Banks outside the US will often designate a Correspondent Bank when

      receiving funds from the US.  If you can give us the Correspondent

      Bank Name and ACH, we can specify that in the wire.  Your bank will

      usually take the fewest fees when receiving wires from its

      Correspondent Bank, so this will mean the most money for you.

  * A check in your local currency, sent to you via post. For this option, we

    just need your postal address and what currency you want. Note that this

    is a more involved option to process and will usually take at least 30

    days to issue payment.  We do not recommend this method.  Please choose

    it only if you absolutely cannot receive a wire transfer for some reason.

Project Leadership Committees: when you see emails of this nature, please

be sure to have your designated Representative review the materials and

send an approval message to Conservancy.

## Project Leadership Committee Review

Conservancy foresees the need for periodic reasonable exceptions to

this Policy.  Persons working on behalf of a specific Project seeking

an exception to this Policy must petition their PLC to obtain written

approval from Conservancy authorizing the exception.  Persons working

directly on behalf of Conservancy seeking an exception to the

Policy must obtain written approval from Conservancy authorizing the

exception.

PLCs are responsible for creating procedures for requesting exceptions,

and submitting to Conservancy reimbursement requests associated with

their respective Projects.  PLCs are also responsible for making available

a list of required response times for inquiries, including but not

limited to, the following two cases

* a specific number of days to respond to regular reimbursement requests,

and

* a specific number of days to respond to pre-authorization requests.

PLCs are also responsible for monitoring the available balance in their

Project Fund, and for granting or refusing approval for travel expense

requests based on an assessment of the funds available and of any

outstanding contracts payable.  PLCs are not to approve travel expense

requests when their Project does not have sufficient funds to cover the

expense.  If a PLC has any questions regarding whether their Project has

sufficient funds to cover a Traveler's expense request, the PLC should

contact Conservancy.

## Transportation

### Overall transportation Cost

Domestic transportation costs greater than US$750 requires Conservancy

approval prior to booking, even if all other Policy conditions have been

met.  International transportation costs greater than US$1,650 requires

Conservancy approval prior to booking, even if all other Policy conditions

have been met.

### Advance Purchase

Tickets for travel by air or rail (excluding commuter train and subway)

should be booked at least 14 days in advance; any travel booked less than

14 days in advance requires written pre-authorization by Conservancy.

Tickets for travel by air or rail beyond 365 days in advance also require

written pre-authorization by Conservancy.

### Air Travel

#### Class of Service

Coach and/or Economy Airfare is the only acceptable class for all flights

(domestic and international) unless a PLC provides a special exception and

a valid reason (such as a need for business class due to a documented

medical reason) to Conservancy for written approval.  Travelers may select

their airline of choice (e.g., for the purpose of collecting airline miles

and rewards), provided that the resulting air fare otherwise meets the

requirements of this Policy.  Travelers should not book out-of-Policy trips

(and thus pay a higher fare) in order to qualify for a mileage upgrade.

#### Advance Purchase

Air travel should be booked at least 14 days in advance; any travel booked

less than 14 days in advance requires written pre-authorization by

Conservancy.  Flights beyond 365 days in advance also require written

pre-authorization by Conservancy.

#### Low Fare

Conservancy aims to balance cost savings with convenience and considers

flights that are within US$100 of the lowest logical fare to be within

Policy.  The lowest logical fare is the least expensive fare available from a

fare search that meets all of these criteria:

* The search must include fares from multiple airlines.

* The search must cover only the dates of relevant travel.  For example, if

  you're attending a conference that runs Monday through Friday, the search

  must have you arriving no earlier than Sunday, and leaving no later than

  Saturday.

* Except as allowed by Policy, the search must not use filters that might

  exclude the least expensive fare.  For example, you may filter out

  flights with two or more connections, since Conservancy does not

  consider those reasonable.  However, you may not filter out specific

  airlines, or flights without WiFi.

Any widely-recognized airfare search site that lists results from multiple

airlines is acceptable, including sites such as [Orbitz](http://orbitz.com),

[Kayak](http://kayak.com) or [Hipmunk](http://hipmunk.com/).  The PLCs and/or

the traveler must submit the output (such as a screenshot or printout from

the browser) of a online fare search as part of documentation in airfare

pricing.  Make sure the output shows the least expensive fare available.

Travelers may book their tickets on different dates or a different site as

long as they used a qualifying fare search site to determine that the

booked flights are within Policy.

Any flights greater than US$100 over the lowest logical fare require

written pre-authorization by Conservancy.

#### Reasonable Flights

Conservancy asks that Travelers allow for flexibility with respect

to departure times during a desired day of travel, as well as longer

trips in order to reduce cost.  However, Conservancy does consider

flights with two or more connections as unreasonable and does not

expect Travelers to consider those flight options to be reasonable.

#### Excess Baggage

#### Out-of-Policy Bookings

All air travel not adhering to the above Policies are considered Out-of-Policy

and require written pre-authorization by Conservancy's Executive Director.

