Content Comparison

I. Goals of the Program:

1. Building local/regional awareness and recruitment of new community members;
2. More effectively engaging with current members and/or "reactivating” previously engaged ICANN community members; and
3. Communicating ICANN’s mission and objectives to new audiences. 

Based on community comments received to the draft FY21 ICANN Budget and further consideration of the question of how to provide support to the community’s outreach efforts while remaining within appropriate budget limits, a sum of US$50,000 was allocated in the FY21 Budget for CROP. In line with the ICANN Board’s request that CROP guidelines and criteria should continue to meet the program goals in a cost-effective manner, while facilitating those FY21 community outreach efforts that are directly and demonstrably related to ongoing ICANN policy, technical and advisory activities, most of the features of CROP remain unchanged from FY19 to FY21.

This page outlines the scope of CROP for FY21, including eligibility, applicable deadlines, number and types of permitted regional trips, and principles by which trip proposals are to be submitted and reports provided.

II. Scope of CROP (Who is Eligible, What Principles Apply to Determine Approvals):

Community Groups Eligible for CROP Funding:

• The five Regional At-Large Organizations (RALOs) (i.e. AFRALO, APRALO, EURALO, LACRALO, and NARALO); and
• The following GNSO Constituencies: i.e. the Commercial & Business Users (CBUC), Intellectual Property (IPC), Internet Service & Internet Connectivity Providers (ISPCPC), Non-Commercial Users (NCUC), and Not-for-Profit Operational Concerns (NPOC) Constituencies

Criteria for CROP Funding:

1. Each RALO and eligible GNSO Constituency is allocated up to three (3) individual regional trips, to be utilized within a financial year (FY), and in accordance with the goals, strategies, and expected activities and outcomes detailed in each RALO’s and Constituency’s Outreach Strategic Plan.  
2. The three allocated trips must be within the applicable geographical region for each RALO and eligible Constituency (as determined by the GSE list of countries and regions); and must be applied in the following manner:
   (a) If, during the current FY, there is an ICANN Public Meeting or an official meeting being organized by the ICANN Organization occurring in the relevant region, at least one (1) trip must be allocated either to that ICANN Public Meeting or ICANN-organized meeting.
   (b) The remaining trip allocations must be used for an event in the relevant region that is assessed by the relevant regional Global Stakeholder Engagement (GSE) regional vice-president as being: (i) directly and demonstrably related to ongoing ICANN policy, advisory or technical activities (e.g. a Regional Internet Registry meeting), and (ii) consistent with the ICANN Organization’s outreach plan for that region.

For clarity, if there is no ICANN Public Meeting or ICANN-organized meeting taking place in the relevant region during the current FY, all three (3) trip allocations may be used in accordance with the criteria outlined in (b).

PLEASE NOTE:

• For CROP purposes, the list of GSE countries and geographic regions will be used to determine the applicable region that a meeting/event falls under.
• The “relevant region” for a RALO means those countries corresponding to the RALO’s region in the GSE list.
• The “relevant region” for an eligible GNSO Constituency means that the trip must be allocated to a traveler residing in one of the countries within the GSE-designated region where the event/meeting in question is taking place.
• A RALO or eligible GNSO Constituency may choose to use more than one (1) trip to the same meeting, which will count as part of its overall three (3) allocations.
• An “official meeting organized by the ICANN Organization” means a meeting where the programming, logistics and other arrangements are solely or primarily the responsibility of the ICANN Organization. By way of example, this will include the GDD Summit but not any other conference or event where ICANN’s involvement is in the form of minor funding or sponsorship in kind (e.g. providing small gifts for inclusion in conference bags or permitting the ICANN logo to be used on a brochure), sending delegates (whether staff or community members funded via other means), or is an invited speaker.  

Travel Allocations:

• Transportation (most economical routing in economy class only), lodging, and per diem (4 days, 3 nights maximum), must be booked through the ICANN Constituency Travel team, to ensure transparency and that any financial outlays are optimized to the maximum extent possible.
• Any itinerary changes that occur after travel bookings are made shall be at the traveler’s own expense.

Visa Fees:

• Travelers will be reimbursed for visa fees (actual cost or up to $200 USD, whichever is less). 

Registration Fees:

• Unless expressly approved by either the Vice-President for the SCOPE team in consultation with the relevant regional GSE Vice-President, conference registration fees are generally not covered by CROP funding.
• Any approved conference registration fees will be on a reimbursement basis and will generally count toward the overall trip cost (e.g.  the traveler may be funded for a shorter trip duration than requested). 

