Merge pull request #304 from jdswinbank/finance-ctte-update-2022-10

Add draft October 2022 Finance Ctte update

Author: jdswinbank

finance/community-updates/2022-10.txt

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+Dear Astropy Community,
+
+The Finance Committee would like to give you some updates on our activities
+over the last several months.
+
+
+# Cycle 3 Funding Results
+
+We recently completed the proposal process for allocating the next round of
+funding for projects and other major expenses. This is the first time we have
+been able to allocate money from our NASA ROSES-2020 grant as well as our
+grant from the Moore Foundation.
+
+A total of 22 proposals were received, of which 20 were allocated funds.
+Although our budget didn't quite stretch to supporting all projects at their
+full requested level, every approved proposal receives at least their minimum
+funding request, and — in many cases — substantially more.
+
+The full list of proposals funded in this process is available at [1]. Each
+proposal has been allocated a dedicated Finance Committee member who will guide
+the project team through the process of getting started and claiming funds.
+
+We're excited to be able to fund so many amazing projects! Thanks to those
+who submitted proposals and to everybody who took part in the discussion and
+voting process, and many congratulations to the successful project teams!
+
+Finally, the Finance Committee welcomes feedback on the funding process. Please
+feel free to reach out to us — see the contact details below — with your thoughts
+and suggestions for how it might be improved in the future.
+
+[1] https://github.com/astropy/astropy-project/pulls?q=label%3A%22funding-approved+💵%22+label%3A%22cycle+3%EF%B8%8F⃣%22+type%3Apr
+
+
+# Keeping Track of Work in Progress
+
+The Finance Committee uses GitHub issues to discuss and track the progress of
+the various funded activities. If you would like to know where the Project's
+funds are being spent, check out the “finance” label in the astropy-project
+issue tracker [2].
+
+For previous funding rounds, we've used a single issue to keep track of all
+the various projects [3]. During Cycle 3, we plan to use a single issue per
+project; watch out for these appearing over the next few days.
+
+[2] https://github.com/astropy/astropy-project/labels/finance%20%3Amoneybag%3A
+[3] https://github.com/astropy/astropy-project/issues/199/
+
+
+# Open Collective
+
+Over the spring and summer of this year, NumFOCUS — the organization that
+manages our accounts — switched to using Open Collective [4] for handling
+budgeting and invoicing. This new system is a substantial step forward — it's
+easier to use and more transparent than “Rocket”, its predecessor, was.
+
+All invoices must now be submitted through Open Collective. This process is
+straightforward, but it is important that you know which of our various
+funding lines (or “projects” in Open Collective's jargon) you should submit
+your expense to (NASA, Moore, etc). If you aren't sure, reach out to the
+Finance Committee (details below) to check. When you know which project to
+use, head over to the Astropy area on Open Collective [5], select the right
+project, and then hit “submit expense”.
+
+As always, don't hesitate to reach out if you have questions.
+
+[4] https://opencollective.com
+[5] https://opencollective.com/astropy
+
+
+# Applying for Funding
+
+Although the Cycle 3 proposal process has now been completed, it's still
+possible to apply to the Finance Committee for funding. We welcome requests
+at any time following the guidelines at [6].
+
+[6] https://github.com/astropy/astropy-project/blob/main/finance/process/request-funding.md
+
+
+# Finance Committee Contacts
+
+You can learn more about the Finance Committee's business and how you can get
+in touch in the astropy-project repository [7]. In particular, you can keep
+track of what we're working on by following our running notes [8], or reach
+out to us on Slack (#finance-committee), by filing a GitHub issue, or by e-mail
+to [email protected]. We'd love to hear from you!
+
+[7] https://github.com/astropy/astropy-project/tree/main/finance
+[8] https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OpSEtJC0jQINTB-YNexxgnHX7-J6HRSkiPKYWBSCOfg/edit?usp=sharing
+
+Cheers,
+
+John
+on behalf of the Astropy Finance Committee
+