Contents

  1. Resources
  2. General workflow
  3. Initial contact
  4. Follow-up
  5. Finalizing the deal
  6. At the end of the conference
  7. How to Invoice a Sponsor
    1. Via SPI
    2. Via Debian France
    3. Via Debian CH

Resources

You should avoid saying sponsors' names publically until they have committed.

General workflow

Each and every action you make with regards to a sponsor should be recorded in the sponsor file. It is a good idea to make sure you understand how the sponsor file format works before doing anything else.

The sponsor file is our main tool and making sure it is up to date is a good way to track the work you have done and make sure we don't contact a sponsor twice by mistake.

Initial contact

  1. Check the files in the current year's sponsors-list directory in the git repository in order to see the status of the potential sponsor and addresses

  2. Send an email to the contact and CC sponsors@debconf.org. This email should include:

  3. Update the sponsor file in git

Follow-up

It's a good idea to contact a potential sponsor another time if they haven't replied to your first email after a month or two.

Don't forget to update the sponsor file accordingly!

Finalizing the deal

Once the potential sponsor confirms at what tier they want to sponsor us we need to:

  1. Update the sponsor file accordingly (add tier, amount, etc.)
  2. Make sure the invoicing address we have is the right one. If there is no previous invoicing address in the sponsor file, we need to ask for one and add it.
  3. Ask the sponsor in what currency (and thus by what TO) they want to be invoiced in.
  4. Make sure the logo we have for them in the logo repository is the right one. If there is no logo, if it's not a logo in a vector format or if the logo has changed, we need to ask for a new one and add it in git.
  5. Make sure the logo link that will be posted on the website is the right one. If there is no link, we need to ask for one and add it in git.

  6. Create a Merge Request on the current year's website to add the logo to the sponsors section.

  7. Ask the chosen TO to invoice the sponsor. Since TOs have different invoicing workflow, please refer yourself to the "How to Invoice a Sponsor" section for more details.
  8. Update the sponsor file when the TO confirms they have received the money.

At the end of the conference

If you have the energy to do this, it is nice to send our sponsors a bag containing t-shirts and goodies given at the conference accompanied by a letter thanking them.

This is best done during the conference and not afterwards. It's much easier to pack everything during the conference and to collect the missing contact info.

Note that this is not a requirement and can be skipped if you are overworked.

How to Invoice a Sponsor

Via SPI

Since the bulk of our sponsors are invoiced via SPI, we issue invoices ourselves. Here is the workflow that needs to be followed:

  1. Open an RT ticket at debconf-invoices@rt.spi-inc.org saying who you are invoicing and for what amount.

  2. Fill out the SPI invoice model in the sponsors git repository (/sponsors/dcYY/invoices/SPI/00_invoice_model.ott)

  3. Save the invoice as yyyymmdd-rtticketnumber_name in PDF and ODT format in git (ex. 20181129-2475_bfh.pdf)

  4. Add the PDF invoice to the SPI RT ticket
  5. Send the invoice to the sponsor
  6. Update the sponsor file accordingly (modify status, add entry, etc.)
  7. Once the money arrived on SPI's bank account, SPI treasurer will close the RT ticket.

If you need help with this process, please write on the mailing list or ping people who have done this before on the IRC channel.

Via Debian France

  1. Send an email to tresorier@france.debian.net with all the relevant details.

  2. Save the invoice they send you in the git repository
  3. Update the sponsor file accordingly (modify status, add entry, etc.)

Via Debian CH

  1. Send an email to treasurer@debian.ch with all the relevant details.

  2. Save the invoice they send you in the git repository
  3. Update the sponsor file accordingly (modify status, add entry, etc.)