Protocol

This is a set of instructions that should be followed from top to bottom to decide if and how money should be used on behalf of yunity.

Expenditure

1. Avoidance

If we can avoid spending money as an organization or by proxy, we should. Not using money is the most coherent option with our mission and vision and avoids us spending time and energy documenting and dealing with money. Avoidance of expenditure should be the starting consideration.

1. Do we need it? Take a moment to consider whether we need this resource to achieve our goals.
2. Can we get it without any financial transaction?
   
   1. Construct: Make the thing from existing resources.
   2. Reclaim: Many resources are abandoned, discarded or unused.
   3. Borrow: Many of the resources we need, others have.
   4. Gift: Some people have things they don't use. (this is different to someone purchasing a resource explicitly to donate it, see below)

2. Proxy donation

No one is expected to spend money in, or on behalf of the yunity organization. If a contributor or interested individual wishes to purchase a resource to achieve the goals of yunity with their own money, they can. For anything explicitly purchased for yunity it is recommended to properly record: name, date, and copy of receipt. Recording is optional and not aimed to glorify donors, however, recording this information is very useful to indicate where yunity is still reliant on money and will help us achieve even lower running costs in the future.

3. Proxy transaction

No one is expected to spend money in, or on behalf of the yunity organization. If a contributor or interested individual wishes to purchase a resource to achieve the goals of yunity with their own money, they can. If they wish to have this expenditure refunded, they must properly record: name, date and have copy of the receipt. No purchase is guaranteed to be refunded, though considering the following will indicate whether refunding is likely;

1. Consult explicit decisions. If the resource has been explicitly agreed upon as being an acceptable or unacceptable purchase in the past, this will provide the most reliable indication of whether the purchase is eligible for reimbursement.
2. Consult guidelines. The guidelines should provide some indication of whether the purchase is eligible for reimbursement.

If it is decided that refunding is appropriate, only the value that was spent at the time will be refunded (i.e. not adjusted for inflation). It should also be noted that there is no indication or guarantee of when the purchase will be refunded (i.e. might never happen).