WordPress Community Support (WPCS), the nonprofit organization that oversees WordPress events worldwide, has introduced new financial safeguards after a recent incident in which a local WordCamp organizer misused community funds for personal expenses.
Harmony Romo of WPCS shared that the individual reportedly diverted approximately $734 in surplus funds from a 2024 WordCamp event. Despite repeated outreach, the organizer failed to return the money or respond to attempts at resolution. WPCS has now declared the funds unrecoverable. Neither the identity of the organizer nor the location of the WordCamp has been disclosed by WordPress officials.
As a result of this breach, WPCS has announced a new funding policy effective September 30, 2025. “The surplus occurred in a locale where the team managed the money locally, versus through WPCS. To help prevent this from happening again, WPCS will now send Global Sponsorship Grants in several smaller payments. This change in our policy will be effective as of September 30, 2025, and will apply to all events managing funds locally,” shared Harmony Romo.
WPCS has imposed strict disciplinary action against the individual involved in the 2024 incident. The organizer has been permanently banned from organizing or attending WordPress events and has lost access to all official community tools, including their WordPress.org account and the Make WordPress Slack workspace. A formal report will also be filed with the appropriate local authorities.
Harmony Romo continued, “These measures may seem severe, but the organizer was given multiple chances to communicate and set up a repayment plan. Unfortunately, no effort was made to resolve the issue.”
The last known case of financial misconduct occurred in 2019, when a local WordCamp organizer mishandled approximately $7,000 in grant funds. That WordCamp was ultimately cancelled, and the organizer was held accountable. In addition to being asked to repay the full amount, the organizer was permanently prohibited from participating in any official WordPress event in a speaker, sponsor, organizer, or volunteer capacity. They were barred from attending any WordPress events for a 12-month period, too.
This incident led to changes in how Global Sponsorship Grants were administered and tracked, laying the groundwork for ongoing improvements to financial oversight.
“This happened one time,” WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg said in a comment on the recent situation. “Please don’t punish all organizers for one bad actor. Trust, and verify. But default to trust.”
Romo echoed that message, emphasizing that the WordPress community remains committed to a model built on mutual trust and support. She elaborated, “The idea would be to send an initial lump sum grant payment to cover deposits with vendors; whatever amount is needed to keep planning on track. In many cases, attendance numbers will fluctuate, leading to changes in total amounts needed for catering, swag, etc. By sending the 2nd portion of a global grant once attendee counts are more accurate, hopefully cases of large surpluses or deficits will be avoided. Returning funds can be complicated in some locales, as well, so there would be less responsibility on a team to manage that post event.”