Hi all,
The next board meeting is this evening; Tuesday 26 May 2009,
8.30-10.30pm BST, in the #wikimedia-uk-board channel on
irc.freenode.net, with discussion in #wikimedia-uk. Everyone is more
than welcome to attend.
The draft agenda is at:
http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetings/2009-05-26/Agenda
Board members: please confirm whether you'll be present or not on the
agenda page.
Thanks,
Mike Peel
Inspired by one of the comments at last week's board meeting, I'd like to ask what slogans could we adopt to explain why people should join?
How about:
"Join with us in making Wikipedia* even better"
"Now you've contributed to Wikipedia*, have your say in how it's run"
Ideas on a postcard please?
* substitute Wikinews, etc as appropriate (but please not Wikimedia!)
Andrew
What Wikimedia events or activities would you like to see take place
in the UK?
We're currently trying to pull together ideas for "initiatives" that
Wikimedia UK can support, at
http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Initiatives/Proposals
There have been lots of ideas posted at:
http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Initiatives/Ideas
which need fleshing out before they can be taken forward. We've also
got a list of things that we've already supported at
http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Initiatives
We're having an open IRC meeting to discuss possible initiatives,
which will take place this coming Tuesday, the 30th June 2009, at
8.30PM BST (19:30 GMT), in #wikimedia-uk on irc.freenode.net . For
more information, and to say that you'll be coming, please visit:
http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetings/Discussions/Initiatives
Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of the Wikimedia Foundation, and is
set up as a membership-run non-profit UK company limited by
guarantee. To find out more information, to join or to donate, please
visit our website at http://uk.wikimedia.org/ .
Thanks,
Mike Peel
Chair, Wikimedia UK - http://uk.wikimedia.org/
Wikimedia UK is the operating name of Wiki UK Limited.
Wiki UK Ltd is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England
and Wales, Registered No. 6741827.
The Registered Office is at 23 Cartwright Way, Nottingham, NG9 1RL,
United Kingdom
inutes
Hi all,
The minutes of the last board meeting are now up on the wiki at http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetings/2009-06-23 and copied for your convenience below. Please could you let me have any corrections or queries.
At the last meeting, we had three key discussions on membership recruitment, fundraising and initiatives. One of the key conclusions was how interlinked these are - the more initiatives we have, particularly those that are participative, the more members we can attract to the chapter. Subscription fees will then be able to cover the administrative costs of running the chapter, meaning we can focus our fundraising on initiatives.
We affirmed our commitment to completing at least three initiatives by the time of the next AGM in spring 2010. To this end, we've adopted a timeline (at http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Initiatives#Timeline) which says we aim to identify the three initiatives by 15 July, establish a person to lead for each task by 31 July and set out a full plan with costs, timetable and resource requirement by the end of August.
Next Tuesday, the board will holding an open discussion on initiatives in #wikimedia-uk - please come along and let us know what ideas you have, share ideas and let us know what you can do to help.
In the meantime we are looking into creating a range of members-only merchandising, which will feature Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia UK logos on mugs, ties, cufflinks and so on. Let us know what kinds of items you would be interested in buying!
We are also having business cards printed so that those people who represent the chapter will be able to give out a professional and consistent image. If you would like to have some of these cards printed, please contact Paul Williams, our Volunteers Director (ccd above) .
Finally, we noted that our response to HMRC has now been sent in, and we are waiting to see how that is received.
Regards,
Andrew Turvey
Secretary
Wikimedia UK
Wikimedia UK is the operating name of Wiki UK Limited.
Wiki UK Ltd is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827.
The Registered Office is at 23 Cartwright Way, Nottingham, NG9 1RL, United Kingdom.
Wikimedia UK Board meeting Tuesday 23rd June 2009, 8:30pm BST at #wikimedia-uk-board
Present: Michael Peel (MP) (Chair); Andrew Turvey (AT) (minutes); Joseph Seddon (JS); Paul Williams (PW); Tom Holden (TH)
Apologies: Steve Virgin (SV); Zeyi He (ZH)
Contents
[ hide ]
• 1 Minutes of the previous meetings
• 1.1 Matters arising
• 1.1.1 Business cards
• 2 Reports
• 2.1 Secretary's Report
• 2.2 Treasurer's Report
• 2.3 Chair's Report
• 2.4 Conferences Report
• 2.5 Corporate relations Report
• 3 Membership recruitment
• 4 Newsletter
• 5 Initiatives
• 6 Fundraising
• 7 Next meeting
[ edit ] Minutes of the previous meetings
The minutes of the meetings dated 9 June were approved.
