Re: Hero Devs Open Source Sustainability Fund

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Daniel,

Thanks for reaching out!  The policy stuff you are looking for is likely
the Targeted Donations program[1], which is run by Fundraising.  You would
by no means be the first project supported this way.  But start with the
legal mechanics there (Hero Devs has been involved quite a bit lately with
Apache, so they'll be familiar with lots of the details).  The invoice to
Hero Devs will include all the details about how to do the payment.
Contact [email protected] for more details on this part, as
well as the legal agreements stuff.

Several other projects have spent targeted donations like this on
hackathons, as well as other local "gathering of interested parties" around
a particular project.  In at least one recent case, that included funding
speakers's expenses to come talk at such gatherings.

From the mechanics point of view, after the legal stuff has been done (and
payment received, which shows up in money in the bank, and a liability to
pay for authorized services, on our balance sheet), the usual practice
looks like this:
* The PMC approves one (or more) folks authorized to spend funds on
behalf of your project.  The presumption is that you folks will decide
where you want the funds to be spent, and that the authorized folks will
follow your (PMC) rules.  Apache-wide, it's more about making sure we don't
jeopardize our 501(c)3 non-profit status in the US -- again, Fundraising is
your best resource for dealing with specifics.
* Typically, we (Treasury) will authorize one or more "Ramp Cards" (a
virtual or physical credit card) to the authorized folks, who can then use
the card(s) to pay for expenditures that benefit the project.  Any
expenditure over $300 will require a receipt to be submitted, but that
doesn't block paying whoever the vendor is.
* For large expenditures, or where the vendor is willing to grant us
credit, we can set them up as a payable vendor in bill.com - our accounts
payable system.  For those kinds of expenditures, the authorizing PMC
member will be added to bill.com as an "approver" to verify that this
expenditure was agreed to.  Then, after approval, Treasury will schedule
the payment.

Congrats on being up for this kind of benefit!

[1] https://www.apache.org/foundation/docs/targeted-sponsorship-policy.html

Craig McClanahan
Treasurer, The Apache Software Foundation


On Wed, Nov 12, 2025 at 12:39=E2=80=AFPM Daniel Sahlberg <dsahlberg@apache.=
org>
wrote:

> Hi Craig,
>
> Reaching out privately for advice about the appropriate forum to ask abou=
t
> this.
>
> Subversion, same as a bunch of other projects according to mailing list
> archives, has been approached by Hero Devs about joining the Open Source
> Sustainability fund. According to a later e-mail, we have received a gran=
t
> of 5000 USD.
>
> I'd like to ask how to go ahead with this. I suppose I should ask this in
> some mailing list but I don't know which, hoping you can help me here or
> direct me to existing documentation.
>
> 1. The want to pay the money to a bank account and want to know the
> account number. I know this sounds very much like phishing ... :-) How
> would we normally go about this?
>
> 2. I know we can't spend money directly to pay for developer's time. Are
> there any other restrictions? I assume we can spend it on direct costs (a
> hackathon has ben mentioned - so we would spend money on hotels/food/venu=
e
> and possibly travel assistance).
>
> 3. How do we access the money after we've approved costs? Sending receipt=
s
> to treasurer? Any formal requirements?
>
> 4. Anything else I should ask about?
>
> Since many PMCs probably have the same questions, maybe the board should
> make sure some information is published for all PMCs.
>
> Again - if you feel there is a better place to ask these questions, I'm
> happy to do so.
>
> Kind regards,
> Daniel Sahlberg
> (Subversion PMC member)
>

