(QGIS.ORG Verein)
QGIS.ORG is the worldwide association of QGIS users and developers. QGIS.ORG is constituted as a Swiss ‘association’ (Verein im Sinne des Schweizerischen Zivilgesetzbuches (Art. 60-79 ZGB)).
The German version of this document is the legally binding version. It can be translated into other languages.
These three entities are in place to support and represent the broader QGIS Community.
Voting members of the general meeting are the deciders of policy and any major decisions that affect the general standing may be put to the Voting Members for a vote by the PSC. Voting Members vote on any motion raised at the Annual General Meeting. Voting Members also nominate and elect the PSC membership.
The voting members shall be appointed according to the following scheme:
The user group should democratically nominate one person from within their ranks to act as their representative within the QGIS.ORG voting membership.
Honorable members are individual persons who receive special acknowledgment for extraordinary achievements in the QGIS project. Applications for the nomination of an honorable member should be directed to the PSC. The general meeting shall vote about the acceptance of a new honorable member. Honorable members shall have voting rights.
Voting memberships will be valid until:
Sustaining members are members who support QGIS.ORG financially with an annual membership fee. This membership fee is used to cover expenses of QGIS.ORG infrastructure, events and other initiatives to improve the project. Membership fees help to ensure that the QGIS community and the software we produce can be maintained and improved in a sustainable way. Sustaining members have no voting rights (unless they are simultaneously voting members in which case their voting rights are unaffected).
The following categories are offered for sustaining members, based on their size and assigned through self declaration:
Membership fees are approved or changed by the general assembly. They are defined as minimum fees per category, but may be increased if the sustaining member chooses to do so.
Because QGIS.ORG is a world-wide project and different companies, NGOs or governmental organizations have different financial prospects, we do not enforce any membership levels - the organizations pick their own membership level based on self-assessment.
Acceptance of sustaining members shall be subject to the discretion and approval of The Board, who reserve the right to accept or reject applications for sustaining membership and ongoing support memberships as deemed appropriate.
The fees for membership levels and guidelines for management of sustaining members are provided in the governance section of the QGIS.ORG website.
The board is the legal representation of the QGIS.ORG project with authority to sign legal documents on behalf of the QGIS.ORG project.
The official domicile of the association shall be determined by the board. The group is legally represented by the chair’s signature and a signature of an additional member of the board.
The treasurer has sole authority to carry out financial transactions provided they are within the bounds of the annual budget authorized by the general meeting.
Board members shall also be members of the PSC and shall be nominated and elected by the general meeting. In an election of board members, the nominee receiving the greatest number of votes for each position (chair, vice chair, treasurer) shall be appointed. A tied election shall trigger a re-vote until one nominee has the majority. On expiration of a board member’s term, nominees from within the QGIS PSC shall be put forward by the QGIS Voting Members. The outgoing board member shall automatically receive a nomination unless he/she no longer wishes to serve on the board.
Board members will serve for a two year term.
The board shall include at minimum these roles:
Board and PSC members will receive no remuneration for their services other than reimbursement of out-of-pocket expenses incurred when carrying out activities on behalf of the board.
In the event of a board member resigning from the board, the PSC shall put forward from within their ranks a replacement for the board who shall serve in that position until the next AGM is called.
On expiration of a PSC member’s term, nominees from within the QGIS Voting Membership shall be put forward by any QGIS Community Member. The outgoing PSC member shall automatically receive a nomination unless he/she no longer wishes to serve on the PSC. If an incoming PSC member is a Voting Member, they will relinquish their voting membership in the general meeting on joining the PSC.
Prior to the election, the outgoing PSC determines the total number of seats of the incoming committee. QGIS Voting Members shall be allowed a number of votes equal to the number of PSC memberships up for election and shall be asked to rank their votes in order of preference. The votes shall be weighted based on the number of PSC positions being voted for. For example if three PSC positions are available, each first choice vote shall be worth 3 points, second point vote 2 points and so on. PSC memberships shall be awarded on the total weighted score of the vote, with the nominee receiving the greatest score being awarded PSC membership first and so on in descending order of score of votes received until all PSC memberships have been allocated. A list of currently serving PSC members shall be maintained at: https://www.qgis.org/en/site/getinvolved/governance/
PSC members will serve for a two year term.
Gary Sherman, as founder of the QGIS project, shall be accorded lifetime honorary membership on the QGIS PSC from its inception. By common vote, QGIS.ORG may award any individual a lifetime honorary seat on the PSC.
The annual general meeting (AGM) will be held via a virtual forum The online location and date is to be determined and communicated by the board in advance of the meeting. The board shall publish a meeting agenda prior to the meeting. The protocol of the past general meeting shall be provided by the board and sent to the voting members at least 15 days prior to each general meeting. The chair of the association authorizes the release of the protocol.
The meeting shall be open to all QGIS community members. Only voting members can vote on any motion. Substantial proposals made by QGIS community members for future QGIS.ORG activities should be provided to the board in writing to be added as agenda items in advance of the meeting. Minor proposals should be presented to the board and dealt with independently of the AGM.
The annual general meeting shall deal with the following:
All other decisions and competences are the responsibility of the QGIS Board.
Extraordinary meetings can be convened by the board or on demand of at least 2/5 of the voting members.
Every officially convened general meeting has a quorum. At elections and for voting a simple majority (more than 50%) of the present members decides, except for the cases listed in sections 7.1, 8.1. and 5.4.
The reporting year and the accounting year starts at January 1 and ends at December 31.
The correspondence of the QGIS.ORG Association will be carried out in English, unless otherwise requested by the authorities.
The association can only be dissolved by the general motion with a majority of more than 3⁄4 of the voting members affirming the motion. In case of the liquidation of the association, the general meeting can vote on the usage of the assets of the association with a simple majority (more than 50% of voters).
The financial revenues of QGIS.ORG shall originate from donations, memberships, grant funding and other diverse sources.
The general meeting shall elect two financial auditors each year.
Limited Liability: the QGIS Association can only be held liable up to the amount of the current assets of the association. Personal liability of members of the board or individual other members are excluded.
This charter was approved by the general assembly via Loomio vote on March 17, 2019.