Old Hardware Grants Howto

Quick Guide:
Most grants are for computers. This is a rough overview of the process. The process is still in development and we will try to streamline it, but as people learn it, we will be able to get a current status of all our outstanding requests easily.


 * The application process
 * Grant arrives: RT hygeine and application-checking
 * Is it an instagrant?
 * Grant meeting: the grants and their shepherds
 * Denying a grant
 * Filling a grant

Detailed Instructions

 * The application process: An organization (the "Requestor") can only request a grant via the form on the grants web page http://freegeek.org/grants.php. This both creates a ticket in the Request Tracker (RT) and sends an email to the grants list. Requestors get no confirmation of receipt. (The grants list is found at http://lists.freegeek.org/listinfo/grants, and the ticket tracker is at http://todo.freegeek.org/rt/.
 * Everyone working on the grant committee should be on the list and have a HardwareGrants RT account as well. Anyone on the grants group may perform the following grant-application processing.
 * When a grant arrives, it needs some massaging.
 * The Subject should be changed to the organization name.
 * The Requestor should be changed to the requestor's email address (and the existing one removed).
 * The application should be checked to see if all important questions are answered and if it's a valid
 * If it's not a valid request (It's for an individual, a for-profit business, it's a request for money or a copy of Win2k):
 * Take the ticket
 * Change ticket GrantStatus to Denied
 * Email the requestor with the reason
 * Change ticket Status to Resolved.
 * There are several GrantStatuses a grant might have at any given point:
 * Requested (Grant submitted but not yet reviewed.)
 * NeedsClarification (We are missing crucial information and need clarity to proceed.)
 * Pending (We have all information necessary, but have not yet decided.)
 * Denied (We have denied the grant request.)
 * Approved (We have approved the grant request.)
 * InstaGranted (We have decided to give the hardware out before the next meeting.)
 * Finished (The equipment has been disbursed.)
 * Orphaned (The shepherd for this grant has abandoned it.)
 * When a grant comes in, someone needs to go to the ticket tracker, and:
 * change its initial GrantStatus to "Requested"
 * Edit the subject (title of the request) and make it distinguishable from all the other requests, probably by including the organizational name

When this is done, reply to the grant on the list, make the title of your post match the new title of the request, and include a link to the ticket in the post.
 * A request needs a "shepherd" to go anywhere. If you want to shepherd a grant thorugh the process, you should go to the ticket tracker and "Take" the ticket. This makes you the shepherd. Once you are a shepherd, you are committing to getting the grant through to approval and disbursion (or denial).
 * The shepherd (or someone else if there is no shepherd yet) needs to read the grant and determine if we have all the information we need to proceed.
 * If you find that information is lacking, you should reply to the requestor and change the GrantStatus to "NeedsClarification" in the ticket tracker.
 * If you find that all the information is there, change the GrantStatus to "Pending" in the ticket tracker.
 * The grants group meets monthly to determine the fate of all pending grants. After this meeting, anyone shepherding a grant request may:
 * Change its GrantStatus in the ticket tracker to "Denied", and the Status to "Resolved", if the request has been denied.
 * Set its GrantStatus to "Approved", if the request has been "Approved." (Do not "Resolve" the ticket at this point.)
 * Contact the requestor and inform them of the decision.
 * When a grantee comes and gets an approved grant, the shepherd needs to:
 * change the GrantStatus in the ticket tracker to "Finished"
 * change the basic ticket status to "Resolved" the ticket (this way, we can say that all requests with a GrantStatus of "Approved" are still in limbo and need to be picked up)
 * complete the associated Quality Control (QC) Sheet (for systems), or note gizmo numbers for data entry (for other hardware)
 * if necessary, assign a "Recipient ID" to the Grantee in the FGDB
 * InstaGrants happen between meetings. If an instagrant happens, it should be entered into the ticket tracker with a GrantStatus of "InstaGranted". When the equipment is disbursed change the GrantStatus to "Finished," "Resolve" the ticket, assign a "Recipient ID" if necessary, and provide for updating the status of the granted equipment in the FGDB, as above.
 * If a shepherd moves on to other pastures and leaves his requests behind, someone needs to go through his tickets and change all their GrantStatuses to "Orphaned".

Non-computer grants can be treated just like computer grants. If, for some reason, the web form doesn't serve the purpose, a new ticket can be made in one of two other ways:
 * Send an email to hardware-grants@freegeek.org . The subject of your email will become the title of the request.
 * Go to the ticket tracker and enter it using the web interface.

During the course of a requests lifespan, it is often good to comment on the request, adding a note that contains information about how the request needs to be implemented for instance. This can be done in one of two ways:
 * Through the web interface
 * By sending an email to hardware-grants@freegeek.org with a subject that contains a string like "[freegeek.org #123]" (where 123 is the ticket number).