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<div dir=3D"ltr">Daniel,<div><br></div><div>Thanks for reaching out!=C2=A0 =
The policy stuff you are looking for is likely the Targeted Donations progr=
am[1], which is run by Fundraising.=C2=A0 You would by no means be the firs=
t project supported this way.=C2=A0 But start with the legal mechanics ther=
e (Hero Devs has been involved quite a bit lately with Apache, so they&#39;=
ll be familiar with lots of the details).=C2=A0 The invoice to Hero Devs wi=
ll include all the details about how to do the payment.=C2=A0 Contact <a hr=
ef=3D"mailto:[email protected]">[email protected]=
</a> for more details on this part,=C2=A0as well as the legal agreements st=
uff.</div><div><br></div><div>Several other projects have spent targeted do=
nations like this on hackathons, as well as other local &quot;gathering of =
interested parties&quot; around a particular project.=C2=A0 In at least one=
 recent case, that included funding speakers&#39;s expenses to come talk at=
 such gatherings.=C2=A0=C2=A0</div><div><br></div><div>From the mechanics p=
oint of view, after the legal stuff has been done (and payment received, wh=
ich shows up in money in the bank, and a liability to pay for authorized se=
rvices, on our balance sheet), the usual practice looks like this:</div><di=
v>* The PMC approves one (or more) folks authorized to spend funds on behal=
f=C2=A0of your project.=C2=A0 The presumption is that you folks will decide=
 where you want the funds to be spent, and that the authorized folks will f=
ollow your (PMC) rules.=C2=A0 Apache-wide, it&#39;s more about making sure =
we don&#39;t jeopardize our 501(c)3 non-profit status in the US -- again, F=
undraising is your best resource for dealing with specifics.</div><div>* Ty=
pically, we (Treasury) will authorize one or more &quot;Ramp Cards&quot; (a=
 virtual or physical credit card) to the authorized folks, who can then use=
 the card(s) to pay for expenditures that benefit the project.=C2=A0 Any ex=
penditure over $300 will require a receipt to be submitted, but that doesn&=
#39;t block paying whoever the vendor is.</div><div>* For large expenditure=
s, or where the vendor is willing to grant us credit, we can set them up as=
 a payable vendor in <a href=3D"http://bill.com">bill.com</a> - our account=
s payable system.=C2=A0 For those kinds of expenditures, the authorizing PM=
C member will be added to <a href=3D"http://bill.com">bill.com</a> as an &q=
uot;approver&quot; to verify that this expenditure was agreed to.=C2=A0 The=
n, after approval, Treasury will schedule the payment.</div><div><br></div>=
<div>Congrats on being up for this kind of benefit!</div><div><br></div><di=
v>[1]=C2=A0<a href=3D"https://www.apache.org/foundation/docs/targeted-spons=
orship-policy.html">https://www.apache.org/foundation/docs/targeted-sponsor=
ship-policy.html</a></div><div><br></div><div>Craig McClanahan</div><div>Tr=
easurer, The Apache Software Foundation</div><div><br></div></div><br><div =
class=3D"gmail_quote"><div dir=3D"ltr" class=3D"gmail_attr">On Wed, Nov 12,=
 2025 at 12:39=E2=80=AFPM Daniel Sahlberg &lt;<a href=3D"mailto:dsahlberg@a=
pache.org" target=3D"_blank">[email protected]</a>&gt; wrote:<br></div><=
blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-l=
eft:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir=3D"ltr"><div dir=
=3D"ltr">Hi Craig,<div><br></div><div>Reaching out privately for advice abo=
ut the appropriate forum to ask about this.</div><div><br></div><div>Subver=
sion, same as a bunch of other projects according to mailing list archives,=
 has been approached by Hero Devs about joining the Open Source Sustainabil=
ity fund. According to a later e-mail, we have received a grant of 5000 USD=
.</div><div><br></div><div>I&#39;d like to ask how to go ahead with this. I=
 suppose I should ask this in some mailing list but I don&#39;t know which,=
 hoping you can help me here or direct me to existing documentation.</div><=
div><br></div><div>1. The want to pay the money to a bank account and want =
to know the account number. I know this sounds very much like phishing ... =
:-) How would we normally go about this?</div><div><br></div><div>2. I know=
 we can&#39;t spend money directly to pay for developer&#39;s time. Are the=
re any other restrictions?=C2=A0I assume we can spend it on direct costs (a=
 hackathon has ben mentioned - so we would spend money on hotels/food/venue=
 and possibly travel assistance).</div><div><br></div><div>3. How do we acc=
ess the money after we&#39;ve approved costs? Sending receipts to treasurer=
? Any formal requirements?</div><div><br></div><div>4. Anything else I shou=
ld ask about?</div><div><br></div><div>Since many PMCs probably have the sa=
me questions, maybe the board should make sure some information is publishe=
d for all PMCs.</div><div><br></div><div>Again - if you feel there is a bet=
ter place to ask these questions, I&#39;m happy to do so.=C2=A0</div><div><=
br></div><div>Kind regards,</div><div>Daniel Sahlberg</div><div>(Subversion=
 PMC member)</div></div></div>
</blockquote></div>

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