Courtney P.K. 9:18 pm on October 8, 2021
Tags: global sponsorship ( 17 ), proposal ( 12 ), sponsorship ( 20 )

Proposal: 2022 Global Community Sponsorship program

tl;dr: Due to the unpredictability in what events are happening and where, the global sponsorship program proposal for 2022 is similar to the pared-down 2021 program, with a single package. Sponsorship of WordCamps will be offered as an add-on, billed quarterly.

Below you will find a proposal draft for the Global Community Sponsorship program for 2022, with one package being offered as an annual commitment.

As the WordPress Community transitions to holding in-person WordCamps, the question arises of how the Global Sponsorship program will accommodate those events. Until we have more predictability in what events are happening and where, we will offer WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. sponsorship per event, billed at the end of each quarter.

Questions? Feedback?

If you have any questions, observations, or critical feedback about this proposal or the program in general, please comment on this post, no later than 15 October 2021. We hope to finalize the program details by 28 October 2021, to allow sponsors time to sign up by the end of the year.

Thanks so much for the hard work, input, and feedback by @angelasjin, @kcristiano, @_dorsvenabili, @sippis, and @courtneypk, with help crunching the numbers from @harmonyromo.

Now onto the proposal!

The Details

42% of the web is powered by WordPress, the free and open sourceOpen Source Open Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL. software built and maintained by thousands of volunteers all over the world. The WordPress contributor community is made up of developers, designers, writers, photographers, freelancers, agency professionals, and hobbyists, many of whom gather regularly around the world at locally-organized monthly and annual events. Official WordPress community events are exclusively volunteer-organized, and each reflects the interests and expertise of the local community.

In 2021, a significant amount of WordPress events were held online, due to the pandemic. Our community, despite the pandemic, organized 14 WordCamps in 2021, and 755 meetupMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. groups in the WordPress chapter program met over 2,400 times.

What’s a WordCamp?

WordCamp is the annual conference for local WordPress communities; it’s a casual, non-commercial, educational event about WordPress. Events range from intimate 50-person unconferences to multi-track conferences attended by over 3,000. Conference session topics include WordPress development, design, business, social media integration, blogging, and marketing. WordCamp tickets are sold at an extremely low price ($25 USD per person, per day) so that events are accessible to people of any financial background. Online WordCamps are always free of charge to attend.

WordCamp Program Data

At the time of writing, there were 14 WordCamps in 2021, all of them taking place online. It is difficult to project the growth in numbers of events in 2022 as the pandemic continues, but we will see the return of in-person WordCamps, and we do anticipate that online events will continue.

WordCamps confirmed for 2022 can be found on the official schedule.

Please note that the Global Community Sponsorship program does not include flagship events such as WordCamp Europe, WordCamp Asia, or WordCamp US, even though they’re listed on the official schedule.

What’s a Meetup?

WordPress MeetupsMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. are locally-organized user groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis to discuss WordPress (commonly once a month). These events take many formats: presentations/lecture series, hackathons, social gatherings, workshops, coworking, running a WordPress help desk, contributor sprints/drives, and others. Groups hosted on meetup.com can become an official WordPress chapter group and receive financial and organizational support from the WordPress Community team.

Meetup Program Data (as of 24 September 2021)

755 groups
111 countries with a meetup group
470,605 group members, program-wide
2,498 meetup events scheduled in 2021 to date

How does event sponsorship help WordPress?

Companies that sponsor WordPress community events support the WordPress open source project by helping our volunteer-organized, local events provide free or low-cost access for attendees. WordPress community events strengthen, inspire, and connect the community that builds and maintains WordPress.

Why sponsor via this program rather than sponsoring individual events?

As the WordPress community continues to grow, many companies find they don’t have time to coordinate with multiple teams of volunteer event organizers. The WordPress Global Community Sponsorship Program ensures that your support reaches WordCamps and meetups quickly and provides stability to locally-organized events. WordPress global community sponsors have a single, centralized point of contact and are billed annually or quarterly, saving companies time and trouble.

This year, only one sponsorship package is offered as an annual commitment. A single package should make this easier to administrate, which is extra-important right now, as volunteer engagement is (for perfectly understandable reasons) so low.

Please note that the Global Community Sponsorship program does not include flagship events WordCamp Asia, WordCamp Europe, or WordCamp US, as the scale of those events are outside the scope of this program.

