Wednesday, March 21, 2012

User groups: the PSF can help cover your meetup.com fees

Did you know that the PSF has a budget to cover Python user groups' meetup.com fees?
Well, we do! The PSF can:
  • reimburse user group organizers for fees paid to meetup.com in the past year
  • prepay annual fees for meetup.com Python groups
You can read the comments on the proposal that established this budget in the PSF board meeting minutes from April, 2009. To get a grant to cover your user group's meetup.com fees, please submit a proposal to psf@python.org.
http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6112/6320029253_00b62e708e.jpg
Here is a sample proposal:
Grant Proposal: $144 to cover the cost of the Boston Python user group’s meetup.com subscription for six months: January through December of 2012.
Grant Objective: Fund the use of meetup.com for organizing and managing the Boston Python user group for a 12 month period. meetup.com helps to increase the visibility of the user group, as well as boost attendance through automated reminders, RSVP functionality, and other tools. It also makes organizing and promoting the group easier, as well as providing a platform to garner sponsorships and thank sponsors publicly.
Grant Size: $144 total, which is the cost of 12 months to organize a group on meetup.com.
Grant Beneficiaries: The Boston Python user group has over 1500 members on meetup.com. We have had monthly meetings since before 2007 and have an average attendance of 60-100 Python programmers. meetup.com provides a centralized location where our members see what’s coming up and who has RSVPed for the meeting. Members can also leave comments about the group itself.
This subscription will also benefit Python programmers who may not yet know about the group by providing highly visible insight into what we do and why they may want to join. meetup.com is a well-known site for people looking for like-minded individuals, providing us good visibility for new members. It also cross-promotes groups to each other, encouraging members of other tech groups to consider joining ours. We get several new members each month who find us on meetup.com.
Preferred method of funds delivery: A deposit into the PayPal account for meetup@bostonpython.com.
Q: My user group uses a site other than meetup.com to advertise events. Can we still get reimbursed?
A: The April 2009 proposal is specifically for meetup.com fees, but you are still encouraged to submit a general grant proposal for a particular expense to psf@python.org.
Q: How else can the PSF help my user group financially?
A: You can apply for a grant through the PSF Grants program.



Edited 15 February 2016 to remove references to the Sprints and Outreach and Education Committees, which are now retired.