The purpose of this Honorarium Policy is to establish guidelines for providing honorariums to individuals or organizations that make voluntary, exceptional contributions to GitLab Foundation initiatives, events, or projects. Honorariums are intended as a discretionary gesture of appreciation—not as compensation for services that are part of an individual's employment, professional responsibilities, or contractual obligations.

For guidance on accepting honorariums or stipends offered to GitLab Foundation team members, please click here.

Definition of Honorarium

An honorarium is a modest, one-time payment or token of appreciation provided to recognize an individual or organization for voluntarily contributing their time, expertise, or services in support of the GitLab Foundation's mission. Honorariums are not intended to compensate for work performed as part of an individual's regular employment, consulting engagement, board service, or other compensated role.

Criteria for Payment of an Honorarium

An honorarium may be considered only when all of the following criteria are met:

• The contribution is voluntary and provided without an expectation of payment or compensation.
• The contribution is directly related to advancing the GitLab Foundation's mission or strategic priorities.
• The contribution is outside the individual's or organization's normal employment duties, professional responsibilities, or contractual scope of work.
• The contribution is exceptional in nature and would not otherwise be compensated through salary, consulting fees, grants, contracts, or other payment arrangements.

Honorariums should not be provided to individuals or organizations for activities that are part of their regular job responsibilities or where payment is already being made through another mechanism.

Honorarium Amount

The honorarium amount will be determined based on the nature of the contribution, the time invested, and the overall impact on the Foundation's objectives. To ensure transparency, the following ranges have been established. An exact amount will be determined by the manager and Chief Operating Officer and based on the information provided in the approval.

Appropriate amounts should be determined based on geographic market (i.e., lower honorariums in less expensive markets, higher honorariums in more expensive markets).

Other Expenses

In lieu of or in addition to an honorarium, team members may also offer to cover costs incurred to host/attend a meeting or event (registration, travel, room rental, meal, translator, etc.). If a team member decides to do this, they should follow the Non-Employee Expense Reimbursement Process.

Approval Process

The appropriate function lead/budget owner approves honorariums.

In the rare case where the honorarium amount exceeds a function lead's approval limit, the function lead will need to obtain approval from the President & CEO and the CFO.

1. Submit a written request, via email, to the President/CEO and CFO with the following information:
   1. The name of the recipient organization/individual and requested contribution amount
   2. Justification for giving an honorarium and size of the honorarium
2. The CFO will review the request to assess availability of resources and the CEO will determine if the expense is appropriate.