III. Rules & Conditions for CROP Travel Allocations:

A. General 

• For FY21, all trips must be completed before the end of ICANN's 2021 fiscal year. Specifically, travelers must have returned to their originating destination on or before 30 June 2021.  
• All eligible groups are responsible for:
• ensuring that trip proposals and approvals fulfill any and all criteria that the group may have developed for the program (including ensuring that all necessary information is provided in sufficient detail to allow for a reasonably informed decision to be made as to whether or not to approve the proposal);
• tracking the number of trips that were proposed, taken and remain in any fiscal year; 
• which community members have been allocated travel under the program; and 
• submitting all required trip reports within the prescribed time frame. 
• While ICANN staff can and will assist with logging trip proposals, assessments and reports in a timely fashion, it is not ICANN staff’s responsibility to remind an eligible group of any remaining trip allocations, deadlines or events, or to liaise on a group’s behalf with the relevant GSE teams.  
• A trip that has been allocated, but not taken, will not carry over to the next fiscal year.
• Trips must originate and conclude within the same region. No out-of-region travel will be permitted.
• Multiple persons may use CROP funding to attend one meeting; however, each traveler is counted as utilizing one of the allocated trips for that community group and must submit an individual, separate trip request and report to facilitate recordation and tracking. 

B. Eligibility & Process Requirements 

To participate in CROP, each eligible community group must comply with all the following requirements: 

1. Create an Outreach Strategic Plan for that fiscal year. The Plan (to be developed based on the template provided by CROP staff) must include details of the group’s outreach goals, strategies, and expected activities and outcomes for that fiscal year in sufficient detail to permit coordination of the group’s specific activities with the appropriate ICANN regional stakeholder engagement teams.
2. Obtain concurrence on the Plan from the appropriate regional GSE Vice-President(s), following review by the community group’s leadership. Each group’s appointed Program Coordinator (PC) will certify, within the template, when these reviews have taken place and communicate those results to CROP staff.
3. Submit all trip requests by the deadlines noted below.
4. Submit all Trip Assessment Reports by the deadlines noted below.

NOTES:

• No CROP trip requests will be entertained prior to the finalization and concurrence of a group’s Outreach Strategic Plan. All eligible community groups are strongly encouraged to collaborate pro-actively with the appropriate regional GSE teams, to ensure that their Outreach Strategic Plans are, as much as is feasible, directly and demonstrably related to ongoing ICANN policy, advisory or technical activities and consistent with the ICANN Organization’s outreach plan for that region.
• All trip requests must be submitted for the requisite concurrence by the relevant regional GSE Vice-President as well as approval by the traveler’s community group (in accordance with any criteria it may have developed for the program) no less than seven (7) weeks before the commencement date of the proposed trip. No exceptions will be allowed - this period is the absolute minimum time and is not to be considered a "best practice". Notice to and planning with the appropriate regional ICANN staff (e.g. members of the relevant GSE team) should therefore take place as much in advance of the trip as possible. To ensure that there is sufficient time for ICANN Constituency Travel to book the trip, the relevant GSE Vice-President concurrence should be received no later than one (1) week following submission of the trip request. This will allow a minimum of six (6) weeks to book and confirm the trip. By way of illustration, if the requested travel date begins on Monday 22 October 2019, the first day of the 6-week travel deadline (and thus the last day for obtaining the necessary concurrences and approvals) will be Monday 10 September 2019 and the last day for submitting the concurrence/approval request will be Friday 7 September 2019.  
• A Trip Assessment Report must be completed for each trip taken and must be submitted within three (3) weeks of the date on which the traveler is noted by Constituency Travel as returning to his/her originating location. The Trip Assessment Report should clearly and specifically include the following details:
  1. If/how the original purpose(s) and outcome(s) were realized;
  2. Details of the traveler’s attendance and activities at the meeting (including sessions attended, written or oral contributions made to specific sessions, etc.); and
  3. Specific plans for follow-up activities to enhance and continue the objectives of the trip for the community structure through which the traveler was approved for the trip.

• ICANN staff will log all Trip Assessment Reports, including the dates that they were filed. If a Trip Assessment Report is not filed, or is filed after the due date, it may impact the allocations available to that community structure in future fiscal years.
• If an approved trip is voided or cancelled for some unanticipated and/or extraordinary reason, a replacement trip may be allocated to the affected organization within the same fiscal year, subject to available funding. Where the cancellation involves a trip for which funds have already been disbursed, it will not be possible to reallocate the trip.
• Trip "compounding" or "splitting" of expenses or any other strategy with a goal of increasing the number of individual trips assigned to a community structure is strictly not permitted.