Makoto Nozaki

This article on the Python Software Foundation inspired me to write this. Serving on the board of a foundation isn't all about glamorous meetings and fancy titles. Still, I'd like to share how I ended up here and what I've learned along the way. Opinions are my own.

What Exactly is TPF?

TPF stands for The Perl Foundation, a U.S.-based non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the Perl language through open discussion, collaboration, and, of course, code.

TPF got its start around 2001 when Perl was super popular. The organization was originally needed to run a conference; because apparently, you need an official entity to book conference venues. The foundation was also actively raising funds and spending money on Perl development grants at that time, and they've been doing it ever since.

In 2019, Perl 6 was renamed Raku (long story, not for today), so TPF got new aliases, The Raku Foundation and The Perl and Raku Foundation. Alias is legally called as d.b.a. (doing business as) but either way, I appreciate that the foundation changes its name depending on context. Context is important in Perl.

How I Got Involved

I started as a volunteer on the Grants Committee in 2010. Think of my first job as the friendly face between TPF and the people we gave money to. I kept tabs on progress, collected reports, and―when necessary―gently nudged people who were lagging behind. Occasionally, I had to declare a grant "partially completed," which is a polite way of saying, "Hey, thanks for getting some of it done, let's stop it here."

In 2014, I found myself running the Grants Committee (Fun fact: The official title was "Committee Secretary" but I was essentially the boss―English is weird). I recruited volunteers from all over the world to form the committee and upped the maximum grant size to $10,000. I believe in transparency, so I made sure to publish all the grant discussions, including rejections, with feedback.

Fast forward to 2017, I was added to the Board of Directors, still holding the title of Secretary of TPF. The board members have come and gone over the years, but somehow I've stuck around. Another fun fact: I was the 11th person who joined the board. It was in 2010 when the 10th member was added.

I describe my role as a generalist within the foundation; TPF has three key main focus areas: conference, finances and grants. Fortunately, we have dedicated volunteers for each, so my job is to ensure everything else keeps moving.

The Pay? No. The Perks? What Perks?

In case you were wondering, being a board member is a completely unpaid gig. Yes, you heard that right. We even pay for our own conference tickets unless we're presenting or volunteering (which I often end up doing). If you're lucky, your employer might cover your travel costs―but only if you're really lucky.

Since 2020, we've hired actual paid staff, which is a major upgrade. We now have someone handling administrative duties and another person focused on fundraising.

Conferences in North America

Yes, the annual North American Perl conference. That's why TPF was created in the first place! While there are other Perl conferences worldwide, TPF sticks to North America. It started as YAPC::NA (Yet Another Perl Conference), then became just TPC (The Perl Conference), and now it includes Raku as TPRC.

Until around 2018, these conferences were organized by local volunteers, with TPF handling the administrative stuff (money, insurance, and other not-so-fun stuff). Recently, TPF board members have taken a more hands-on role, which has helped with continuity.

The attendance has not been what it used to be. In 2024, we had fewer than 100 attendees, compared to the pre-COVID glory days, when over 200 people showed up (details in the conference opening speech).

We haven't exactly been rolling in the dough from these conferences. For 2025, we've decided to go smaller―booked a tiny hotel, which means if only 20 people show up and we get no sponsors, we'll still break even.

Grants

If conferences are our bread and butter, grants are the jam. We have two types of grants: 1) the core ones, and 2) the everything else ones.

Core grants are for the language developers working on the heavy-lifting stuff like adding new features or improving the security side of the language. These grantees make about $50-$60 an hour from us. Yes, I know, it sounds low, but remember, this is funded by donations. If you'd like to help, you can donate and earmark the funds specifically for Perl or Raku development.

The other grants are for community-driven projects, like building libraries that make life easier for other developers. I initially joined TPF to keep this program running and improve it, and I eventually handed it off to the next generation.

Life as a Board Member

There are seven of us on the board, and we meet monthly. Some of us are super involved, while others participate less frequently. I tend to focus on short-term goals (like supporting events that are just around the corner), while some others are big-picture thinkers. We complement each other, even if we sometimes argue about what's most important.

Members' involvement varies a lot―some of us are checking in on TPF every day, saying something in Slack, or looking at grant status, or looking at bank statements. On the other hand, some members don't spend much time with TPF.

We don't have annual elections for board members. Our terms are supposed to last two years but they often just get renewed automatically. It's my interest to fix that.

Drama, Controversy, and People Problems

Most of my time with TPF has been relatively drama-free. Sure, we've had some reports of harassment at conferences, but those were handled on a case-by-case basis.

The 2021's community issue wasn't like that. Due to how a community issue was handled, we lost two board members and the chair of the Community Affairs Team. Another issue in 2019 also consumed a ridiculous amount of board time, and honestly, we didn't have the experience to handle it well (read more in our post or The Register's article).

Running a nonprofit is tough. We rely on volunteers who donate their time, and no matter what, someone's always unhappy.

In 2024, another incident occurred―though less visible. There wasn't a formal complaint but there were signals. I caught the issue, though I should have done much earlier. I asked my fellow board member, Ruth, for help, and she developed a new standard of conduct and a response team.

Financial Matters

If you're curious about TPF's finances, here's the gist: our budget is discussed maybe once a year, if that. In 2024, we approved a budget of $150k, with 55% going to grants and
25% to our conference.

In terms of overall health, our net assets have been trending downward over the past few years. I'd like to see us get the numbers back up. Here's a quick figure based on the public IRS data.

Closing Thoughts

So, that's a snapshot of my time with TPF. It's been a learning experience for sure, and I'm still discovering how the organization operates.

If you found this interesting, stay tuned for volume two, where I might dive deeper into my successes, failures, and everything in between. Or maybe I'll write about our mistakes and future. Either way, we really need more volunteers, so if you've got ideas or just want to chat, join us for our community meeting on the third Friday of every month.

P.S.
On name―TPF and our alias TPRF―I chose to say TPF in this article as it's based on the Python doc. When there is Python, there is Perl. Also TPF is one character shorter. Nowadays we like to call ourselves TPRF.