[Foundation-l] Fundraising Letter Feb 2012

Ting Chen tchen at wikimedia.org
Thu Feb 9 08:11:47 UTC 2012


The Board approves the following letter to be sent to the community:

Dear members of the Wikimedia Movement,

As you are probably aware we have been discussing the the future of 
fundraising and fund dissemination for the Wikimedia Movement for almost 
6 months now. After discussing fundraising and funds dissemination at 
this past meeting, the board has drafted the following statement. It our 
intention to discuss these matters in the coming weeks to come to a 
final decision mid March.

But first we would like to thank everyone who took part in the 
discussion so far and spent their valuable time providing us with their 
viewpoints which we have of course taken into account in our decision 
making process. We hope that you will continue to participate by giving 
feedback on this letter.

==Funds dissemination==
The board wants to create a volunteer-driven body to make 
recommendations for funding for movement-wide initiatives (Working 
title: Funds Dissemination Committee, FDC). The Wikimedia Foundation has 
decision-making authority, because it has fiduciary responsibilities to 
donors which it legally cannot delegate. The new body will make 
recommendations for funds dissemination to the Wikimedia Foundation. We 
anticipate a process in which the Wikimedia Foundation will review and 
approve all but a small minority of recommendations from the FDC. In the 
event that the Wikimedia Foundation does not approve a recommendation 
from the FDC, and the FDC and the Wikimedia Foundation aren't 
subsequently able to reach agreement, then the FDC can ask the Wikimedia 
Foundation Board of Trustees to request the recommendation be reconsidered.

#the FDC will be a diverse body of people from across our movement 
(which may include paid staff) with appropriate expertise for this 
purpose, whose primary purpose is to disseminate funds to advance the 
Wikimedia mission;
#the WMF staff will support and facilitate the work of the FDC
#Proposals can range from one time smaller contributions for small 
projects from individuals to larger financing for operational costs of 
chapters or associations

The board intends to evaluate this process together with the FDC and see 
if it is working.

==Fundraising==
Our thoughts on fundraising are less specific. We have come to the 
following two statements which are important

* If and when payment processing is done by chapters, it should be done 
primarily for reasons of tax, operational efficiency (including 
incentivizing donor cultivation and relations), should not be in 
conflict with funds dissemination principles and goals, and should avoid 
a perception of entitlement.

* The board is sharpening the criteria for payment processing. Payment 
processing is not a natural path to growth for a chapter; and payment 
processing will likely be an exception -- most chapters will not do so.


The Wikimedia Board of Trustees

NB: Please note that rather than spend a LOT of time on wording at this 
time, the board preferred to amend the above text if necessary when 
moving towards a resolution. This letter indicates our intent, and we 
may "wordsmith as needed" in our final resolutions.

-- 
Ting Chen
Member of the Board of Trustees
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
E-Mail: tchen at wikimedia.org




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