Transparency Report Email Automation

[harmonyromo]

There are currently several automated planning emails that are sent depending on certain triggers in the WordCamp Tracker. One group that could use more contact are those WordCamps running money locally, meaning they are collecting ticket income and/or sponsorship income locally and using those funds to pay expenses in cash or using a local cash app. This process is instead of having WPCS collect income for them and make payments to vendors for them.

Those events that choose to run funds locally are required to submit a transparency report within a few weeks of the close of the event. In 2023, there were 23 events required to submit transparency reports after the close of their camps. Currently, there is a check box in the WordCamp Information section of the tracker that says "The organizing team is running funds through WPCS". If that box is not checked, it indicates local money handling and the need for a transparency report.

I am currently trying to send check in emails a few weeks prior to the event to remind the team of the requirement, then I have 3 different emails to be sent after the close of the event. Here is a visual timeline for those emails:

The ideal process would be:

1. Budget approved and indicator to signal running money locally is manually marked
2. 1 month prior to the event, an automated email goes out with a reminder about the transparency report requirement and timing
3. 2 weeks post event, an automated email goes to the organizing team requesting the transparency report
4. If the report is submitted, there is a box that can be checked to indicate receipt of the report, hence stopping any additional automated emails
5. If no report is submitted, 2 weeks later, a 2nd request email is automatically sent
6. Same process as step 4.
7. If still no report is submitted, another 2 weeks later the 3rd and final request for the report is automatically sent
8. By having a box to indicate receipt of the report, this will also help as work is done to vet applications in future years. The person vetting an application can see if there is still an outstanding report for a particular locale, in which case, the application cannot be moved forward until the report is received.

[renintw]

Summarize a bit my understanding, let me know if I'm wrong about any, thanks 🙂 :

Emails

1st automated email: sent 1 month before the event. 2nd automated email: sent 2 weeks after the event. 3rd automated email: (if the checkbox isn't checked) sent 4 weeks after the event. 4th automated email: (if the checkbox isn't checked) sent 6 weeks after the event.

At least 2 automated emails and at most 4.

Checkbox

Also need a new checkbox that, when checked, indicates the report has been received and stops any further automated emails.

I imagine the checkbox would also be placed in the WordCamp Information section, likely beneath the "Running money through WPCS PBC" checkbox?

Additional Questions:

1. I'm thinking would the new "transparency report received" checkbox be manually checked by someone, or can be automatically checked when the report is submitted/received? I think it depends on whether you really need it to be automatically checked and where the report is sent to, is it Google Drive here?

2. Since I'm trying to make future ticket descriptions more consistent, aiming for clearer goals and task assignments, could you add a bit more info to this ticket, briefly describe it in terms of:

   • What problem was initially encountered?
   • Objectives of the ticket?
   • How would this new process contribute to the intended objectives? (I'm just trying to understand if there might be alternative methods or if this is really a necessary one, as some organizers might still choose to ignore those emails? You may have already considered various options and made assessments. Could you briefly explain?)
   • Which stakeholders stand to benefit from implementing the processes outlined in this ticket?
   • What is the priority of this ticket for you?

[harmonyromo]

Your understanding of the request is accurate.

In response to your questions:

I'm thinking would the new "transparency report received" checkbox be manually checked by someone, or can be automatically checked when the report is submitted/received? I think it depends on whether you really need it to be automatically checked and where the report is sent to, is it Google Drive here?

At this point, the review and receipt process is very manual. There is no "tool" we use that could be tapped for this level of automation. Currently, I'm manually setting up Google Drive's with a spreadsheet containing a financial recap template that organizers fill in to complete the report.

What problem was initially encountered? Objectives of the ticket?

Having email touches automated would lead to more consistency and timely emails. Since I am the only individual handling the entire process, due to other duties, often times my emails are sent at different intervals that what I would prefer. When emails are sent after the close of an event, if they are not sent at the regular intervals, the report is often received much later than it should be.

How would this new process contribute to the intended objectives? (I'm just trying to understand if there might be alternative methods or if this is really a necessary one, as some organizers might still choose to ignore those emails? You may have already considered various options and made assessments. Could you briefly explain?)

By sending a touch a few weeks out from the event, it is a good reminder to the organizer to retain receipts/invoices when they are most likely doing the most spending. Given the severity of the consequences related to failing to submit a report timely, I find that organizers are responsive most of the time. The emails are a newer addition to the process, and I have found that they have improved submission times and responsiveness. That said, there is still a good bit of work to be done to improve the process overall. In my mind (not being a developer, so please correct me if I am wrong), these additions would be a small lift leading to a more consistent message from Central.

