Dear all,
Julia Brungs this week kindly posted the wording of the emails for the
impending email campaign in India on Meta.[1] I've typed out (copy/paste
from the pdfs is blocked; could this be changed in future?) the wording of
these emails on the Fundraising talk page, for people's reference.[2]
Two comments.
First, I note that the emails contain a number of phrases that were
deprecated and discontinued on the fundraising banners years ago, following
significant community criticism.[3]
For example, people are told that –
* the purpose of donations is "to keep Wikipedia online for yourself and
millions of people around the world",
* the WMF "choose not to charge a subscription fee" (doing so would break
the commitment in the WMF mission statement), and
* the Foundation needs money "to ensure that Wikipedia remains independent,
ad-free, and growing for years to come", "to keep Wikipedia free and
independent", and to "keep Wikipedia online, ad-free, and growing for years
to come."
Secondly, the first email[4] tells donors at the top of page 2 that "32% of
your gift will be used to support the volunteers who share their knowledge
with you for free every day."
I wonder what exactly is meant by that? For reference, total revenue last
year (excluding gifts to the Endowment) was $163 million (vs. expenses of
$107 million, not counting the WMF's grant to its own Endowment).[5]
What does this year look like? After the first two quarters of the present
2021/2022 financial year, the Foundation was already more than $10 million
up on last year.[6] Based on this data, the WMF is on course for at least
$175 million in revenue this year.
32% of $175 million would be $56 million "used to support the volunteers".
The total "thriving movement" budget this year, which I understand includes
chapter funding (for hundreds of paid staff, not volunteers), is $36.7M (up
from $14.3M in FY20-21),[7] so I am mystified by that claim.
An explanation here or on Meta would be very welcome.
Kind regards,
Andreas
[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fundraising&diff=23302086&oldi…
[2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Fundraising#Indian_email_texts
[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2015-03-18/Op-ed
and
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2015/12/02/wikipedia-h…
[4] https://drive.google.com/file/d/1psLXZRHYskalmf15lVUil_bqwMMktiG2/view
[5]
https://foundation.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AWikimedia_Foundat…
[6]
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wikimedia_Foundation_2…
vs.
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AWikimedia_Foundation…
[7]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Medium-term_plan_2019/…
Dear fellow Wikimedians,
On Saturday, May 14th, Wikimedia Deutschland held its 27th General Assembly in Berlin, the second in a hybrid format.
Our members elected a new Supervisory Board, which consists of 7 elected members:
* Alice Wiegand (chair, re-elected, former deputy chair)
* Daniel Reisener (treasurer, re-elected)
* Nora Circosta
* Christina Dinar (re-elected)
* Jens Ohlig
* Valerie Mocker (re-elected)
* Kamran Salimi
Nora Circosa, Jens Ohlig and Kamran Salimi are new to the board, so please join mein welcoming them!
I would like to wholeheartedly thank our departing chair Lukas Mezger and board members Sabria David und Kilian Kluge for the outstanding work and their commitment to Wikimedia over the past years.
Renate Duerr and Lenia Zinßer were elected as auditors. My gratitude to our departing auditor Sabine Zepp.
The General Assembly voted to change our bylaws to introduce term limits for the chair and the treasurer as well as to legally secure the operation and decision making for two or more Executive directors. Our members also approved changes in our travel expense policy, which is now better aligned with the Wikimedia Affiliates Environmental Sustainability Covenant.[1] And the general assembly approved changes to our strategy and formally approved of the board's actions for the 2 year term and of the Executive Director's actions for 2021.
Another highlight of the day was the presentation, discussion, and adoption of Wikimedia Deutschland’s new set of values[2] with diversity, equity, free and open access, participation, respectful collaboration and sustainability being our six core values. It is based on values that have been lived in the association for years, as well as the latest developments in the Movement Strategy of the global Wikimedia Movement. As an association, we are guided by these values in our cooperation with the Wikimedia movement, communities, partners and interested parties. By living these values in its daily work, Wikimedia Deutschland promotes human rights in a digital world. All those who share these values are welcome in our association.
The new board will reconvene shortly to get started and I am very much looking forward to working together with the new team.
