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For discussion: Privacy Guides Fund #18

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For discussion: Privacy Guides Fund #18

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---
layout: page
title: "MAGIC Privacy Guides Fund"
---

*Updated 2024-03-01*

## Background

Multidisciplinary Academic Grants in Cryptocurrencies (**MAGIC Grants**) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. It can conduct a variety of qualifying charitable activities, which notably include the following:

* Creating educational materials
* Purchasing and distributing educational materials
* Supporting the “maintenance of public infrastructure”
* “Public infrastructure” in this case refers to major public cryptocurrency networks
* “Supporting” refers to research, development, node operation, and security testing, among others

[Privacy Guides](https://privacyguides.org) is a socially motivated website that provides information for protecting your data security and privacy (the **Project**). Their mission is to inform the public about the value of digital privacy, and global government initiatives which aim to monitor your online activity. Their website is free of advertisements and not affiliated with any of the listed providers.

## Creation of the Fund

At the time of the fund's creation, the five Privacy Guides team members are jonah, niek-de-wilde, dngray, freedy, and olivia.
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These five individuals will join as the initial five committee members.

The existing assets for the Privacy Guides Project, including assets held by the Open Collective Foundation and the assets held by individual team members, will be transferred to MAGIC Grants in a restricted donation to the MAGIC Privacy Guides Fund (the **MAGIC Fund**).
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What will this restricted donation letter look like? Or will I have to write this? Not necessarily a problem, but I suppose I'd probably want to find a lawyer?

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You don't need to write this. I'll send you our standard donation letter. If you want to get a lawyer to confirm that the restrictions are appropriate, then you can do that.


MAGIC Grants will waive the MAGIC Fund asset and minimum fees.

## MAGIC Fund Committee

*Any details in **Appendix C** supersede the relevant paragraphs in this section.*

The MAGIC Fund Committee is an important group of individuals elected by the MAGIC Fund Voters (or selected through another process described in **Appendix C**). This committee will vote on the distribution and investment strategy of the MAGIC Fund.

The details of the number of committee members, term length, and voting schedule will be determined by MAGIC Grants, and they are noted in **Appendix C**.

MAGIC Fund Committee resignations or removals will initiate a special election, for which the newly-elected member will serve the remainder of the resigning or removed member’s term.

MAGIC Fund Committee members are not required to be public figures. If for any reason the MAGIC Fund Committee members are to receive compensation for their duties, they are required to submit information as required to MAGIC Grants. Any elected member may optionally forgo compensation (if applicable) for this requirement to not apply, but MAGIC Grants may still require disclosures for the enforcement of its policies. MAGIC Grants will determine what documents need to be provided.

## MAGIC Veto Powers

For legal reasons, the MAGIC Grants board shall have an inalterable veto on any decisions (including but not limited to grant disbursement and investment decisions) of the MAGIC Fund committee. This veto may only be used in the following cases (to be determined in the board’s sole discretion):

* Any decisions that would not be allowable under MAGIC Grants’s charitable purpose.
* Any decisions that would pose a high sanctions, money laundering, or terrorist financing risk.
* Any decisions that would violate applicable laws and regulations.
* Any decisions that would violate [MAGIC Grants policies](/about/documentation/), including but not limited to MAGIC Grants’s Non-Discrimination Policy, Conflict of Interest Policy, and Investment Policy.
* Any decisions that would provide improper disbursement to committee members, including those that violate the restrictions in **Appendix D**.
* Any decisions that would violate the restrictions in **Appendix A**.

## MAGIC Fund Committee Ethical and Legal Violations

If the MAGIC Grants board determines (in its sole discretion) that any MAGIC Fund committee member has materially violated any MAGIC Grants policies, or is a compliance or legal risk to MAGIC Grants, MAGIC Grants may immediately remove the relevant committee member.

## MAGIC Fund Committee Member Impeachment

*Any details in **Appendix C** supersede the relevant paragraphs in this section.*

If MAGIC Fund Voters wish to impeach an elected committee member, they can call for a special vote. Three quarters of all MAGIC Fund Voters must vote for the committee member’s impeachment (for clarity: not three quarters of just the voter turnout). Should this threshold be met, the MAGIC Grants Board shall evaluate the situation and determine in its own discretion whether to remove the committee member or not.

