Post by CSA Treasurer, Anne Bowser
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The Citizen Science Association is an open community of researchers, practitioners, and others who seek to advance the field, and over the last few months we have channeled many of our efforts towards community building. Our new webinars (recent and upcoming) are a structured approach to sharing knowledge among among community members.

Less formally, this Thanksgiving we hosted a #ThanksCitSci Twitter campaign that prompted hundreds across this community to express what citizen science means to them. We also asked for feedback on CSA’s membership services, and how we can become more valuable to our members and broader community base.

Some of the messages that reached us included requests for greater transparency, particularly where our finances are concerned. While CSA’s Treasurer gives a financial report during the Town Hall session at our biannual conference, we have been laying the groundwork to check in more frequently. We’re pleased to provide here a short brief on CSA’s financial status (PDF available here: CSA Budget Brief DEC 2017). This includes information on:

• The financial structure of CSA, a formal 501(c)3 supported by our fiscal sponsor, Schoodic Institute.
• Our process for drafting and approving CSA’s budget.
• A detailed budget for the current fiscal year.
• Our progress on fundraising to meet these goals, including information on different streams of revenue.

As Treasurer, it’s often easiest for me to understand the priorities of a research project or organization when I can see the numbers behind the activities. By sharing this information we hope to offer greater transparency into our finances, and into the organization as a whole. Moving forward we hope to share a financial report twice each year. Please tell us what you think of this one by emailing treasurer@citizenscience.org.

Posted on: December 15, 2017  |  Category: Blog, CSA Blog