The following actions have been carried forward:
1. JS to send the tokens of our appreciation to the retiring Directors, tellers and external speakers.
ACTION: JS
2. TH to contact the bank to notify them of the new directors, to change the signatories to any two of MP, AT and TH and to set up AT and MP on the online banking. ZH, SV and JS to return to TH the forms they have received.
ACTION: ZH, SV, JS, TH
3. MP to organise transfer of wikimedia.org.uk to WMUK.
ACTION: MP /wiki/ File:Yes_check.svg Picture (Metafile)/wiki/ File:Yes_check.svg Done
4. AT will send the opt out email re Phorm once wikimedia.org.uk has been transferred.
ACTION: AT
5. PW will arrange the production of business cards for Wikimedia UK officials.
ACTION: PW
6. SV, MP, JS to collate press response template list
ACTION: SV, MP + JS
7. TD agreed to contact the gazette on behalf of WMUK to solicit a pro-bono lawyer
ACTION: TD
8. MP agreed to contact pro bono lawyer groups by email
ACTION: MP
9. JS to copy the standard templates from OTRS for use in the press response template
ACTION: JS
10. JS to clarify if the offer of help from WJBScribe means formal written advice that can be relied upon or informal word of mouth assistance.
ACTION: JS
11. The cost to attend the Online Information 2009 (1-3 Dec, London) conference is £400/day/person (£400 for the 3 days for registered charities). JS will confirm whether speakers have to pay this fee.
ACTION: JS
12. In the event that speakers do have to pay the fee, SV will look into getting a slot in a fringe event instead.
ACTION: SV
13. Once this is established, JS, MP, AT will work on a submission
14. AT to thank the pro-bono lawyer for his offer of help, explain the Board has decided to respond to HMRC ASAP; if this is not successful we may then seek legal advice so would be grateful for assistance then if it's still available and would they be prepared to advise us on the chapters agreement.
ACTION: AT
15. AT to submit expenses AGM claim .
ACTION: AT
16. MP to investigate what other domains names are available so that the Board can decide whether to request ownership ourselves or enable the WMF to own them.
ACTION: MP
[ edit ] Matters arising
[ edit ] Business cards
It was agreed that all people who act on behalf of the chapter - including non-board members - will be able to have personalised or general business cards so long as they pay for the cost, including postage, themselves.
The chapter agreed to pay up to £5 per person to fund board members' business cards.
It was decided to use the WMF standard design set out Business Cards/generic design , tweaked as necessary.
PW agreed to finalise the design, contact interested members to see what cards they want and organise the printing.
ACTION: PW
[ edit ] Reports
[ edit ] Secretary's Report
The report here was noted.
The response to HMRC was sent earlier today. We had not heard back from the Foundation so it was decided not to delay it any longer. AT agreed to upload the letter to the wiki.
ACTION: AT /wiki/ File:Yes_check.svg Picture (Metafile)/wiki/ File:Yes_check.svg Done ( File:File-HMRC Response Letter.pdf )
[ edit ] Treasurer's Report
The report here was noted.
A member asked what the status was with direct debits - TH said we have to have had the account opened for a year so this will be reconsidered in January 2010.
[ edit ] Chair's Report
The report here was noted.
[ edit ] Conferences Report
The report here was noted.
[ edit ] Corporate relations Report
The report here was noted.
[ edit ] Membership recruitment
PW led a discussion on membership recruitment asking how can we reach out to people to join and how can we engage existing members to renew.
AT reported that the WMF are happy in principle with members merchandising - they would like to frmalise the agreement with an exchange of emails, from us setting out what we intend to do and from them agreeing to it. PW agreed to draft an email to the WMF.
ACTION: PW
PW agreed to look into where we could produce merchandise.
ACTION: PW
We discussed raising awareness of our activities by sending messages to the most active UK based wikimedians (perhaps using User:Cfp/Sandbox1)
It was agreed that having participatory intiatives was key, and we would consider this when looking at future initiatives. We could also arrange members-only events, as done by Wikimedia Australia with their cultural institution contacts.
Members may also consider that "having their say" through votes at the AGM and for chapter-selected seats on the WMF is a key reason to join.