Committee members can vote to impeach another committee member. All other committee members must vote for the committee member's impeachment. Should this occur, the MAGIC Grants board shall evaluate the situation and determine in its own discretion whether to remove the committee member or not.

## Fund Disbursement Requirements

MAGIC Grants will assist with the proper disbursement of funds. In general, funds must be paid after completion of relevant contract work, or with controls as required by law. Contractors will be expected to sign a contract that covers the scope of work and payment terms. MAGIC Grants will provide this contract.

As required by law, contractors and employees will be required to provide certain documents to MAGIC Grants. This information will not be shared publicly or with the MAGIC Fund Committee to the extent allowable by law. MAGIC Grants will determine what documents need to be provided. MAGIC Grants may be legally required to publicly disclose compensation that meets certain criteria; please ask the board for specifics if this applies.

## Grant Applications and MAGIC Fund Use

The MAGIC Fund Committee shall decide how to use the MAGIC Fund, including the application process and deadlines (if any) for grant applications. MAGIC Grants encourages consistency for most grants while still allowing for agile grants as appropriate.

The MAGIC Fund Committee requires at least **3 votes** to approve grant disbursements and investment decisions. A committee quorum requires at least **3 committee members** to be present. These can be changed by the board (for example if a larger committee is desired). The board may optionally use a binding or a non-binding election to collect feedback on potentially changing these thresholds.

Selected MAGIC Fund investment decisions must comply with the MAGIC Investment Policy. MAGIC Grants allows MAGIC Funds to have wide discretion over their own investment policies so long as they are compatible with MAGIC’s Investment Policy.
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Are fund disbursements and grant disbursements separate? I am wondering how many votes would be needed to approve expenses for e.g. servers/CDN/etc.

(Currently it is 1 lol)

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Grant disbursements are a subset of fund disbursements. This was originally written for a committee that would have more "bulk grants" than recurring expenses, and I can improve it if you like for your situation (or it can be improved later). The committee can vote to delegate responsibility to a committee chair for basic recurring expenses like servers/CDN.

In any case, the use of funds needs to be justified by the organization's mission, and there are requirements before money can be sent to someone else. For vendors like servers/CDN, you just need to explain why this vendor is being selected with some justification ("this is the most privacy-friendly" is an example) and then that will suffice.

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Okay so that sounds more a less what we were doing with OC then.


## Compensation for MAGIC Fund Committee Members

The MAGIC Fund Voters must explicitly vote to change the amount of compensation allowable to MAGIC Fund Committee Members for such compensation to be made available from the MAGIC Fund, and limits (such as hourly rates) must be established in the vote. MAGIC Grants will veto any disbursement that does not meet these predetermined guidelines. Committee members may optionally forgo compensation, though this should not be expected or pressured in any way. MAGIC Grants may be legally required to publicly disclose compensation that meets certain criteria; please ask the MAGIC board for specifics if this applies. MAGIC Fund Committee Members may elect to have their due compensation paid to another entity, subject to MAGIC Grants board approval.

The initial level of allowable compensation and restrictions are listed in **Appendix D**.

## Approximate Time Commitments per Year

| Position | Annual Hours |
| --- | --- |
| MAGIC Fund Voter | **N/A** |
| MAGIC Fund Committee Member | **150 hours** |

## Meeting Minutes

The MAGIC Fund Committee should provide meeting minutes to MAGIC Grants and to the public. Committee members may use pseudonyms in the meeting minutes if preferred. These should be available on the MAGIC Grants website within 60 days of the committee meeting.

## Donations from MAGIC Fund to MAGIC Grants

Should the MAGIC Fund Committee decide to donate funds to MAGIC Grants, such a decision must be approved by a MAGIC Fund Voters majority vote. This does not include payments of fees levied by MAGIC Grants on the MAGIC Fund.

## MAGIC Fund Fees

MAGIC Grants may impose fees on the MAGIC Fund. These are described in the [MAGIC Fund Fees document](/funds/fund_fees). They may be changed from time to time as described in the document.