Which stakeholders stand to benefit from implementing the processes outlined in this ticket?

Myself as the main facilitator of the Transparency Reporting process, but also organizers of events running funds outside of WPCS, since the pre-event email touch should be a very helpful reminder when activity is at its highest.

What is the priority of this ticket for you?

I'd say it depends. If this ask requires a lot of dev time to build, it may not be worth pushing to the top of the list. I would need to see the other tickets that are high priority to decide. In my mind, this falls somewhere near the top if it is a smaller project.

[dorsvenabili]

Also need a new checkbox that, when checked, indicates the report has been received and stops any further automated emails. I imagine the checkbox would also be placed in the WordCamp Information section, likely beneath the "Running money through WPCS PBC" checkbox?

Important heads up about this new checkbox. Only Admins or Superadmins of the site should be able to check/uncheck this new checkbox.

The lead organizer of the event is an Author of this post by default, they're responsible for sending the Transparency Report, but the Program Managers are the ones responsible for reviewing these reports and marking that they have been received and completed.

[renintw]

@dorsvenabili @harmonyromo

Thanks for providing extra details, I got two more questions:

1. Is it ok to set the expected recipients for emails as the "organizing team (typically city@wordcamp.org)" and "The Budget Wrangler"?

2. I've done some tests about the access permissions for admins and super admins for WordCamp in the WordCamp Tracker on production, and here are the results:

   • Super admin can access the WordCamp editing page, and can check/uncheck the new checkbox.
   • Admin + author can access the WordCamp editing page, and can check/uncheck the new checkbox.
   • Author can access the WordCamp editing page, but cannot check/uncheck the new checkbox.
   • Admin cannot access the WordCamp editing page, so they cannot check/uncheck the new checkbox.

About the last one - Admin, is its behavior expected? It seems that admins have never been able to edit any WordCamp unless they are also the author (organizer); this means they essentially cannot check/uncheck the new checkbox.

[renintw]

The programming logic required for this ticket has been completed and, once deployed, new automated reminders with the features added here can be created in the organizer reminder to achieve the desired outcome here.

Additionally, the comment question above is still awaiting a response.

[harmonyromo]

Is it ok to set the expected recipients for emails as the "organizing team (typically city@wordcamp.org)" and "The Budget Wrangler"?

Yes, this is exactly who the recipient should be

About the last one - Admin, is its behavior expected? It seems that admins have never been able to edit any WordCamp unless they are also the author (organizer); this means they essentially cannot check/uncheck the new checkbox.

The only individuals who will be involved in the reporting process would be some of the program managers and the WordCamp Central team members, who have super admin access. I'm not sure what level of access program managers have. Typically, organizers are not able to see the private notes, etc, which is what I would consider this check box to mirror.

[dorsvenabili]

Thank you all! Answering your questions above:

1. Is it ok to set the expected recipients for emails as the "organizing team (typically city@wordcamp.org)" and "The Budget Wrangler"? I would add the Lead Organizer as an expected recipient of these emails as well.

2. About access permissions. This is the expected behavior:

• Super admin can access the WordCamp editing page and can check/uncheck the new checkbox.
• Admin can access the WordCamp editing page and can check/uncheck the new checkbox.
• Author can access the WordCamp editing page, but cannot check/uncheck the new checkbox.
• Any other roles (Editor, subscriber, etc.), should not be able to check/uncheck the new checkbox.

About the last one - Admin, is its behavior expected? It seems that admins have never been able to edit any WordCamp unless they are also the author (organizer); this means they essentially cannot check/uncheck the new checkbox.

This is not expected, so I updated it in the answer of the point 2. above.

[renintw]

Thanks @harmonyromo and @dorsvenabili 🙂

I would add the Lead Organizer as an expected recipient of these emails as well.

Currently, there is no option for 'Lead Organizer' as a recipient. I have opened a ticket, and it will be scheduled and added later.

This is not expected, so I updated it in the answer of the point 2. above.

It appears that "admins cannot access the WordCamp editing page, so they cannot check/uncheck the new checkbox" has been a longstanding issue, which also indicates that program managers have never had access to the WordCamp editing page. Opened a ticket for it as well.

I'm not sure what level of access program managers have.

