Running the money through WordPress Community Support, PBC

All 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. organizing teams are asked to keep their event budget in their WordCamp dashboard (Budget>Budget). In the US and Canada, WordCamps use the financial backing of the company called WordPress Community SupportWordPress Community Support WordPress Community Support PBC is a subsidiary of WordPress Foundation. It is created specifically to be the financial and legal support for WordCamps, WordPress Meetup groups, and any additional “official” events organized within the WordPress Community Events program., PBC (a subsidiary of the WordPress FoundationWordPress Foundation The WordPress Foundation is a charitable organization founded by Matt Mullenweg to further the mission of the WordPress open source project: to democratize publishing through Open Source, GPL software. Find more on wordpressfoundation.org.) to manage the money involved with their event. Outside the US and Canada, we offer the use of WPCSWPCS The collection of PHP_CodeSniffer rules (sniffs) used to format and validate PHP code developed for WordPress according to the WordPress Coding Standards. May also be an acronym referring to the Accessibility, PHP, JavaScript, CSS, HTML, etc. coding standards as published in the WordPress Coding Standards Handbook. as a legal and financial entity to organizers if they wish to take advantage of it.

How does this work?

WordCamps using the legal and financial backing of WordPress Community Support, PBC (a subsidiary of the WordPress Foundation) collect sponsorship and ticket revenue through WPCS accounts (invoicing from WPCS and using the WPCS PayPal account that’s already connected to the WordCamp registration pluginPlugin A plugin is a piece of software containing a group of functions that can be added to a WordPress website. They can extend functionality or add new features to your WordPress websites. WordPress plugins are written in the PHP programming language and integrate seamlessly with WordPress. These can be free in the WordPress.org Plugin Directory https://wordpress.org/plugins/ or can be cost-based plugin from a third-party, CampTix), and then submits all vendor invoices to 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. for payment from WPCS accounts. WordCamp Central essentially functions as the WordCamp’s “accounts receivable” and “accounts payable” department. 🙂 Here is an article that explains the structures of WPCS and WPFWordPress Foundation The WordPress Foundation is a charitable organization founded by Matt Mullenweg to further the mission of the WordPress open source project: to democratize publishing through Open Source, GPL software. Find more on wordpressfoundation.org..

Once a WordCamp budget has been approved by a community deputyProgram Supporter Community Program Supporters (formerly Deputies) are a team of people worldwide who review WordCamp and Meetup applications, interview lead organizers, and keep things moving at WordCamp Central. Find more about program supporters in our Program Supporter Handbook., there is no need for a WordCamp to raise a certain amount of money before submitting invoices to pay venue deposits or other up-front expenses. Each WordCamp budget is kept up to date in the WordCamp dashboard, and sponsor invoices and vendor payments are managed through the tools on each WordCamp site dashboard.

Surplus funds from WordCamps are retained by WordPress Community Support for the support of other official WordPress community events and programs, including local 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. and user group events.

WordPress Community Support, PBC is a subsidiary of the WordPress Foundation, and the purpose of WPCS is not to make a profit, but rather to benefit WordPress community programs. However, the PBC is taxed as a for-profit corporation by the IRS. More details here. This means most WordCamps and 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. will no longer be able to take advantage of most non-profit discounts from vendors.

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Contracts

If you’re using WPCS as the legal and financial entity for your WordCamp, you should have all contracts use the following information:

WordPress Community Support, PBC
660 4th Street #119
San Francisco CA 94107

IMPORTANT: Do NOT mail checks to this address! Mail checks to: WordPress Community Support, PBC, P.O. Box 101768, Pasadena, CA 91189-1768

Phone (this goes to a mailbox): (415) 275-1240

Tax ID (if necessary): 81-0896291

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Sponsorship Revenue

1. As soon as you get a new sponsor, add their information to your WordCamp website and save the sponsor listing to Draft.
2. Use the Sponsor Invoices tool to send your sponsor an invoice with information on how to pay WordPress Community Support, PBC.  All payment instructions will be included for you on the sponsor invoice created. In case you need payment instructions, they are:
   • For payments via electronic wire transfers:
   • Bank Name: JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A.
   • Bank Address: 270 Park Ave, New York, NY 10017
   • Company name: WordPress Community Support, PBC
   • For US domestic ACH transfers: ACH Routing Number: 322271627, Account Number: 157120285
   • For international wire transfers: Bank Routing and Transit Number: 021000021, SWIFT/BIC: CHASUS33, Account Number: 157120285
   • If sponsors need to send money by credit card, they can pay here: https://central.wordcamp.org/sponsorship-payment/
   • If a sponsor chooses to pay via check, they must make the check out to WordPress Community Support, PBC and mail it to: WordPress Community Support, PBC, P.O. Box 101768, Pasadena, CA 91189-1768
3. Important! For amounts under $250 USD or equivalent, please create a microsponsor ticket instead, to reduce our administrative burden.
4. When a payment comes in, WordCamp Central will mark that sponsor as paid using the Sponsor Invoices tool and you’ll receive an email that it’s time to add that sponsor to your website. Publish the Sponsor listing (which you left in Draft mode, while waiting for payment) to add them to your site.

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Ticketing Revenue

1. Take CampTix out of sandbox.
2. Ticket revenue goes to the WordPress Community Support, PBC Paypal account.

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Vendor Payments

1. Once your budget is approved, please keep it updated.
2. When vendors are chosen, please add each one into Vendor Payments on your WordCamp site’s dashboard and save them to draft.
3. When you get a vendor invoice, fill in the details to Vendor Payments, attach the invoice, and submit for payment when ready. Please name your request something that indicates what payment is for, for example “WordCamp NYC Speaker Social” or “WCYVR swag.” Please note: Your payment request will not be submitted to WordCamp Central when it is in draft. Before you submit the request for payment, please be certain you have the required payment details.
   If we need to pay by check: Payee name, mailing address, telephone number
   If we need to pay by credit card: Payee name, contact name, telephone number -or- a credit card authorization form and email address
   If we need to pay by PayPal: Payee name, email address associated with PayPal account
   If we need to pay by wire: Beneficiary’s name, beneficiary’s bank SWIFT BIC, Beneficiary’s IBAN or account number, beneficiary’s address, beneficiary’s bank name, beneficiary’s bank address
4. Before we pay it, we’ll check the invoice against the current shared budget document. Warning! If the invoice amount doesn’t match your budget, the payment will be delayed while we figure out what’s going on.
5. If the vendor sends you a receipt, please upload it to the original payment request.
6. When we pay your vendor we will mark the payment request paid and record the payment date.
7. In the case of last-minute or cash-only expenses, organizing teams pay those out of pocket and submit for reimbursement. Warning! Reimbursement via check is the slowest payment method available: checks are sent in a minimum of 5 days. Reimbursement via direct deposit is the fastest way we send money in the US. We reimburse by wire to bank accounts outside the US.

Last updated: January 25, 2023