# Mattermost GitHub sponsorship

Mattermost participates in the GitHub sponsorship program to help empower our key contributors and sponsor them for 1 year. The goal of the program is to recognize exceptional community contributions that go above and beyond.

[GitHub Sponsors](https://docs.github.com/en/github/supporting-the-open-source-community-with-github-sponsors/about-github-sponsors#about-github-sponsors) allows the developer community to financially support the people and organizations who design, build, and maintain the open source projects they depend on, directly on GitHub.

## Who is eligible?

Mattermost GitHub sponsorship is considered for [MVP](https://developers.mattermost.com/contribute/mvp/)-like contributors ("Most Valued Professional") in any of the [available regions](https://github.com/sponsors) supported by GitHub.

MVP-like contributors:

* Focus on contributions that have a wider impact that many can benefit from.
* Have proven success working asynchronously in a self-serve, autonomous way that doesn’t require many direct touch points with Mattermost teams to develop, test, or document their contribution.
* Give extra effort in a way that exceeds what’s expected.
* Has, shares, and delivers on a clear vision.
* Steps forward to assist when opportunities present themselves.
* Has demonstrated empathy and understanding for the software development process.

## Eligible contribution areas

* Technical peer help on demand via public forums, including but not limited to: Mattermost Community server, Mattermost User Forum, and the Mattermost subreddit on Reddit.
* Product localization via string translation (known also as l10n and i18n).
* Lead monthly product localization delivery (cherry-pick L10N PRs, weekly community communication, data analytics/reporting, develop and deliver nurture campaigns to increase translation quality).
* Product evangelism for technical communities.
* Fix product issues and add new product functionality to improve the user experience.
* Address user journey gaps such as migration tooling.
* Customer-requested product integrations.

## What types of contributions aren't eligible?

* Code changes to features that Mattermost charges money to use. This includes features available only to Professional or Enterprise customers that aren't open-sourced, and code within the `/enterprise` GitHub repository where the majority of paid Enterprise features are maintained.
* Mattermost product and development documentation contributions. Documentation isn’t currently eligible because of the range of effort complexity involved (from typo fixes to new content development) which doesn’t directly map to the [existing reimbursement structure](https://mattermost-my.sharepoint.com/:w:/p/carrie_warner/ETuKryx9TxlErJpa8a7R9vwB_Nhm4hmjE_lr4d7DMhX82g?e=kGCIsH).

## Process outline

1. A Mattermost staff member recommends a contributor for sponsorship and writes a short motivation to support their recommendation. The nomination should include a description of what the contributor does for us and/or takes ownership for that we'd like to compensate them for. The nomination should be addressed to their direct manager as well as the program lead.
2. An [MLT](https://handbook.mattermost.com/company/about-mattermost/list-of-terms#mlt) senior leader approves the recommendation and notifies the program lead.
3. Program lead sends a request to ap@mattermost.com to approve the sponsorship.
4. Program lead informs the contributor of the nomination. Once the contributor has accepted it (by simply replying to the notice), the sponsorship is processed and appears in the contributor's GitHub profile.
5. The staff member who recommended the contributor acts as an internal mentor to provide product guidance.

## Quarterly check-ins

All sponsorship participants are expected to participate in quarterly check-ins with the program lead. Check-ins can occur asychronously on the Mattermost Community Server, or scheduled as a live meeting using Zoom. The goal of quarterly check-ins is to ensure organizational and program alignment, contributor satisfaction, support, empowerment, as well as participant retention. Continued sponsorship will be reviewed quarterly, and align with the end of Mattermost fiscal year quarters: April, July, October, and January. Sponsorship will be paused following 3 consecutive months of inactivity, disengagement, or failing to respond to check-in requests.

During quarterly check-ins:

* Participants meet with the program lead to share their program feedback on what’s going well, what’s not going well, and any blockers encountered.
* Internal team members working closely with participants share contextual performance feedback with the program lead.

## Process for contributors to exit the program

1. The sponsored contributor informs the program lead, by email, of their intention to leave the program.
2. The program lead sends a request to IT to remove any applicable core contributor privileges as well as the sponsorship itself. Accounts Payable and the staff member who nominated the contributor are included for visibility.

## Notes

* The current program lead is Carrie Warner.