2022 Global Sponsorship benefit package proposal

Cost: USD $10,000 per quarter

Featured on all WordPress chapter meetup group pages (as of September 2021: 470,605 Members, 755 groups, 111 countries). This includes your logo, with a link back to the company landing page of your choice, on chapter meetup group landing and event pages.
Acknowledgement in all WordCamp “ticket purchase successful” pages (14,497 in 2021).
Acknowledgement on the WordCamp CentralWordCamp Central Website for all WordCamp activities globally. https://central.wordcamp.org includes a list of upcoming and past camp with links to each. home page (over 400k annual views).
Acknowledgement in one program-wide email to all (over 470k) members of a WordPress chapter account meetup group.
Acknowledgement on sponsor page on WordCamp Central (3,775 views in the past 365 days).
Monthly email with spreadsheet of WordCamps in planning and on the schedule
Acknowledgement on all monthly Meetup Organizer Newsletters (received by 1,675+ WordPress community influencers every month).
Opportunity to list discounts or free resources that meetup and WordCamp organizers can use for new user workshops, charity hackathons, etc., on the official WordCamp Organizer handbook page for use at community events. This page will be promoted through the Meetup Organizer newsletter, received by 1,675+ WordPress community influencers monthly.

ADD-ON: WordCamp benefits

Cost: Varies; based on local WordCamps top publicized sponsorship level, billed at the end of each quarter.

Name, logo, and company description on all WordCamp websites
Inclusion in the “Thank You To Our Sponsors” blog post on each WordCamp
A sponsor landing page that includes a discount or coupon code for your product or service in your company description, posted to all WordCamps (subject to approval)
Table at in-person WordCamps for meeting attendees, if space is available*
A number of swag items added to the swag table of each in-person WordCamp, if available (subject to approval)
A number of free tickets to each in-person WordCamp, reserved for your company representatives**

*Not all WordCamp venues will have space to provide tables to sponsors, but if the venue has enough space to accommodate sponsor tables, then community sponsors will be offered exhibition space. In your notification email, you’ll be informed whether or not the venue has exhibition space so you can request a table right away.

**Free, reserved tickets will return to the general ticket pool if they are not claimed one month before WordCamp. Tickets reserved for sponsors should not be used for ticket giveaways; these are only for your company representatives who wish to attend the event.

Please see Rules for Sponsor Materials for more details about terms of sponsorship. Please also see our sample sponsorship agreement.

#global-sponsorship, #proposal, #sponsorship

Ryan Marks 10:07 pm on October 8, 2021

Hi @courtneypk, I looked at this post about this program for 2021 (https://make.wordpress.org/community/2021/02/18/proposal-2021-global-community-sponsorship-program/) and see that it did not include direct WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. sponsorship. Does the 2022 proposal resume direct WordCamp sponsorship? I’m asking from a WordCamp organizer’s perspective. In Birmingham, AL, were looking at having an in-person event in 2022; I’d like to get a sense for how much fundraising our local organizing team would need to do.
- Courtney P.K. 10:21 pm on October 8, 2021
  
  Good question @rmarks! Yes, it does include direct WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. sponsorship, if the global sponsor signs up for the add-on package. However, the base package does not include direct WordCamps sponsorship.
  
  The proposed change for 2022 is that Global Sponsors who add on sponsorship for WordCamps will support all WordCamps (as opposed to choosing which WordCamps to sponsor a la carte), at the camp’s top published level.
  
  In short, there would not be a community grant as we’ve had in the past, but WordCamps will get credited global sponsorship funds at the top local level.
  - Ryan Marks 10:46 pm on October 8, 2021
    
    I think I am following you. I still have a bit of confusion learning how much credit a WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. will receive.
    
    Let’s say in 2022 there are 8 companies who have added on WordCamp support. Let’s also assume my top tier is $2500. Can I assume that would be $20,000 of funds the local team would not need to raise?
    
    In the past, the amount of the community grant would be determined during budget review. I plan to be going through that in the next few weeks. I feel, though, that we won’t know our credit amount until sometime in 2022. What are your expectations about when, during the sequence of a WordCamp being planned, will WCS be able to communicate the program credit to the organizing team.
    - Courtney P.K. 4:25 pm on October 9, 2021
      
      Let’s say in 2022 there are 8 companies who have added on WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. support. Let’s also assume my top tier is $2500. Can I assume that would be $20,000 of funds the local team would not need to raise?
      
