At the moment we have this spreadsheet to refer to that allows us to view costs and where donations go:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1CGgu-7aNxlZkjLl9l-OlL00fch06xp0Q7eCVDDakYEE/preview
This does not include all the expenses. WIM Fiona Steil -Antoni has been paid by lichess to cover the candidates tournament. Yet there has been no mention of this anywhere on the site. It just says "WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni is in Berlin to cover the Candidates tournament for Lichess" I think most users would assume since lichess is a non profit that she is volunteering when this is not the case.
I think it's great lichess now has enough funds to run the site and pay for added extras like the titled arena and to pay for professional chess content but I think you should include all these expenses in the spreadsheet or just get rid of the spreadsheet altogether and not tell anyone where the money goes. You can not claim transparency when you are hiding what you pay people.
The only reason I have heard to not include this in the accounts is that chess pro's don't want others to know how much they earn which seems a silly reason tbh.
The spreadsheet reports "Chess content and tournament coverage": that's a sufficiently clear indication of where the money goes (at least for me) and it grants the recipients some privacy about their income.
I am not checking the spreadsheet regularly, so I can't tell whether the item has been there since the beginning or was added later on.
Well, now it does. This is a very recent inclusion and I welcome it. I still don't understand the "privacy about income" but I think at least let people know what is paid content and what isn't.
i.e
- Fiona covering the candidates = paid
-Eric Rosen streaming the titled arena = paid or not?
I guess it doesn't matter. As long as it's noted on the spreadsheet (which it wasn't before)
I have no particular interest in knowing how much money each contributor receives, as long as the expenses are booked. I understand this is my opinion, naturally.
On the other hand, I assume it would be fair to have a proper balance sheet that includes both expenses and revenue (i.e. donations). I guess that would go in the direction of having more transparency, although I don't know whether Lichess.org has any obligation in that respect, nor do I have an idea about the possible additional costs implied.
Even though I would certainly welcome some changes in the direction I explained above, I must admit I am more than happy with the current status of affairs.
That's why I think more transparency is needed, so all expenses are booked. It doesn't make sense to only include some and hide others.
I really dislike the "sneak" edit to the spreadsheet without any lichess official acknowledging this thread even though I had discussed it in discord before. Now it looks like it was always there when it wasn't.
It does not really seems to be hidden, since you can point at a specific line of the spreadsheet... but yeah, opinions :)
@repetitaiuvant When was the line that you can point at included? A few hours ago....
I like the direction lichess is going. Titled events and paid content is great but documenting it all is good for everyone. There has been no mention that Fiona has been paid to cover the candidates tournament on this site. Is lichess obliged to let us know? No. But it would be nice.
Like I said, I dislike the sneak edit as people like you assume I am talking nonsense when I actually had a valid point when I created the thread. Anyway it's all included now, so everyone's happy.
Oh, that's what you referred to. I see now :)
Sorry for not weighing-in sooner, even though I saw this, I had no personal opinion.
Personally, the only thing I object to (changes/diff aside) ...
... the two (or three) line-items:
A.) "Main Developer Salary" -- (Way Too) Low
B.) "French Taxes" -- WTF? (Way-too WTF High.)
C.) "Mobile Developer" -- Low (Could be more.)
Otherwise, I am not a "Patron" and have ZERO say in these matters. (And otherwise respectfully withhold my personal opinion[s].)
Its common courtesy not to have your salary publicly displayed; everyone has IMHO the right to keep that to themselves and so it would seem detailing how much each person gets for their work is up to the individual.
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