Kind regards,
Alice
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Affiliates_Environmental_Sustaina… <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Affiliates_Environmental_Sustaina…>
[2] https://www.wikimedia.de/en/our-values/ <https://www.wikimedia.de/en/our-values/>
Alice Wiegand
Vorsitzende des Präsidiums | Chair of the Supervisory Board
Wikimedia Deutschland e. V. | Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | 10963 Berlin Phone: +49 (0)30 219 158 26-0
https://wikimedia.de <https://wikimedia.de/>
Keep up to date! Current news and exciting stories about Wikimedia, Wikipedia and Free Knowledge in our newsletter (in German): Subscribe now.
Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us to achieve our vision!
https://spenden.wikimedia.de <https://spenden.wikimedia.de/>
Wikimedia Deutschland – Gesellschaft zur Förderung Freien Wissens e. V. Eingetragen im Vereinsregister des Amtsgerichts Berlin-Charlottenburg unter der Nummer 23855 B. Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das Finanzamt für Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/029/42207.
Hi everyone,
We hope you’re ready for this three-day event, because the event starts in
10 hours!
The main hackathon will take place over the weekend (Friday through
Sunday), with two sets of core hours for sessions, social events, and
hacking. These core hours are:
-
3:00 <https://iw.toolforge.org/zonestamp/1653102000> - 6:00
<https://iw.toolforge.org/zonestamp/1653112800>UTC (Note: this is
tonight for some time zones!)
-
15:00 <https://iw.toolforge.org/zonestamp/1653145200>- 19:0
<https://iw.toolforge.org/zonestamp/1653159600>0 UTC
We’re expecting the virtual space to be the busiest at these times. Outside
of those core hours, you’re welcome to stay online to hack on projects,
collaborate with others, or hang out in the virtual space.
The goal with this schedule is to allow time for breaks and to accommodate
as many time zones as possible. You are not expected to attend both sets of
core hours - choose whichever hours work for you! For more info, see the
Schedule <https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Hackathon_2022/Schedule>.
When will the event start?
The opening ceremony will happen twice - once at 3:00 UTC, and once at
15:00 UTC on May 20. Find the links on the schedule
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Hackathon_2022/Schedule>!
How can I join the virtual space?
We’ll be using an online game-style space for the Hackathon. The links will
be published shortly before the event on the hackathon page on MediaWiki.org
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Hackathon_2022>. There will be
rooms for hacking and for sessions. Feel free to explore the virtual space
and join any room - they’re open for everyone!
What happens if I need help?
Once the platform goes live, you will be able to find a Help Desk where you
can ask questions, report any incidents, or just consult useful information
about the event. There are also discussion channels
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Hackathon_2022/Discussions> that
you can participate in.
How can I work on a project?
If you have an idea, you will be able to add your own projects
<https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/project/board/5802/> on Phabricator. If
you don’t know yet what to work on, see what projects
<https://phabricator.wikimedia.org/project/view/5802/> others will be
working on. You might find a project to join or get inspiration for your
own idea!
If you have any other questions, please check our FAQ
<https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Hackathon_2022/FAQ> section or
leave a comment on the talk page.
See you soon!
Melinda, for the Hackathon Committee
--
Melinda Seckington
Developer Advocacy Manager
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
Thanks SJ for setting out the problem, re your second point, simplifying
electoral processes:
One very easy simplification of the governance process is to take the
skillset issue out of the community elections for the WMF board. The board
already has a number of "independent" members, and one reason for having
them is to add skills and experience that haven't emerged in the elections
from the community. We should go back to that principle. If the board
decides it needs a member who is an expert on horology, campanology or the
making of stroopwaffels, and it doesn't have such a member, then recruit an
independent member who fills that gap. As for diversity of community
members, you can always create a separate constituency for a particular
election. For example, in this year we want to make sure that the board has
its first member from sub saharan Africa, so we are reserving one seat for
someone from that part of the world. You can still set some basics, for
legal and insurance reasons candidates will need to be legally adult, not
currently in jail etc. But otherwise the election result should be up to
the community.