      Yes, in this example, that would be correct!
      
      What are your expectations about when, during the sequence of a WordCamp being planned, will WCS be able to communicate the program credit to the organizing team.
      
      As far as knowing when your WordCamp will know what the credit amount will be, we’re hoping that we’ll know which sponsors are on board by the end of 2021 at the latest. This is why we’ve started working on the program earlier than past years.
    - Courtney P.K. 5:09 pm on October 9, 2021
      
      To clarify a bit more, while your example is correct, camps will still need to be prepared to raise 100% of the funds according to the updated guidelines and not depend on global sponsorship.
Hari Shanker R 9:02 am on October 11, 2021
Thank you for putting this together, @angelasjin, @kcristiano, @_dorsvenabili, @sippis, and @harmonyromo. I honestly feel that this is the best proposal for both sponsors and Camp organizers alike especially in these confusing times. The best thing about this proposal is that it allows WordCamp CentralWordCamp Central Website for all WordCamp activities globally. https://central.wordcamp.org includes a list of upcoming and past camp with links to each. to be financially lean while offering the best kind of support to all parties involved. Love it! <3

After reading the proposal, I found a few points ambiguous. @courtneypk has done an excellent job clarifying them in the comments above (thanks for your excellent questions, @rmarks!).

With that in mind, I think we should update the proposal to state:
- That WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. organizers will not have access to community grants in 2022.
- However, all the global sponsors will support camps individually by mandatorily signing up for the top tier of that camp. So for instance, if WordCamp Narnia as a top tier of $2000, and if we have 6 global sponsors, WordCamp Narnia will have an assured income of $2000 x 6 = $18,000 (not counting local sponsors)
- WordCamps will still have to raise 100% of their costs from local sponsorships, but a certain amount of the same will be covered by global sponsors (as mentioned in the example below).
^^ I hope I got that right? If so, it might help to add an FAQ section on to our global sponsorship document to clarify the same for camp organizers and sponsors.
- Courtney P.K. 7:14 pm on October 12, 2021
  
  The FAQ is an excellent idea, if we’re unable to clarify in a revision to the proposal! Perhaps bolding key points would help, too.
Hari Shanker R 9:20 am on October 11, 2021
I have a few additional questions related to the implementation of our global sponsorship program. I am not sure if we have answers to these questions yet, but it’s good food for thought, as we work on finalizing the nitty-gritties of our 2022 program.
- Does the global sponsorship program for 2022 only cover in-person WordCamps, or will it cover all camps that year?
- How does the global sponsorship implementation look like, practically, for organizers? Would we still be following our former approach? (like adding global sponsor listings to WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. sites by default, for instance).
- My understanding is that sponsors mandatorily have to sponsor all (in-person?) WordCamps (apart from flagships) for that year, and that they cannot opt-out or move to a different sponsorship tier. Is that right?
- The proposal states that sponsors will be billed on a quarterly basis. My understanding is that they will be invoiced before the beginning of the quarter, based on the WordCamps that are on the schedule, is that right? For instance, for WordCamp Narnia happening on May 15, 2022 (Q2), globals will be invoiced at the end of Q1/start of Q2 (late March/Early April 2022) – based on the list of WordCamps that are on the schedule, is that right?
  - If this is the case, how will we invoice globals for camps that happen within the quarter? Using the same example stated above, WordCamp Hogwarts got scheduled with a start date of June 18th, on April 10th, and by then, the invoices for Q2 were sent . In that case, would we invoice globals for WordCamp Hogwarts alongside the Q3 invoices?
As I mentioned above, I am not sure if we have answers to all these questions yet, but I feel that it would be good to start thinking about these points, as it will help us create a smooth and beneficial global sponsorship program in 2022!
- Timi Wahalahti 10:11 am on October 11, 2021
  
  Good questions Hari! I’ll try to address those in some capacity.
  
  Does the global sponsorship program for 2022 only cover in-person WordCamps, or will it cover all camps that year?
  
  It will cover both in-person and virtual WordCamps.
  
  My understanding is that sponsors mandatorily have to sponsor all (in-person?) WordCamps (apart from flagships) for that year, and that they cannot opt-out or move to a different sponsorship tier. Is that right?
  
  That is something we envisioned yes. Mainly because next year will probably not see that many WordCamps yet, and this also reduces the admin work.
  
