kinds of contributions
• Automated process of asking for funds - ask with the intention that you are going to hear no - surprised by how many people say yes
• Ask people who have given money before
• People get paid the same amount - people are into the flat hourly rate or two salary brackets
• A lot of our capacity goes to finding good hardware to refurbish
• Board members should give enough to make them feel invested
• Talk about fundraising as resource mobilization - allows us to value more than just cash
• We are going to require that people come to a couple CC meetings before they can vote