I would like to thank those who have wished me well in the position as 
Chair of the NCSG finance committee and take this opportunity to make a 
short assessment of the issues and challenges to be faced. First, here 
is a bit of background. I am the long serving treasurer for a small 
community museum support group whose budget amounts are similar to those 
involved in this position. I have been on non-profit boards with annual 
budgets of several million dollars , and with a past as board chair I am 
well aware of the transparency and accountability requirements for 
fiduciary responsibility.

I am now also the treasurer for NPOC and will represent NPOC on the 
finance committee. Tapani, as chair of NCSG, is on the committee. NCUC 
will designate a person to the committee.

Initially I have two goals. The first is to propose a reporting scheme 
for NCSG, NCUC and NPOC to report out financial information in ways that 
support transparency and accountability, as a matter of best practice 
and not because of any worries about accountability. The second is look 
for possible improvements for how the modest (minimal) funding is 
administered. That involves dealing with a number of minor but 
bedeviling issues. None of our three entities has an independent legal 
status (we are not NGO’s). Thus, most financial systems will not allow 
us to have independent bank accounts. At the moment the NPOC account is 
held by an individual, as is the case I believe for NCSG and NCUC. Also, 
for such accounts national tax authorities may treat deposits as 
“personal income” and impose taxes. The committee will explore (the 
rather limited) options for independent bank accounts. The occasional 
suggestion that NCSG, et. al., look to incorporation as not-for-profit 
entities brings additional complications and is an unlikely option.

Some of the comments have brought up the prospects for “fund raising”. 
Certainly, if George Soros turned up with his Open Government support 
cheque/check book, we would figure out how to be grateful recipients, 
but that is unlikely.  At the moment the activities of our groups may 
have modest ongoing financial support from some quarters, but we mainly 
gain effectiveness in outreach and engagement by partnering in with 
others to do what we do. That is probably where we best continue our 
efforts to leverage our effectiveness in outreach and engagement, and in 
recruiting support for engagement within ICANN's activities. I note that 
“partnership” is goal #17 in the UN’s list of 17 Sustainable Development 
Goals (SDGs).

It is beyond the scope of the finance committee but we might 
collectively consider doing an annual report of such collaborative 
outreach and engagement to document the extent of our multistakeholder 
engagement with our constituencies and their interests in Internet 
governance, interests that in their case may go well beyond ICANN’s 
internal remit.  Such a report would be in addition to ICANN's efforts 
at internal Key Performance Indicators (PKIs). Lastly, any and all 
suggestions are gratefully accepted.

Sam Lanfranco, NCSG Finance Committee