  The proposal states that sponsors will be billed on a quarterly basis. My understanding is that they will be invoiced before the beginning of the quarter, based on the WordCamps that are on the schedule, is that right? For instance, for WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. Narnia happening on May 15, 2022 (Q2), globals will be invoiced at the end of Q1/start of Q2 (late March/Early April 2022) – based on the list of WordCamps that are on the schedule, is that right?
  
  Idea was that sponsors will be billed based on WordCamps already happened in the previous quarter. So we’d look back at which WordCamps did take place, how much their top-level sponsorship did cost and bundle those together. @harmonyromo is the best person to confirm this.
Kevin Cristiano 2:44 pm on October 11, 2021

– That WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. organizers will not have access to community grants in 2022.
– However, all the global sponsors will support camps individually by mandatorily signing up for the top tier of that camp. So for instance, if WordCamp Narnia as a top tier of $2000, and if we have 6 global sponsors, WordCamp Narnia will have an assured income of $2000 x 6 = $18,000 (not counting local sponsors)
– WordCamps will still have to raise 100% of their costs from local sponsorships, but a certain amount of the same will be covered by global sponsors (as mentioned in the example below).

Correct, their will be no grants as in prior years.

In theory your calculation on the Camps is correct, but that will be finalized during the review process where we get feedback from potential sponsors. We do need to have camps be reasonable – we don’t want Narnia saying – let’s have a massive afterparty and we know how to fund it – Top level is 25,000 USD. If we do that we’ll get TONS of Global money. Since we are paving new ground we have to review this. In the beginning we capped the global fee based on a few dollars per attendee. So if you had 200 attendees the fee would be about 1,200. Our hope is to not have to go to that level of detaial. but we may set minimum and maximum amounts. This will be ironed out before the program is finalized.

The expectation is in-person camps have to be able to cover all costs. The global program will bring some relief to local orgs, but more so create a safety net for the entire program. What do I mean y a safety net? We are navigating a world with risks on events like never before and we simply cannot afford another round of cancellations and lost deposits. It is our hope that once finalized the Global program can help bring stabilty and mitigate risks so we can have WordCamps begin in person again while being financially responsible.

The proposal states that sponsors will be billed on a quarterly basis. My understanding is that they will be invoiced before the beginning of the quarter, based on the WordCamps that are on the schedule, is that right?

Sponsors will be billed at the end of each Quarter for WordCamps. They will pay up front for the general Global fee (meetupsMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. and other benefits are what sponsors receive). As we cannot predict with accuracy the number of camps this is the best balance of efficiency as well as being fair to Sponsors.

@harishanker @rmarks Thank you for the feedback. This is the earliest we’ve publicized the proposal and we want to be very transparent. We are meeting with Sponsors that have been in the program to get feedback. Based on the feedback here and that we receive directly, we’ll post the final program details.

If any potential sponsor would like to join a meeting with the team putting this together, let us know and we’ll make that happen. We want as much feedback as possible.
Hari Shanker R 12:44 pm on October 12, 2021

Thanks for the excellent clarifications, @sippis and @kcristiano! That answers all my questions! 🙂

@kcristiano I agree with your points on the expenses, and the logic of asking globals to sponsor top tiers of in-person WordCamps definitely sounds fair, as we may not be having as many camps in 2022, as we had in the previous years. I also agree that invoicing sponsors at the end of the quarter is a better approach, because if we do that earlier, it could result in ambiguity.

Looking forward to hearing feedback from our global sponsors and community members, as that will help us solidify the program.
Taco Verdonschot 1:56 pm on October 14, 2021

Please note that the Global Community Sponsorship program does not include flagship events such as WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. Europe, WordCamp Asia, or WordCamp US, even though they’re listed on the official schedule.

Does that mean other events can be promoted to ‘flagship events’ throughout the year? Or can we explicitly mention the camps that are excluded?

I’m asking because in the current wording we could take our sponsors’ money and just name all events flagship events.
- Timi Wahalahti 2:09 pm on October 14, 2021
  
  Does that mean other events can be promoted to ‘flagship events’ throughout the year? Or can we explicitly mention the camps that are excluded?
  
  It is highly unlikely that the community would see other flagship events than listed there. Also partially because it is a discussion involving the whole Community Team if new flagship WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. would be born.
  
  For what it’s worth and if I do remember correctly, the wording has historically been the same.

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Proposal: 2022 Global Community Sponsorship program

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