We should also look to improve our standard advertising templates like Template:Welcome
[ edit ] Newsletter
Final changes were discussed to the June newsletter
PW agreed to finalise on Tuesday evening and distribute with MP.
ACTION: PW, MP /wiki/ File:Yes_check.svg Picture (Metafile)/wiki/ File:Yes_check.svg Done
[ edit ] Initiatives
The initiatives timeline was agreed with changes.
[ edit ] Fundraising
It was suggested we fundraise specifically for particular inititatives and try to recruit enough members so that subscriptions cover general admin expenses. When we do events we should sue that as an opportunity to fundraise - even if it's just standing there with a bucket for coins. Fundraising may be easier once we have charitable status.
At the moment it was decided not to establish a fundraising committee or to set up a CiviCRM account, but to reconsider both at the time of the annual WMF fundraiser.
[ edit ] Next meeting
It was agreed the next meeting would be on Tuesday 7th July, 8:30 pm (BST) in #wikimedia-uk-board.
In the meantime, there would be a discussion on initiatives on Tuesday 30th June, 8:30pm in #wikimedia-uk.
--
See below; anyone interested in doing a video interview?
Thanks,
Mike
Begin forwarded message:
> From: Ian Hawkins <ian.hawkins(a)gmail.com>
> Date: 25 June 2009 13:01:45 BDT
> To: press(a)wikimedia.org.uk
> Subject: Interview request
>
> Hello Mike,
> My name is Ian Hawkins. I am an independent filmmaker and I talked to
> you briefly yesterday.
>
> I'm working on a documentary called Desperately Seeking Democracy
> (www.desperatelyseekingdemocracy.com is currently under construction).
> I'm looking to find out how democratic our system of government really
> is, but I'm also looking to find out why democracy isn't more common
> in other areas of life.
>
> It's rare to find anything other than top-down structures in business,
> banking, the media, education etc. I wondered if Wikipedia is a great
> example of a more open and democratic structure.
>
> I'd like to organise a video interview with someone who could
> represent Wikipedia or the Wikimedia Foundation and describe your open
> ethos. I would be very grateful if you could help me with this.
>
> I'm based in Northwest England so places like Manchester, Liverpool,
> Edinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle etc are easier for me to get to than
> London but I'd be delighted to travel anywhere within the UK for an
> interview.
>
> Thank you for your time and I hope you can help with my request.
>
> Very best wishes
> Ian
>
> Ian Hawkins
> www.desperatelyseekingdemocracy.com
Hi all,
Following on from a side-discussion at the last irc board meeting,
Rand Montoya, the Foundation's Head of Community Giving, has been
writing a "Chapter Fundraising Basics" page, which he's given
permission for me to email around (see below). That same discussion
also lead to tomorrow's board meeting discussion on fundraising, so
this is aptly timed from that point of view.
Mike
==Chapter Fundraising Overview==
So you want to fundraise for your chapter? Sounds great.
This page (and related pages) are designed to be a helpful resource
for helping your chapter fundraise. It should be noted that all
chapters will fundraise differently as every country and culture is
different. Approaches that will work in one area won't work in
another. I hope to have Chapter input on different successes and
failures so that we may share knowledge.
In the end, you want to keep this theme in mind when you think about
fundraising for your chapter: "Treat the donor as they wish to be
treated." It's a variant on the Golden Rule...but one that all
chapters will need to explore and test and figure out how your donors
want to be asked and how you can invite them to join the cause so
that they give again.
This page is not for discussing whether or not your chapter *should*
fundraise. That discussion is for another page. This page is for
discussing how to chapter fundraise.
However, if your chapter is going to fundraise, there are several
requirements: a donor database, tax deductability in your country
(if applicable), and a commitment to steward your donors. If a
chapter is not ready or not willing to take do the minimum steps,
then that chapter is probably not able to fundraise and resources
should be placed into other areas.
==Fundraising Goal==
Some people thing the goal of fundraising is raising money...they are
only partially correct. The goal of professional fundraising is a
combination of 3 things: 1) selling/marketing the good work your
organization does, 2) convincing donors to give to your organization,
and 3) thanking that donor and reporting what your organization has
done so that the donor will give again (cultivation).
Fundraising is about building a relationship of trust and information
with your donors so that they feel their donation is going to a
trustworthy cause and making an impact in the world.
