IMPORTANT: IF YOU ARE SUBMITTING AN INVOICE FOR OVER $600 AND YOU DO NOT HAVE A CONTRACT, WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO APPROVE YOUR PAYMENT. PLEASE COMPLETE OUR CONTRACTOR REGISTRATION FORM (https://numfocus.typeform.com/to/umyusM?typeform-source=numfocus.org) AND WE WILL REACH OUT TO YOU TO GET A CONTRACT STARTED.

Please read our expense request guidelines entirely before submitting a request.

General Expense Requirments

All expenses must be incurred for a business purpose directly related to our nonprofit mission. All requests must include documentation as stated below. If any of the required documentation is missing or incomplete the payment will not be approved and must be resubmitted. Approved requests will be paid within 30 days after receipt of the request. The following types of payment requests may be submitted.

Reimbursements and Payouts

We will reimburse or pay expenses directly on behalf of the project.

Requests must include uploaded receipts, invoices, or statements that show:

The date of the purchase or estimate
an itemized list of charges

Approved Expenses

The following types of expenses are allowable.

Advertising & Promotional: non-conference promotional item purchases such as t-shirts, and paid advertising costs
Awards & Gifts: Sums less than $300 given on behalf of the project for recognition programs and other community-building activities
Equipment: Items under $2,500.00 such as laptops, keyboards, etc.(Please email [email protected] regarding items over $2,500.00)
Meals & Entertainment: Non-conference-related dining and other outings for project members
Professional Development: Training and certifications, continuing education (Coursera, Udemy) for project members
Repair & Maintenance: Equipment repair and maintenance
Scholarships & Sponsorships: Scholarships and sponsorships awarded by the project such as Outreachy, Software Freedom Conservancy, etc
Shipping & Delivery: Non-conference shipping expenses such as FedEx, USPS, UPS (Anything that needs postage)
Software & Subscriptions
- Administration: Administrative applications and subscriptions for file organization and management, text editing, project management, etc.
- Cloud Services & Hosting: Cloud service and storage subscriptions, domain hosting platforms and services
- Communication: Communication platform subscriptions such as Zoom, Webex, Google Voice, etc.
- Community Engagement: Memberships and subscriptions to community platforms such as Meetup
- Marketing & Design: Marketing and design asset services such as Adobe Stock, Shutterstock, etc.
- Supplies: Non-equipment supplies such as paper, notepads, chargers, cords/plugs, etc.
Travel: Non-conference travel and accommodations for project members
Conference & Workshop Expenses (Please make sure these requests are submitted under the appropriate project card)
- Accommodations: Accommodations for overnight stays to attend or run a project conference such as Hotel, Hostel, Airbnb, Vrbo, etc.
- Audio Visual: Video processing services, AV equipment rental
- Catering: Catering and meals provided during a conference or workshop
- Entertainment & Meals: Dinners for planning committee members, speakers, volunteers, or special guests
- Per Diems: Sums lees than $300 for speaker and attendee per diems
- Promotional: Promotional items to hand out such as stickers, t-shirts, etc.
- Shipping & Delivery: Shipping for conferences or participation at a conference: FedEx, USPS, UPS (Anything that needs postage)
- Supplies: Printing, banners, handouts, table cloths, etc.
- Travel: Travel reimbursements for speakers and volunteers
  - Economy and coach fares
  - Extra leg-room (under $100), extra checked baggage fees for event materials, onboard WiFi if working on project business
  - Taxi, Lyft, Uber, or other rideshare apps (for transport to/from the event or to/from the airport)
- Venue & Online Hosting: Conference main venue, social event venue and online event spaces such as Gather, Zoom, etc.

Invoices

We will directly pay invoices for contracted services rendered to the project. All contractors and subcontractors must have a signed agreement in place with NumFOCUS before submitting invoices for payment. If you do not have a signed agreement in place please contact [email protected] before submitting an invoice. Invoices submitted without a contract in place will not be approved.

Requests must include an itemized invoice that lists:

hours worked
description of the work performed
hourly rate
billing date range

Approved Contracted Services

The following types of contracted services are allowable.

Community Management: Moderation of communication channels such as Github, Discourse, marketing and outreach, event coordination
Consulting: Expert consulting such as DEI, survey design, etc.
Coordination: Administrative and operational support services such as clerical or finance-related activities
Dev Ops: Management and oversight of codebase, cloud & other infrastructure
Development & Maintenance: Code development and maintenance, updates, creation of new features and algorithms, testing and bug fixes
Documentation: Development and translation of documentation and creation of other publications
Marketing & Graphic Design: Creation of and management of marketing and design assets
Web Development & Maintenance: Website development and maintenance

Non-allowable Expenses
Certain expenses are not generally allowable. Any exception will require prior approval. Please have a member of project leadership email [email protected] to obtain approval.

Alcohol and alcoholic beverages
Articles and/or cash stolen or lost
Late fees or other fees for personal credit card
Unauthorized trips or entertainment
First-class or business class airfare and train tickets
Extra leg-room (in excess of $100), extra checked baggage fees if not for event materials, onboard WiFi if not for work, and other fees for airfare, train, or bus tickets
Articles of clothing or other personal items
Private/Premium car services (other than the normal fare Standard Taxi/UberX/Lyft)

This list is not all-inclusive and we reserve the right to reject any expense that is not approved by the project leadership and NumFOCUS.

FAQ

How do I get paid from a Collective?

Submit an expense and provide your payment information.

How are expenses approved?

Collective admins are notified when an expense is submitted, and they can approve or reject it.

Is my private data made public?

No. Only the expense amount and description are public. Attachments, payment info, emails and addresses are only visible to you and the admins.

When will I get paid?

Payments are processed by the Collective's Fiscal Host, the organization that hold funds on their behalf. Many Fiscal Hosts pay expenses weekly, but each one is different.

Why do you need my legal name?

The display name is public and the legal name is private, appearing on receipts, invoices, and other official documentation used for tax and accounting purposes.

More info →