WSC
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Wed, 18 May 2022 16:44:08 -0400
> From: Samuel Klein <meta.sj(a)gmail.com>
> Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Simplifying governance processes
> To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
> Message-ID:
> <
> CAAtU9W+zJApb-3oLf3pokA92de30krUb8wQBCL8gmCGFyHGv2g(a)mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
> boundary="000000000000cc355205df4f53c9"
>
> Dear Board (and all),
>
> The growing complexity of governance efforts is defeating us. Process creep
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Avoid_instruction_creep> is an
> existential threat for projects like ours – it is self-perpetuating if not
> actively curtailed, as it filters out people who dislike excess process.
> There's a reason 'bureaucrats' and 'stewards' have unglamorous titles.
>
> Global governance in particular seems to be suffering from this now. Let's
> try to scale it back! Recent developments, all at least somewhat
> confusing:
>
> *Global Council*: A three-stage vote for the drafting committee. After 6
> months of work in private, we know the charter will cover governance,
> resourcing, & community
> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement_Charter/Content>. A ratifiable
> charter by 2023 should include Council scope, then *another* group may
> draft an election process. Council elections would start mid-2024.
>
> *Conduct*: Two years from first draft to realization. Custom review &
> revision process for policy, set to change ~once a year. Enforcement by
> *another* group (U4C), not yet defined, with an idea about annual elections
> for it [starting in 2023?].
>
> *WMF Board*: A *four*-stage election, with a new complex nomination
> template. Nominees evaluated by *another* elected 9-person Analysis
> Committee, followed by a two-stage vote.
> Months of process, 16 staff facilitators.
>
> Something has to give. We don't have time for all of these to be different,
> complex affairs.
> And this complexity feels self-imposed, like trying to push spaghetti
> through a straw.
>
> ~ ~ ~
> Four short proposals for your consideration:
>
> 1. Focus discussions on the decisions we need to resolve, not on process.
> We need a foundation Board & global Council for specific practical reasons.
> What challenges do they need to resolve this year? What major issues +
> nuances are at play?
>
> 2. Make elections simple, flexible, consistent.
> Build tools and frameworks that *conserve* rather than soak up community
> time. Make longer processes capture proportionately detailed results.
> Empower a standing election committee.
>
> 3. Highlight ways people can engage with governance + prioritization,
> regionally + globally, beyond winning elections to procedural bodies.
> *Support* organizers + facilitators rather than *hiring* them out of their
> communities to facilitate on behalf of a central org.
>
> 4. Delegate more. Delegate to community. Delegate *design* and
> *implementation*.
> Our communities excel at self-organization, and rebel against arbitrary
> mandates. Avoid language or policies that remove agency or
> exaggerate staff-community division.
>
> 𝒲♡, SJ
>
>
>
Hello all,
The Universal Code of Conduct (UCoC) project team has completed the
analysis of the feedback accompanying the ratification vote on the
Universal Code of Conduct Enforcement Guidelines.
Following the completion of the UCoC Enforcement Guidelines Draft in 2022,
the guidelines were voted on by the Wikimedian community. Voters cast votes
from 137 communities, with the top 9 communities being: English, German,
French, Russian, Polish, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese, Italian Wikipedias,
and Meta-wiki.
Those voting had the opportunity to provide comments on the contents of the
Draft document. 658 participants left comments. 77% of the comments are
written in English. Voters wrote comments in 24 languages with the largest
numbers in English (508), German (34), Japanese (28), French (25), and
Russian (12).
A report will be sent to the Revision Drafting Committee who will refine
the enforcement guidelines based on the community feedback received from
the recently concluded vote. A public version of the report is *published
on Meta-wiki here*
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Universal_Code_of_Conduc…>.
The report is available in translated versions on Meta-wiki. Please help
translate to your language.
Again, we thank all who participated in the vote and discussions. We invite
everyone to contribute during the next community discussions. More
information about the Universal Code of Conduct and Enforcement Guidelines
can be found on Meta-wiki
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Universal_Code_of_Conduc…>
.
On behalf of the Universal Code of Conduct project team
Stella Ng
Hello everyone,
The Community Development team
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Development> is pleased to
announce the courses that were delivered during the WikiLearn Pilot
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiLearn> are now available for
self-guided study on the new WikiLearn platform <https://learn.wiki/>,
based on the free software Open edX.
