Since November last year, the Foundation has provided support to ZOMG (the Zcash Open Major Grants Committee; formerly known as the Major Grants Review Committee) in the form of administrative support (e.g. minute-taking during ZOMG meetings, undertaking KYC and OFAC compliance checks for grant recipients, payment processing and record keeping), by facilitating the use of the Foundation’s grants platform to accept and manage grant applications, and by providing nominal compensation of $500 per month per member.
The nominal compensation amount was based on an expected time commitment of 5 hours per month, at a rate of $100 per hour. This rate was based on the average salary of a CEO of a non-profit with an annual budget of between $3.5 million and $13.4 million USD.
Some ZOMG Committee members have raised concerns that the time commitment estimate was too low, and that more support is required, particularly with regards to liaising with grant applicants and recipients, and attracting more – and better – grant applications. To address these issues, the Foundation’s COO began attending ZOMG meetings in early July, to directly field and respond to requests for assistance.
We have also recruited more staff who will work with ZOMG to promote and publicize the availability of major grants, build a pipeline of great grant applications, and provide a single point of contact for grant applicants, in order to relieve ZOMG of the time-consuming communications and liaison responsibilities that have been demanding their time and attention.
Following discussions with the current ZOMG Committee, we are also increasing the estimated time commitment, from five hours per month, to fifteen hours per month, resulting in an increase in the nominal compensation from $500 to $1,500 per month (effective immediately). We anticipate that, with more and better support, the time commitment will reduce over time, so we will review it in the new year, after the changes and improvements have had time to have an impact.
As we approach elections for the next ZOMG Committee, we trust that these changes will give potential candidates the confidence that the Zcash Foundation is doing its utmost to ensure that ZOMG is a success.