#### Cancellation Fees

Cancellation fees and other penalties incurred result of a change

of plans are reimbursable at Conservancy's discretion.  In general,

Conservancy shall reimburse such fees if the Traveler can submit a

valid reason for the change of plans.  Acceptable reasons include Conservancy

and/or the PLC canceling or altering the trip or unexpected delays

in flight connections.  In instances where these fees are incurred

without adequate explanation, Conservancy reserves the right to refuse

to reimburse the cost of the fees.

### Other Transportation

#### Ground Transportation

Ground transportation necessary as part of authorized Project trips

is considered to be a reasonable expense.   Public ground transportation,

such as taxis, shuttles, buses and municipal transit, are generally

the most cost-effective options and are the standard for eligible

ground transportation reimbursements.  All car rentals require pre-authorization

by the PLC or by Conservancy's Executive Director.  When car rentals

have been pre-approved, the rental of compact cars is encouraged;

mid-size vehicles are authorized when necessary (e.g., when compact-sized

vehicles are not available or the number of passengers or volume of

baggage makes a compact vehicle impractical).

#### Rail Transportation

Rail transportation as a means of travel for an authorized Project

trip is considered to be a reasonable expense.  All rail transportation

must be in economy and/or coach class.

#### Use of Personal Vehicles

When circumstances require Travelers to utilize their personal vehicles

for Project purposes, they can be reimbursed at the current USA IRS

rate per mile, plus any related parking expenses and toll fees.  Drivers

are encouraged to find the lowest cost parking area reasonably near

their destination.

## Lodging

Travelers are expected to be cost-conscious and prudent when booking lodging

for approved trips, and to verify that rates are within the maximum lodging

rates for the hotel's location.  See the "Rates" section above for details.

If the lodging chosen by the Traveler and/or the PLC exceeds the maximum

lodging rate for the given location (per Traveler), the Traveler and/or the

PLC **must** obtain written pre-approval from Conservancy and the PLC before

booking the hotel.  If written pre-approval is not sought or is not granted,

Conservancy will only reimburse up to the maximum lodging rate.

Lodging documentation submitted as part of a reimbursement request must

include a copy of the hotel invoice detailing all charges (credit card

receipts **alone** are unacceptable).  In particular, since Conservancy only

reimburses for room charges (plus relevant taxes and fees) for the necessary

travel dates, the receipt from the hotel must clearly show the dates of stay,

and separately list room charges and any food or service charges.

Conservancy will not reimburse Travelers for any costs associated with an

upgrade of room accommodations.

In some cases, Conservancy, upon consultation with the PLC, may decide to

book lodging on behalf of Travelers.  In this case, Conservancy-booked

lodging is always considered In-Policy.

## Other Reimbursable Expenses

Conservancy will reimburse persons for Project-related expenses that

are incurred while traveling on approved Project business and/or approved

Conservancy business. Only necessary, ordinary and reasonable expenses

are eligible for reimbursement, and only those categories of expenses

listed in this document qualify.

### Meals and Incidental Expenses

#### Overview

Travelers can submit for a per diem for meals and incidental expenses for

every day of a trip devoted to Project- and/or Conservancy-related mission

work, including the day(s) of travel itself, up to the maximum rate for the

destination of the trip.  See the "Rates" section above for details.

These per diem rates are the maximum daily rate Travelers can claim.  If a

conference has provided food, or food is provided in some other form, or

the costs the Traveler incurs are lower than this rate, then the Traveler

should reasonably reduce their per diem claim.

In addition, Conservancy generally encourages Travelers to be conservative with per

diem submissions, and consider asking for less if the full per diem

amounts allowed were not used during travel.

PLCs and/or Conservancy have the authority to set lower per diems

than those generated by the calculators above.  In those instances,

Travelers will only be able to submit for the lower per diems.

#### Group Meals

For groups of Travelers on an In-Policy trip, each Traveler should

pay for his/her own meals, seeing as all participants will have an

opportunity to submit for separate per diems after the trip.

For clarification purposes, this Policy does not relate to planned

group events that include meals and/or refreshments (e.g., a PLC-organized

conference that includes lunch for all attendees).  Further, PLCs and/or

Conservancy retain the right to allocate a separate budget for anticipated

large group meals beyond the individual per diem limits of each Traveler,

provided that they are within the PLC's technical objectives and/or

Conservancy's mission.  Travelers anticipating a need to cover such

a large group meal should seek pre-approval from his/her PLC and/or Conservancy

for such expenses before the trip.

For any such group meal, Conservancy will require a written paragraph

summary of the meeting, indicating what was accomplished for the Project's

and Conservancy's mission.

#### Meals For Organizational Development

Travelers may occasionally have the need to invite third parties,

e.g., prospective donors, contributors, community members, etc., to

meals in order to further a PLC's technical direction and/or Conservancy's

mission.  Conservancy recommends that Travelers seek pre-approval from

their PLC and/or Conservancy for such meals.