<https://www.edx.org/?g_acctid=724-505-4034&g_campaign=gs-b2c-us-brand-core-…>
Open edX
<https://www.edx.org/?g_acctid=724-505-4034&g_campaign=gs-b2c-us-brand-core-…>
is a free software learning management system that was started in 2012, and
is developed in Python using the Django framework.
The platform will host courses developed by Wikimedia Foundation teams on a
variety of topics relevant to doing Wikimedia work. The intended audience
of the platform is Wikimedia contributors of all kinds, and all you need to
access the platform is your existing Wikimedia account. As we continue to
evolve some governance mechanisms for the platform, it will become open
for contribution from all Wikimedia contributors.
You can access the platform at learn.wiki <https://learn.wiki/>
The courses currently available from the Community Development team are:
1.
Introduction to Building Partnerships - This course will provide an
in-depth curriculum on how to develop meaningful programmatic and
organizational partnerships within the movement and with external partners.
1.
Addressing Harassment Online - This short, introductory course will
focus on developing skills that will help volunteers empathetically respond
to online harassment.
These courses are self-paced and graded by the original instructors of the
live course. A computer graded version of these courses will be available
shortly. The current courses are published in English with potential
translation possible in FY 22-23
Please note that the self-paced/human-graded format will return marked
assignments on a bi-weekly/monthly basis depending on capacity.
Each course has been adapted from its original live format to be suitable
for self-paced study. The Identifying and Addressing Harassment course was
authored and taught by Simona Ramkisson
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:SRamkisson_(WMF)>. The Introduction
to Partnership Building course was authored and taught by Asaf Bartov
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Asaf_(WMF)>.
All Wikimedians with an active Wikimedia account can login to the WikiLearn
platform using their Wikimedia identity (OAuth) without needing a separate
account.
If you have any questions or concerns about the courses or the learning
management system Open edX
<https://www.edx.org/?g_acctid=724-505-4034&g_campaign=gs-b2c-us-brand-core-…>,
please email the Community Development team at comdevteam(a)wikimedia.org
Thank you,
The Community Development Team
Cassie Casares
Program Support Associate
Community Development
Wikimedia Foundation
ccasares(a)wikimedia.org
Hello everyone,
This is a friendly reminder that The Community Development team
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Calls> at the Wikimedia
Foundation is hosting our second community call on Wednesday, March 25th,
2022 from 15:00 - 16:30 UTC on Zoom
<https://wikimedia.zoom.us/j/81408843170?pwd=OVcwblBrQjR6WXpNVFNmZHJYWEFadz09>
[meeting link]
To join in the community call:
-
To attend the call, please find the link here
<https://wikimedia.zoom.us/j/81408843170?pwd=OVcwblBrQjR6WXpNVFNmZHJYWEFadz09>
.
-
Please ensure you have zoom downloaded on your personal device prior to
the call.
We are excited to see and hear from you in our community call! If you have
any questions, please feel free to email the Community Development team at
comdevteam(a)wikimedia.org.
Thank you,
The Community Development team
Cassie Casares
Program Support Associate
Community Development
Wikimedia Foundation
ccasares(a)wikimedia.org
Dear Friends,
On behalf of the WikiIndaba Steering Committee (WISCom
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wiki_Indaba_Steering_Committee>), I would
like to announce that the next WikiIndaba Conference
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiki_Indaba> for 2022 will be organised by
Wikimedia Usergroup Rwanda. The conference will take place between 4 and 6
November 2022 in a hybrid format where participants will attend online and
in person in Kigali, Rwanda.
This comes after an invitation to bid was sent to all African affiliates by
WISCom early in April, and several good and deserving candidates responded.
A rigorous selection process then followed which considered several factors
including candidates’ motivational statements, capacity to host the
conference, bringing the conference to a region where it has not been held
before and if there were national elections planned in the applicant's
country for this year.
More details about scholarships and programme will be provided later.
We look forward to supporting and working with Wikimedia UG Rwanda to
ensure the conference becomes a success.
Best regards,
Bobby Shabangu
WISCom
<https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…>
Virus-free.
www.avast.com
<https://www.avast.com/sig-email?utm_medium=email&utm_source=link&utm_campai…>
<#DAB4FAD8-2DD7-40BB-A1B8-4E2AA1F9FDF2>