This time it has to be really fast. It’s May and this is the Transparency Report for March. That is a temperature difference of at least ten degrees. The sun now sets 2.5 hours later. However, the day only has 24 hours. So today in a nutshell!
Let’s make a small group about it!
We have so many things happening at the same time that it sometimes feels like project management. In March there were already around ten small groups. Now it’s twelve. Small groups are relatively new to us. Now they are available for job advertisements such as the new editor-in-chief position, for format developments and everything in between that is not part of everyday business. They used to be called working groups, but they often fizzled out. In the meantime, the small groups are taken very seriously, because the bigger the team gets, the more friction you feel.
The small groups arose from the realization that we are simply too big to always discuss and plan every topic with everyone. The last transparency report was about a fair, expedient proposal for a (partial) return to the office, which was also prepared by a small group. The decision is then made by the entire team.
We don’t explicitly have one or two people in the team for everything we do, but rather tackle many things together in new small groups. And we’re a bunch of people who care deeply about this project. This means that everything new and every major decision is first up for negotiation and is not simply “governed through”. That costs energy, but in the end you know that every voice has been heard and reduces the risk of individuals getting lost. There are never any disadvantages – they just have to be smaller than the advantages.
We regularly find out whether and how we work together the best in our closed conferences lasting several days, for which planning was already in full swing in March. One person for the program, one for logistics and organization, one for moderation and methods. We’re out of our infancy.
I would like to close with a quote from a long-ago retreat: „Workgroups must die so that we can live.“ With this in mind, off to the next video conference, the next weekly meeting.
The hard numbers
Donations recovered somewhat in March, but are down on March of the previous year. This is a rather rare occurrence as we have seen consistent growth so far. The difference is only a few hundred euros, but shows a small trend.
In our ideal scenario, we would now have constant donations of 55,000 – 60,000 euros. Of course we will not be discouraged and will do our best to achieve this goal. Our team is now structured in such a way that we can work well and without completely burning out. Now it’s about keeping this team.
A total of 53,882 euros was collected, for which we would like to thank you very much! We also sold half a bitcoin because we already knew that March would be a bit more expensive. We have neither a thirteenth salary nor vacation pay. And in 2022 it was quickly foreseeable that we would not be able to implement inflation compensation for salaries. Nevertheless, we wanted to reward the work in the team. The last few weeks of the 2021 fundraising campaign in particular were very exhausting and in the end we actually hit the donation goal of one million. We have therefore decided to pay all employees a one-time thank you of 1,000 euros and to finance this by selling half a bitcoin.
The personnel costs thus amounted to 86,362 euros. Rent for Berlin and Brussels (4,565 euros) and infrastructure (2,268 euros) added up to the usual costs. We are continuing to work with our freelance authors (2,634 euros) and are very happy about all the topics on netzpolitik.org that cannot be covered by the core team. In addition, there was a small change. Our wonderful working student Jana Ballweber decided to do a great traineeship and left us. We wish her all the best! That’s why Rahel Lang came on board. She was an intern with us and we are very pleased that she continues to write for us as a working student.
On the last day of March, income of 75,583 euros was offset by expenses of 102,911 euros. A deficit of around EUR 150,000 at the end of the year is easy to handle – even if we were able to balance a deficit of EUR 350,000 at the end of the year last December. With a lot of pain and only thanks to your great support! Our plan for this year is an equalization so December doesn’t get that exciting, but it doesn’t look like it yet. We will probably not be able to avoid a small group for this topic. Therefore, we are happy about every euro and every support.
Thank you for your support!
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You can find our transparency report from February here.