[foundation-board] Sloan Grant for Economics Working Group Approved (was: Congratulations!)

Thu Dec 15 21:06:33 UTC 2011

Hi Rufus

Thanks for this. 

First off, Grantee in the letter should be for our formal legal name: Open Knowledge Foundation Limited

This is particularly important as to how they are writing out the check. If they truly do send a paper check from the United States as they seem to be implying , please note that my experience is that it will be **extremely difficult** and time consuming to try to cash it over here. You may want to look into just how they are paying.

Note the requirements to:
- provide an annual report
- provide a report at the end of the grant period
- keep the funds in a separate bank account and keep strict accounting of expenditures
- they have a preference for the end report to be audited as to financials
- notify Sloan if any of the key personnel leave the project within 30 day
- usual requirements of US funders in regards to no lobbying, propaganda, terrorist support, etc

LAURA - can you please confirm that you feel confident that the OKFN have the ability to meet these obligations?

On the whole, they seem to  be a bit loose on the terms and defining the proposal, which I would think would be in our favour.

On the metrics mentioned in the email:

> Specific metrics include

USe of the word "include" here - are there other metrics? If so, where/what?

> 1.  Two international workshops with 30 to 40 participants each that
> achieve consensus about the definition of “Open Economic Data” and
> that provide a survey of examples.

"Consensus" having anything to do with defining "open" can be a bit difficult, but if Rufus is comfortable being able to achieve it, I can be comfortable as well.

> 2.  A website that disseminates workshop findings and other
> information about Open Economic Data to an average of 10,000 visitors
> per month.
I agree with Rufus -- Isn't 10k visitors rather a lot for a speciality website on open economics data? Also when does this have to be achieved? By the end of the grant?  I would assume so but might be worth clarifying.

> 3.  Community building as evidenced by growing numbers of volunteers
> who together complete at least two prototyping or demonstration
> projects.

Seems fine to me.

Very importantly, please note (and act on, if appropriate) what looks like  an offer to pay us more money for the program officer to travel to events!

> If, in particular, you wish to invite your Program
> Officer to attend appropriate meetings, conferences, or other events,
> the expenses associated with that can come out of a separate account
> at the Foundation rather than from your grant budget.

Thanks for your hard work on this Rufus.

I'm +1 for accepting providing that Laura has confidence in our operational ability here to comply.

Jordan

On 15 Dec 2011, at 20:07, Rufus Pollock wrote:

> Dear Board,
> 
> After 1.5 years of on and off work with the Sloan Foundation we have
> finally had our grant approved to support the development and work of
> the Open Economics Working Group (please see email below from the
> Program Officer).
> 
> I plan to query one condition vis-a-vis number of visitors (which
> seems rather high) but otherwise the goals seem reasonable.
> 
> The full text of the approved proposal can be found here:
> 
> <https://docs.google.com/document/d/1gkl0WuNfJ7SHPc7yTZZLUJeAV67nQYDyCSm6Hw3XhwY/edit?authkey=COP0vdsC&hl=en_GB&authkey=COP0vdsC>
> 
> The legal Grant Agreement document (which includes some details of how
> we can use funds) can be found here:
> 
> <https://docs.google.com/open?id=1s4GM_KwoTF4ggBayrrLVA5CghHQv7YDq9b7Aj7hyxnGTADwGN2h88RU9dxrM>
> 
> @Jordan: would you be able to cast your eye over the grant agreement
> document. I cannot see anything obviously problematic with it myself
> though we do need to keep the money in a separate account.
> 
> Rufus
> 
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
> From: Daniel Goroff <goroff at sloan.org>
> Date: 14 December 2011 01:57
> Subject: Congratulations!
> To: "Rufus Pollock (rufus.pollock at okfn.org)" <rufus.pollock at okfn.org>
> Cc: David Michel <michel at sloan.org>
> 
> 
> 
> Dear Rufus,
> 
> Congratulations on the success of your grant proposal!   It is my
> great pleasure to confirm that your recent grant request has been
> approved by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation.  I very much look forward
> to hearing more about your work as it progresses.
> 
> Please expect to hear more about administrative details shortly.  For
> now, let me call your attention to a few matters for you to keep in
> mind.
> 
> 1.  The staff here have agreed on the goals and metrics we plan to use
> in evaluating the outcomes of this grant.  A summary follows below.  I
> hope that you will review this list right away, make sure the items
> look appropriate to you, too, and then begin collecting baseline data
> or other evidence that can help document your success in meeting these
> targets.
> 
> 2.  Once having agreed to these goals and metrics, it is up to you to
> achieve them.  You do not need to clear routine budget adjustments or
> similar decisions with the Sloan Foundation.  If you do plan to
> reallocate a significant portion of your budget, say 20 percent or
> more, please send notice of this amendment together with a
> justification for our records.  We also expect to be able to consider
> in advance any changes in key personnel, in affiliations, or in the
> basic goals you are pursuing.
> 
> 3.  We will need a current financial report and a brief narrative
> update (usually a page or so) in advance of issuing any further
> payments if you have more than one scheduled.  Such documentation will
> also be required when it comes time either to request a no-cost
> extension or to close out your grant.  Progress or final reports
> should, among other things,  explicitly address the goals and metrics
> listed below.
> 
> 4.  We also welcome news about your project of any kind, especially
> good news that we can share with our colleagues and Trustees.  So
> please do not hesitate to send along media mentions, event
> information, preprints or publications, etc.  If you need help with
> including the official Sloan Foundation insignia on materials, or with
> other ways of acknowledging our support, please do not hesitate to be
> in touch.
> 
> 5.  Please also feel free to call on me as your Program Officer at any
> time if there might be advice, connections, or anything else that the
> Sloan Foundation can provide that would help your project be even more
> successful.  If, in particular, you wish to invite your Program
> Officer to attend appropriate meetings, conferences, or other events,
> the expenses associated with that can come out of a separate account
> at the Foundation rather than from your grant budget.
> 
> Keep up the good work,
> 
> Danny
> Dr. Daniel L. Goroff
> Program Director
> Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
> 
> *********************
> 
> GOALS and METRICS
> The goal is to promote open content and open data practices in economics.
> 
> Specific metrics include:
> 1.  Two international workshops with 30 to 40 participants each that
> achieve consensus about the definition of “Open Economic Data” and
> that provide a survey of examples.
> 2.  A website that disseminates workshop findings and other
> information about Open Economic Data to an average of 10,000 visitors
> per month.
> 3.  Community building as evidenced by growing numbers of volunteers
> who together complete at least two prototyping or demonstration
> projects.
> 
> 
> -- 
> Co-Founder, Open Knowledge Foundation
> Promoting Open Knowledge in a Digital Age
> http://www.okfn.org/ - http://blog.okfn.org/
> 
> _______________________________________________
> foundation-board mailing list
> foundation-board at lists.okfn.org
> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-board

____
Mr. Jordan S Hatcher, JD, LLM

More at: <http://www.jordanhatcher.com>
Co-founder:  <http://www.opendatacommons.org>
Open Knowledge: <http://www.okfn.org/>