English version based on an automatic translation with deepl.
Another update on the topic of FOSSGIS membership dues – see my previous posts on this topic here, here, and here.
The virtual general meeting at which FOSSGIS is going to decide on future membership dues is – as previously reported – scheduled for next Monday. Anyone who is a FOSSGIS member should have received an invitation and login information for the meeting.
I have turned my informally outlined proposal into a draft resolution and would like to document it here transparently for all who are not FOSSGIS members as well.
The structure and the sections on payment deadlines and membership fees for legal entities are based on the board’s draft, which largely corresponds to what was already discussed in March (so the internal discussion within the association has not yet led to any substantial changes). I have merely modified a few details and, of course, adjusted the individual membership rules in accordance with my proposal from April. In doing so, I have expanded the idea of reduced membership for active OSM contributors to include anyone who volunteers to a significant extent toward the FOSSGIS association’s goals. This therefore includes not only active OSM contributors but also anyone working unpaid in the FOSS sector.
Here the draft resolution (note again: This is a machine translation with no claim of accuracy):
Payment Due Date
Membership fees are always charged for a full calendar year, regardless of when a member joins or leaves the association. For members joining in December, no fees are due for the year of joining.
Membership fees are due in advance upon receipt of an invoice from the association. Invoices are issued after the start of the year for which the membership fee is charged. For new members, the invoice for the first year of membership is issued within six months of joining.
Membership Fees for Individuals
There are three different membership fee rates for individuals:
- the standard rate of 30 EUR per year.
- the reduced rate of 10 EUR per year.
- the supporting member rate of 90 EUR per year.
The reduced membership fee applies to members who perform a significant amount of volunteer work in support of the association’s goals. The reference period for this is the calendar year preceding the year for which the membership fee is due. The Board of Directors determines eligibility based on information provided by the member regarding their volunteer activities. For volunteers active in OpenStreetMap, the benchmark for a significant amount of volunteer work is defined as documented mapping work on 42 days of the reference year. For members who volunteer in other ways to further the association’s goals, the scope of volunteer work required for classification under the reduced rate should be at a comparable level.
The supporting membership rate applies to members who voluntarily opt for supporting membership. The decision to opt for a supporting membership must be indicated on the membership application and can only be changed in advance for the following calendar year. Supporting membership is recommended for all members who, as part of their professional work, routinely and to a significant extent deal with the development or use of free GIS software or with the use of open geodata, or who are engaged in business activities in these areas.
For all other individuals, the standard rate applies.
Contributions for Legal Entities
For legal entities, the contribution amount generally depends on the number of employees, converted to full-time equivalents (FTEs). The contribution tier is then determined by the number of FTEs:
- Tier J1: up to 5 FTEs: 500 EUR
- Tier J2: up to 15 FTEs: 1,200 EUR
- Tier J3: up to 30 FTEs: 3,000 EUR
- Tier J4: more than 30 FTEs: 5,000 EUR
Changes in the number of employees that affect the contribution tier must be reported to the association immediately. Starting the following year, the contribution will be calculated according to the new tier.
For FTE purposes, all employees in a dependent employment relationship who are subject to supervision are counted; however, freelancers are not included.
Non-profit institutions (such as public-law entities, non-profit companies, or associations) are classified two tiers lower than their actual number of employees.
Legal entities may request reclassification into a different contribution tier if classification based on FTE would result in undue hardship for them – for example, because they have a very large number of employees, most of whom do not work in the GIS field or with open geodata, or because, as an international company, they are also members of other local chapters of OSGeo or OSMF. It is also possible to voluntarily opt for a higher classification, for example, in the case of high-revenue companies with a small number of employees. A request for reclassification must be submitted to the Board of Directors, stating the reasons, and the Board will decide on the reclassification. The decision of the Board of Directors may be appealed to the General Assembly.
Transparency and Recognition
The Board of Directors regularly publishes a list of the legal entities that are members of the association, including their membership tier.
A list of Supporting Members is also published regularly, provided they wish to have their Supporting Membership publicly recognized.
And here the reasoning i provided to the members:
This proposal is a further elaboration of the concept presented at https://imagico.de/blog/de/die-saga-der-fossgis-mitgliedsbeitraege/. Detailed explanations and justifications can be found there. This proposal places membership dues in the mid-range of dues charged by local chapters of the OSMF, whereas the Board’s proposal would position FOSSGIS above all OSMF local chapters in terms of the dues amount for active OSMers and at a multiple of the average dues amount charged by local chapters in Western industrialized nations (less than EUR 20). In addition, this proposal explicitly recognizes volunteer commitment to FOSSGIS’s goals as well as voluntary financial support, without linking a member’s right to have a say in the association to their willingness or ability to provide financial support.
If members follow the recommendations for supporting membership, this proposal would likely be at least cost-neutral compared to the Board’s proposal with regard to individual dues.
The provisions regarding the payment due date and legal entities are largely based on the Board’s proposal, but have been slightly modified, expanded, and clarified in some respects, and include specific numerical values from the motion presented at the previous General Assembly.
Note: Not every company is a legal entity; therefore, provisions regarding legal entities do not apply to all companies, but only to certain legal forms. In this case, it would make sense to amend the bylaws (replacing membership with voting rights for legal entities with a corporate/institutional membership without voting rights, which is independent of the legal form). However, that is a separate issue.