==Donor Database==
The donor database is a tool that allows you to track donors (and
donor information), their donations, *AND* your communications with
them. There are many different donor databases (it's quite a
lucrative industry here in the States)...the Wikimedia Foundation
Inc. uses [http://www.civicrm.org CiviCRM] which is a [http://
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_and_Open_Source_Software FOSS] solution.
Some smaller organizations will use a modified Excel (or similar) or
Access database (or similar) to track donor information.
At the minimum, a donor database captures the following information:
Donor Information:
* First Name
* Middle Name
* Last Name
* Gender/Sex
* Address Lines/Postal Codes (as appropriate to your country and any
donors you plan on courting)
* Email Address(es)
* Relational Codes (Groups, Tags, Familial relationships, Work
relationships etc.)
* Contact Codes ("No email"=donor does not want any emails, "no
mail"=do not mail this donor, "no events"=donor not interested in
events, etc.)
Donation Information:
* Gift Date
* Gift Amount
* Payment Type (cash, in-kind, stock, other)
* Payment Method (currency, check, bank transfer, paypal, EFT, etc.)
* Gift Notes
* Donation Restrictions (see Our Responsibility, below)
* Date that acknowledgment communication was sent
==Fundraising Basics==
* Suppose you just want to fundraise right now, what are the steps?
# Set up your donor database.
# Set up your payment processing into the donor database. Test
it...repeatedly.
# Have a nice thank you email/letter process for when a donation
comes in. All donors MUST be thanked!
# Begin collecting addresses (home or email) from your supporters..at
events or from donations or sign ups.
# Work on your messaging...what story, project, or event are you
going to use to show your impact to the world and the donor?
# Prepare a communication with your donors...via email or postage mail.
* Develop compelling, understandable reasons why your donors should
give.
* Be very open about what the money is to be used for and explain the
impact to the world. (Specifically to WMF fundraising, we need to be
very clear to our donors about what they are giving to: be it
Wikipedia or a WM Chapter.)
* Make it easy to give...figure out how your donors in your country
want to give, and offer those methods.
* We *CANNOT* accept donations restricted for services we do not
offer. For example, we can accept money for Wikipedia. We cannot
accept a donation to be used directly to provide internet and
Wikipedia access to hurricane survivors. If it's not something we
do (or are actively planning to do), we need to return the money or
ask the donor's permission to re-purpose the gift. If a donor offers
us a restricted gift, we must honor that intent or return the money.
* In general, do *NOT* email/mail prospective donors who have not
shown interest in your Chapter. In short, don't spam. One a donor
gives money, sure...feel free to ask them for money in the future.
If a user attends a Wikiversity workshop and signs up for the Chapter
newsletter, you can also ask those people for money.
* Always check out how other well-established non-profits in your
country fundraise? In what ways can donors make gifts? What does
their donation page look like? What is the privacy policy? Well
known world wide non-profits include:
** [http://www.ICRC.org International Committee of the Red Cross]
** [http://creativecommons.org/international/ Creative Commons
International]
** [http://www.greenpeace.org/international/ Greenpeace]
==Major Gifts==
Major Gifts refer to larger gifts made by individuals. The monetary
amount differs from organization to organization (usually $1000 and
up) but the main difference between a major gift and a community gift
is that a major gift is cultivated on a personal one-on-one basis. A
major gift donor has a relationship with a staff person or volunteer,
and that donor can sometimes serve in a volunteer leadership position
within the organization.
Major gift prospects are usually uncovered by 1) scanning your
current donor lists for anyone with greater capacity, 2) referrals
from your current donors and other stakeholders, or 3) researching
potential funders utilizing purchased databases and other means.
WMF staff are happy to assist you in developing your major gift
portfolio.
==Safety/Security/Privacy==
The Wikimedia Foundation expects that every chapter that is
fundraising has policies for ensuring that donor data is safe and
secure. Any basic donor privacy agreement includes the following
concepts/protections (copied from the [http://www.afpnet.org/ka/
ka-3.cfm?content_item_id=9988 Association of Fundraising
Professionals]):
The Donor Bill of Rights
Philanthropy is based on voluntary action for the common good. It is
a tradition of giving and sharing that is primary to the quality of
life. To ensure that philanthropy merits the respect and trust of the
general public, and that donors and prospective donors can have full
confidence in the nonprofit organizations and causes they are asked
to support, we declare that all donors have these rights:
*I. To be informed of the organization's mission, of the way the
organization intends to use donated resources, and of its capacity to
use donations effectively for their intended purposes.
