Fiscal policy
=============

Hare collects donations on `Open Collective`_, where we maintain our budget,
and track and approve expenses. In legal terms, Hare's finances are held and
managed by the Open Source Collective, a 501(c)(6) nonprofit which is
responsible for holding our balance, accounting, and tax obligations. In social
terms, this document concerns the policy of the Hare community with respect to
the use of these funds.

.. _Open Collective: https://opencollective.com/hare

Consensus-based spending
------------------------

The use of Hare's financial resources is decided first and foremost by the Hare
community, which includes the members of the fiscal oversight committee. The
committee itself is responsible for interpreting and implementing the decisions
of the community, and for functioning as a fallback decision maker in case
there is no community consensus. Implementation of decisions chiefly consists
in reviewing and approving expenses on Open Collective.

Spending proposals or changes to fiscal policy are discussed on the
`hare-financial`_ mailing list, which is open to the public.

.. _hare-financial: https://lists.sr.ht/~sircmpwn/hare-financial

The fiscal oversight committee will approve expenses submitted to Open
Collective without discussion on the mailing list provided that they are
consistent with the lists of approved and rejected expenditures detailed below.
Atypical or large expenditures should be discussed on the mailing list to
establish consensus before being submitted to Open Collective.

Fiscal oversight committee
--------------------------

The fiscal oversight committee is staffed by at least two senior, trusted
commuinity members. Committee members must meet the eligibility criteria:

- Committee members have a reliable source of income independent of the Hare project
- Committee members have demonstrated competency in financial matters
- Committee members exceed the age of majority in their country of residence

The fiscal oversight committee members are established by the consensus of
the `maintainers`_. The current membership is:

.. _maintainers: https://git.sr.ht/~sircmpwn/hare/tree/master/item/MAINTAINERS

- Drew DeVault
- Vlad-Stefan Harbuz

Committee members may have small expenses reimbursed. However:

- They cannot approve their own expenses (another committee member must do it
  for them).
- Their expenses are subject to the same consensus process as the broader
  community.
- They cannot be the beneficiaries of reimbursements associated with travel or labor
  (e.g. grants).

Fiscal oversight committee members have no legal status.

Approved expenditures
---------------------

The consensus has established blanket approval for:

- Regular costs associated with the maintenance of Hare, such as the
  harelang.org domain name, may be reimbursed.
- Community members may request Harriet stickers to distribute at events. The
  fiscal oversight committee will arrange for them to be ordered and shipped to
  the community member in question, and may reimburse themselves for the
  expense.
- The Hare community may cover up to 50%, or $500, whichever is less, of travel
  and lodging expenses for any established community member to attend an event,
  provided:

  - They give a talk related to Hare at this event
  - Their talk is recorded and will be published online
  - They credit the community for covering their expenses in their slides

  Such reimbursements are provided on the basis of need; if you can afford to
  buy your own ticket then you are kindly asked to do so. Post your request to
  the hare-financial mailing list.

Rejected expenditures
---------------------

The consensus has established blanket disapproval for:

- Paying anyone a regular wage for open-ended work.
- "Bounties", i.e. rewards for implementing certain features to be paid out
  post-facto.