## Fund End of Life

The Fund can be closed and the remaining assets given to MAGIC Grants or another entity under any of the following independent conditions:

* The Fund has no remaining assets or a negative balance. MAGIC Grants may close the Fund with 30 days’ notice if not rectified in that time.
* If applicable, the Fund has fewer assets than the minimum annual fee 30-60 days before the next minimum fee is due. MAGIC Grants may announce at least 30 days before the fee is due its intention to close the Fund, giving the committee a chance to determine how to disburse the remaining assets before the fee is charged.
* MAGIC Grants issues a notice at least 1 year in advance that it wishes to close the Fund, giving the committee a chance to determine how to disburse the remaining assets.
* The committee votes unanimously to close the Fund. MAGIC Grants may optionally also require a Voter majority vote.
* The committee votes by majority vote to “split” the Fund into several Funds. This is intended for major Project changes or splits (eg: Bitcoin/Bitcoin Cash). MAGIC Grants may optionally “freeze” the existing Fund while it is determining how to allocate assets among the two new Funds. MAGIC Grants may deny the formation of new Funds, preventing the “split” in effect. Should MAGIC Grants agree to “split” the Fund, Voters must agree by majority vote to 1) close the existing Fund, 2) open two (or more, as applicable) new Funds under new charter documents, and 3) vote to approve the allocation of assets among the new Funds. The new Funds will then undergo the typical Fund startup processes of selecting Voters and electing a committee, subject requirements listed in those new Fund charter documents.

## Renaming the Fund

The committee can vote by majority vote to rename the Fund, which must be approved by MAGIC Grants.

## Changes to this Document

Unless other restrictions apply to the relevant sections, the committee may modify this document by majority vote. MAGIC Grants must approve the changes, and it may require a Voter majority vote to approve the changes even if this is not explicitly required by the existing language. Unless waived by MAGIC Grants, proposed changes should be announced publicly at least 30 days in advance of the change.

Should any portion of this document affect the legal standing of MAGIC Grants, MAGIC Grants may change the relevant portions without any other approvals and without notice.

## MAGIC Grants Existing Board

[Link](/about/)

## Contact Information

MAGIC Grants: [[email protected]](mailto:[email protected])

MAGIC **Project** Fund (emails all committee members): [<>@magicgrants.org](mailto:<>@magicgrants.org)

## Appendix A - Restrictions on Grant Disbursements

In addition to all the normal restrictions on grant disbursements, this MAGIC Fund shall have the following additional restrictions on grant disbursements:

* None

## Appendix B - MAGIC Fund Voter Modifications

Modifications to MAGIC Fund Voters:

* There are no MAGIC Fund Voters for this MAGIC Fund.
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This is how we want it, but some sections refer to "Voter majority votes" (L120, L154 for example), so how would these work? Is it explicitly said somewhere that "Committee Members" are also "Voters," or can we explicitly say that if not?

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I will take out other references to the Voters, since that does not apply


## Appendix C - MAGIC Fund Committee Members and Elections

Initially, there will be 5 committee members. None of the committee members are elected, and they will serve indefinite terms.

## Appendix D - Committee Allowable Compensation and Restrictions

The amount allowable for committee member compensation is the lesser value of the restrictions imposed by Parts A and B:

Part A: This is the compensation allowable to committee members by Voters (modifiable by board-approved Voter majority vote):

* Term: Monthly
* Amount: $0
* Maximum amount per month: $0
* Maximum amount per year: $0
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Does this refer exclusively to compensation received solely for being a committee member, or would it extend to reimbursement for expenses or payment for actual time worked as well?

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It does not apply for expenses, but in general, it would cover time worked as well. If you want the committee to be able to be compensated for their time, let me know.

Being compensated for their work as a committee member instead of as a contracted person by the committee is strongly preferred.


Part B: This is the compensation allowable to committee members by the MAGIC Grants board (modifiable by the MAGIC Grants board only):

* Review the [MAGIC Grants Committee Compensation Limits](/funds/committee_compensation_limits) document, modifiable from time to time without prior notice to reflect market conditions.