Open Collective Foundation's Monthly Newsletter We are trying something new to streamline our communication with our collectives and community. We will be releasing a monthly newsletter with important organizational updates, collective highlights, upcoming events, and a plethora of opportunities, including grants, residencies, fellowships, etc.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM OUR TEAM TO YOU
🆕Expense Categorization Starting Jan. 2024 Beginning January 1st, 2024, all expenses must be categorized into specific buckets using a new feature on the Open Collective Platform. You can learn more about this process here, from Dennis who is on our finance team. We will be sharing more about this process and answering any questions at our first community forum of the year, on January 5th, 2024.
🗓️Annual Collective Close-out Reminders
ALL expenses for 2023 must be submitted by January 15th, 2024 at the latest
ALL in-kind donation receipts for 2023 must be submitted by January 15th, 2024 at the latest
💸Receiving Funds this Giving Season?
If you are expecting funds, no matter the amount, please email [email protected] to ensure that we can allocate funds to your collective in a timely manner.
Due to the busy fundraising season, any incoming funds will be added to your collective by January 15th at the latest.
📈 No more Crypto Donations As of January 1st, 2024, we will no longer be accepting cryptocurrency as a form of donation.
💵 No more Virtual Cards Per Stripe's (our card issuer) guidelines, we are only allowed to issue virtual cards to employees. Unfortunately, OCF is not accepting any new employees at this time, we will keep you posted if this changes.
✨Holiday Slow Down The OCF team will be taking time off from December 22nd,2023 to January 2nd, 2024, please expect slower responses during this period.
💵 Checks Any checks donors send must be made out to Open Collective Foundation or we cannot process them. Checks made out incorrectly will have to be reissued by the donor. This will cause delays in the money arriving to your Collective. You can send donors this Check Guidance page to help.
📃Docs Reminder Looking for specific information or documents about OCF? Be sure to check our docs. Having trouble using the Open Collective platform? Check their docs.
🌀Transitioning Out of OCF? Here is a checklist of the required steps to close your collective. If you have any questions about this process, email us at [email protected]
💭What's Up(date) The Open Collective Foundation team invites (read: requires ) each Collective to reflect on 2023 in the form of a public "What's Update" by the Winter Solstice on December 21. Join one of our What's Up(date) Parties to complete your update - the next one is Monday, December 11th, 7:30 pm EST. Read the full requirements here.
💻 Slack Usage As of November 15th, 2023, the Open Collective Foundation team will no longer be responding to requests or questions via Slack, we ask that you please email us at [email protected]. We are working to streamline our communications with collectives to provide a better experience.
📖Prison Library Network The Prison Library Network is an information-based collective that supports incarcerated people by organizing networks for sharing resources and building capacity for the movement for prison abolition in libraries, archives, and other knowledge-based institutions.
They do this work because they recognize the systematic violence that the prison industrial complex creates. The Prison Library Network believes that information can be employed as a tool for prison abolition, and that space must be created for people who want to commit and redistribute their own capacities and resources.
In the 8 years since their founding, they now coordinate a fully volunteer-run reference-by-mail service, regularly organize virtual and in-person volunteer events, host a quarterly abolitionist discussion group, and consistently onboard new PLSN volunteers. Their general volunteer is currently at 534 members, and their reference volunteer list has 443 members. In 2023, they received $7,391.27 in donations.
🌽Evanston Fight for Black Lives Evanston Fight for Black Lives is a youth, abolitionist collective that is dedicated to achieving justice for Black and Brown people within the Evanston community. This year they reflected on their year with thanks to the folks whose generous support allows them to do what they do best: feed their neighbors.
In 2023, the Evanston Community Fridges deepened partnerships with local organizations, expanded outreach to the people of Evanston, and grew their team of ECF organizers. They continued to work with the Evanston Nouveau Rotary Club, Whole Foods on Chicago Ave, Soul & Smoke, Northwestern University, and community gardens to expand the amount of food we are able to recover and deliver to the community fridges weekly.
Throughout the year, they scaled up their grocery reimbursement program, allowing community members to shop for their fridges and be reimbursed. This incredible initiative has greatly increased the Evanston Fight for Black Lives network's capacity to stock all four fridges consistently.
💓Loving Black Single Mothers Loving Black Single Mothers is a radical collective-supported economic initiative designed to support the thriving and well-being of Black single-mother-led families by providing them with grants and services that improve their lives.This year they remained rooted in their commitment to Black single mothers knowing that when Black, poor, disabled, trans, queer single mothers are free, we will all be free.
Over the last year, they’ve created various pathways for the collective to show up for Black single mothers in consistent and tangible ways. Through their ecosystems, they’ve accomplished the following: resourced over 125 Black single mothers with material support; redistributed over $135,000 to Black single mothers from over 345 financial partners; and are on track to redistribute an additional $70,000 during this upcoming holiday season.
