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

Fri Dec 16 17:28:54 UTC 2011

Happy with the admin reqts.

-- 
sent from my Android phone, please forgive brevity/typos
On Dec 15, 2011 10:12 PM, "Jordan S Hatcher" <jordan at opencontentlawyer.com>
wrote:

> 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/>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> foundation-board at lists.okfn.org
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>
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