Dear all,
The WMF appears to have made contradictory statements about the Wikimedia Endowment. Earlier this week, Rai 3, a channel of the Italian national broadcaster, aired a program about Wikimedia and Wikipedia.[1] On their website, they also link to responses the WMF gave to various questions the programme makers asked.[2]
One of these questions concerned the Endowment. I quote:
Q: The Endowment has reached $33 million and passed them reaching $100 million today. Why the
Wikimedia Foundation didn’t move it to a separate 501e3 entity? Being entrusted into the Tides
Foundation is not available to the public any financial report about Wikipedia Endowment. Don't you
think there is a lack of information and transparency about a fund that is created through worldwide
donations?
A: Your information is incorrect. The Wikimedia Endowment was established as a separate entity and received
its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in 2022 following a 2021 board resolution.
This answer was given to Rai in November 2022. Now I do recall an October 2022 blog post from the WMF reporting that the WMF's application for a 501(c)(3) non-profit had received approval and that the WMF was "in the process of setting up the Endowment's strategic and operational policies and systems".[3]
Has the money actually been moved from the Tides Foundation to this new 501(c)(3)?
At the time of writing, the Endowment website continues to tell its readers that the funds are held and administered by the Tides Foundation.[4]
Is the information on the Endowment website obsolete?[5] If it isn't, and the money is still with Tides, wasn't the answer given to Rai last November substantially misleading?
Andreas