I think it's admin. https://make.wordpress.org/community/handbook/community-deputy/super-deputies/program-manager-access-list/

[harmonyromo]

@renintw To make sure I'm not missing something, it still looks like the triggering event for these automated messages will need some work. Currently, there is a box left empty to indicate an event is running money locally (these are the events who need to turn in transparency reports). The box is only checked if the event has chosen to run money through WPCS.

There would need to be some distinguishing trigger for those events that are choosing to run funds locally, and I'm not sure what would be best. Thank you for setting me straight!

[renintw]

@harmonyromo

To make sure I'm not missing something, it still looks like the triggering event for these automated messages will need some work.

Exactly, because two additional subtasks were added later, the trigger hasn't been set yet. And since one of them has already been resolved, and the other is a long-standing issue that needs a bit more effort and won't affect the triggering here (super admins and authors can still edit the WordCamp CPT to check the Transparency Report Received box), you can do the setup now.

To set up the trigger now, the following steps are needed:

1. Schedule the 1st automated email: Sent 1 month before the event. Please go here, fill in your desired email reminder content, and then publish it. You can see that the recipient and sending time have already been selected in the Reminder Details section.

2. Schedule the 2nd automated email: Sent 2 weeks after the event. Please go here, fill in the content, and publish it. The recipient and sending time have already been selected as well. (It's set to "after the camp ends and no transparency report is received: 14 days," which means the email will be sent 14 days after the event ends if the transparency report hasn't been received.)

3. Schedule the 3rd automated email: (If the checkbox isn't checked) Sent 4 weeks (28 days) after the event. Click here to fill in the content and publish it.

4. Schedule the 4th automated email: (If the checkbox isn't checked) Sent 6 weeks (42 days) after the event. Click here to fill in the content and publish it.

Once these are set, if the organizer hasn't checked the Transparency Report Received box on the WordCamp editing page by the 2nd week after the event ends, an email will be sent. If it's still not checked by the 4th week, another email will be sent, and the same for the 6th week.

There would need to be some distinguishing trigger for those events that are choosing to run funds locally, and I'm not sure what would be best.

I don't quite understand this. Could you provide an example or explain in more detail? What you'd like to trigger? If the goal is to trigger whether to send the transparency automated reminder email, the Transparency Report Received checkbox should suffice? (You can see the checkbox on any WordCamp's editing page. Example)

[harmonyromo]

If the goal is to trigger whether to send the transparency automated reminder email, the Transparency Report Received checkbox should suffice?

Happy to explain. Not all of our events will need to submit a transparency report. Only those events that we send a grant to will need to follow this process. The organizers receive the grant funds, and then they will use the funds to pay the various vendors as needed (caterer, audio/visual assistance, venue, etc.)

For most of our events, WPCS will pay all vendors and receive all sponsorship & ticket income on behalf of the organizing team, so they don't need to touch money at all. This reduces a lot of the risks involved in operating our events program the way we do.

Not all events will need to check the box to indicate a transparency report has been received. This would only apply to events that have not checked the box "Running money through WPCS" will need to follow this process.

Here is a screenshot of Buffalo for example. They are based in the US, so there is no need to send grant funds. Typically, we will send grant funds to places where it is extremely hard to make wire transfers to pay vendors, or its difficult for sponsors to send a wire transfer to the US. India, for instance, has a very closed banking system, and its very difficult to pay vendors by wire transfer, so we send a lump sum to organizers to pay vendors in cash.

Only those events where the box is left unchecked would need to submit a report. This, in our minds, makes the trigger a bit more complicated. I haven't published the emails just yet, since we don't want these emails to go to any of the events who have chosen to run money through WPCS.

[renintw]

@harmonyromo Thank you for the detailed explanation. I understand now 👍

Adding this logic won't be too complex. Currently, when an organizer reminder is set as 14 days, if the organizer hasn't checked the "Transparency Report Received" box by the 14th day, a reminder email is sent.

And now, I just need to add a condition - assuming the organizer reminder is set as 14 days as well, on the 14th day, first ensure that the event is NOT "Running money through WPCS PBC" and the organizer hasn't checked the "Transparency Report Received" box, then the reminder email is sent.

Do you think this makes sense? This will all run in the background, though. I'm thinking if you're looking for any text prompts or UI notifications for this as well?

[harmonyromo]

This makes sense to me, and now it's just a matter of us being able to set the triggers on our end. Thank you!!

[renintw]

@harmonyromo The PR is complete. If possible, please help me check if the testing cases here meet the requirements. Thank you!