[NCSG-FC] CIVICRM

Tue Aug 14 23:21:58 EEST 2018

Hi Thato, All

I agree with the request that the FC is copied on all communications. This
will help in the future when the funding is overseen by the the FC starting
in 2019.
Regards,

On Tue, Aug 14, 2018 at 4:14 PM Thato Mfikwe <thatomfikwe at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Farzaneh,
>
> Thanks for the detailed update but just wanting to ask and check the
> following:
>
> 1. When communicating with PIR, please copy the FC in all communication so
> that we can keep track and kindly introduce the FC if possible.
> 2. I do not think the FC has to obtain directives from NCUC treasurer on
> how to carry out its business, it may however consult on and explore
> various options and still decide on the appropriate method to manage NCSG
> finances, of course taking into account concerns and inputs from involved
> and affected parties.
> 3. The current arrangement of how payments are made needs to be corrected
> if not improved, as the current system of using external accounts in
> complex and makes it difficult to track spending and inflows.
> 4. Thanks for helping out with payments for the discovery and development
> process but would be best to receive all related information and supporting
> documents before payments are initiated.
>
> Thato Mfikwe.
>
> On Tue, Aug 14, 2018 at 6:27 AM, farzaneh badii <farzaneh.badii at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Hi
>>
>> I have now uploaded all the documents regarding the selection of company,
>> invoices etc in Google Drive.
>>
>> Thato's first question: the first company despite having a good technical
>> knoweldge did not understand our mission and needs fully and their
>> development work was far from impressive though it was solid. For what they
>> delivered, they were very expensive. I will pass the name of the company
>> privately. That company was contracted during Tapani time and as I said
>> their work was solid but there were many problems.
>>
>> We received two quotations from two companies. Both were very good but
>> the company we went for totally understands not for profit needs.
>>
>> Yes we have 17000 USD for this year to use on CIVICRM. It will expire
>> June 2019. Might be allocated another 9000 USD for next year
>>
>> Milton paid those invoices, when he gets less busy I will ask him to send
>> the receipt to be uploaded to Google Drive. I am paying the monthly
>> payments for Service Level Agreement and ask ICANN to reimburse me. I will
>> have to pay around 2000 USD for discovery and development in September,
>> which I will and get reimbursed by ICANN until NCSG has its own bank
>> account. Also, note that NCSG getting a bank account does not resolve the
>> issue until PIR money is received by NCSG. The reason ICANN asks to pay and
>> get reimbursed is that ICANN has an archaic vendors process and it also
>> does not want to contract for a service it is not directly involved with.
>> If NCSG opens a bank account tomorrow,can not do anything with it, since it
>> will be an empty bank account until March next year and will not be able to
>> pay anything ( March is normally the time PIR sends the money).
>>
>> I still think a separate bank account for our main funder might be more
>> problematic and it is risky to ask them to send the money to a totally new
>> structure. But if the constituency treasurer does not think this is the
>> right way to go, then we can't use their bank account. Constituencies have
>> all the rights to say no to the usage of their bank account, nothing to do
>> there other than creating a separate bank account for NCSG.
>>
>> Since PIR is the only funder at the moment, I was hoping that we could
>> get some pointers from them as to what suits them best, but I don't know if
>> it is appropriate to approach them.So thoughts on that are welcomed.
>>
>> To Remmy's question:
>>
>> The invoice was reading "142 Discovery Process $2,250" is that same
>> thing meant for hosting?
>>
>> No Remmy, that is for discovery of CIVICRM issues, separate from hosting.
>> I will upload hosting costs too as soon as I find the invoice.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Farzaneh
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Aug 6, 2018 at 8:43 PM farzaneh badii <farzaneh.badii at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi
>>>
>>> I will put the communications and the process of selecting the company
>>> in the Google drive. note that I am on vacation so things are slow on my
>>> end. Will update the Google drive and respond to other inquiries upon my
>>> return.
>>>
>>> Farzaneh
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, Aug 6, 2018 at 1:22 PM Thato Mfikwe <thatomfikwe at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi Farzaneh.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for the update, just need the following clarity:
>>>> 1. How many quoations were received from different developers and who
>>>> (the vendor) initially developed the platform and why were they not
>>>> recontracted to fix the system?
>>>>
>>>> 2. Is $17 000 the only funds available?
>>>>
>>>> 3. The 2 initial invoices paid by NCUC, when exactly were they paid?
>>>>
>>>> Am glad to hear you concur to NCSG having its own bank account. Looking
>>>> forward to more updates in advance.
>>>>
>>>> Thato Mfikwe.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> On Wed, Aug 1, 2018 at 5:24 AM, farzaneh badii <
>>>> farzaneh.badii at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Dear FC,
>>>>>
>>>>> Here is a current status of NCSG CiviCRM finances:
>>>>>
>>>>> CiviCRM is the database management we have used for our membership
>>>>> management. It had many glitches and needed a lot of development, so we
>>>>> decided to spend the budget of 9000 USD (some of this went for hosting, I
>>>>> will put the invoices and everything else up) that ICANN allocated to NCSG
>>>>> to fix the system.
>>>>>
>>>>> I also asked both NCUC and NPOC who received 9000 USD each from ICANN
>>>>> for database management to allocate 4000 USD of their budget to us to
>>>>> continue with the development etc. They approved, so in total we have
>>>>> around 17000 USD for development work and CIVI maintenance. We have hired a
>>>>> company. (which I am going to send you the proposals - contract and
>>>>> invoices we received up until now)
>>>>>
>>>>> This budget is an annual budget that ICANN provides for us. We will
>>>>> see if it gets approved next year too.
>>>>>
>>>>> In the past (when Tapani was chair) the CIVI developer was being paid
>>>>> by NCUC bank account and then NCUC would get reimbursed by ICANN.
>>>>>
>>>>> NCUC EC agreed to do so this time as well, however, the treasurer of
>>>>> NCUC only accepted to pay the two initial invoices and urged NCSG to have
>>>>> its own bank account or ICANN to pay for it directly.
>>>>>
>>>>> This changes many things. I believe it also means that we need to have
>>>>> a bank account for NCSG and cannot use the constituencies' bank account.
>>>>>
>>>>> In order for ICANN to pay for this, it has to establish the company as
>>>>> a vendor, a very complicated process that will take a lot of time and ICANN
>>>>> won't probably accept it because the service is going to support our group
>>>>> and not ICANN org.
>>>>>
>>>>> A more immediate concern is this means that we cannot continue
>>>>> paying the company through NCUC and our work on membership management will
>>>>> be stopped.
>>>>>
>>>>> I have discussed this with ICANN, and they have informed me that I can
>>>>> pick up the bill and upon showing the paid invoice, get reimbursed. I have
>>>>> to talk to my bank as well and see what would be the best way to go about
>>>>> it. I am willing to do this for a period of time until NCSG gets its own
>>>>> bank account. We will see what the bank says.
>>>>>
>>>>> So for now letting you know about the status of this. If I end up
>>>>> paying for the service, I will put up the invoices/the ICANN payments
>>>>> somewhere password protected you can have access to.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Best
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Farzaneh
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> NCSG-FC mailing list
>>>>> NCSG-FC at lists.ncsg.is
>>>>> https://lists.ncsg.is/mailman/listinfo/ncsg-fc
>>>>>
>>>>>
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>>>
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Joan Kerr,

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