*II. To be informed of the identity of those serving on the
organization's governing board, and to expect the board to exercise
prudent judgment in its stewardship responsibilities.
*III. To have access to the organization's most recent financial
statements.
*IV. To be assured their gifts will be used for the purposes for
which they were given.
*V. To receive appropriate acknowledgement and recognition.
*VI. To be assured that information about their donation is handled
with respect and with confidentiality to the extent provided by law.
*VII. To expect that all relationships with individuals representing
organizations of interest to the donor will be professional in nature.
*VIII. To be informed whether those seeking donations are volunteers,
employees of the organization or hired solicitors.
*IX. To have the opportunity for their names to be deleted from
mailing lists that an organization may intend to share.
*X. To feel free to ask questions when making a donation and to
receive prompt, truthful and forthright answers.
The donor policy should be readily visible on your Chapter donation
page and in any online appeal.
The Wikimedia Foundation will never, ever buy or sell donor names or
information...neither should you.
Samples:
*WMF: https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/internal/wiki/
Fundraising_committee/Donor_privacy_policy (admittedly, pretty
hideous if you're a donor...we'll clean it up for the next
fundraiser, make it more specific for donors)
*WM DE: "http://wikimedia.de/index.php?id=81"
==Random Notes==
===Thank You Letter:===
It's very important to have a nice, short, clean Thank You letter/
email for your donors
# Donors should receive a thank you letter/email no longer than 48
hours after their donation.
# The thank you letter/email should include: the donation date and
amount, several and repeated "thank yous", and reporting on how your
Chapter is going to efficiently use the money.
# It's also nice to exhort the donor on how their donation is
changing the world and helping people.
# Always include a link to your Chapter page or place where the donor
can go for more information.
# As needed, include tax deductibility information.
# Provide a place/way the donor can ask questions/get help.
===Events:===
# There are two types of events: fundraising and cultivation.
Fundraising events make money for your organization, often by selling
tickets, securing sponsorship, hosting an auction, etc... Cultivation
events are usually free of charge, and the goal is to increase
awareness and future donations to the organization.
# Give your attendees both the options to support/donate to the
cause...but also *reasons* to support the cause.
# Always ask for email addresses! Collect them at every
opportunity. Be sure to explain that the addresses will be used to
share Chapter information and newsletters.
===Competition:===
Chapter are STRONGLY discouraged from fundraising outside their
country(ies)...especially in competition with another Chapter's
donors. However, in this virtual world, those lines can be difficult
to see. To avoid problems, use the following guidelines:
# Do not direct mail outside your local geographic area unless you
have specific permission from the donor.
# Make your donation appeals very clear to the donor where their
donation would go. In fact, let me stress that all Chapters (and the
Foundation) need to be clear to any potential donor where their
donation is going and what the money would be used for.
# If you have questions about an online fundraiser, please feel free
to contact [[user:Rand Montoya|Rand Montoya]] to discuss possible
conflicts.
===Finding new donors:===
The lifeblood of any non-profit is the donor pool and finding ways to
motivate potential donors into being donors. Best approaches include:
# Have a clear active presence in your community.
# Collecting email addresses and names at every opportunity: every
event, training, or gathering.
# Having a place for potential donors to sign up for newsletter online.
===Crafting a email ask:===
You'll find many articles online about how to write an appeal. It's
very likely that an approach that works for one Chapter will not be
as successful as another Chapter's. However, I believe the following
tips apply across cultures:
# Be passionate and positive in your messaging.
# Do not be afraid to ask for money or support.
# Be very clear about what you will do with the donation. Explain
clearly what the donation how the money will be used and what impact
it will have on the world/society.
# Use '''*bold*''' print to highlight key points.
# Keep it simple and as short as possible.
# Test different versions to see which works better for your group.
# Always provide ways for donors to get more information.
# Read online for better approaches! There are thousands of words
on this topic.
# The WMF fundraising staff is happy to help you with your appeal.
==Foundation and Other Resources==
*In general, the Wikimedia Foundation is open to help Chapters
fundraise. Resources include:
** [[user:Rand Montoya|Rand Montoya]] Head of Community Gifts:
General questions about fundraising, donor databases, email appeals,
and Foundation fundraising policy.
** Rebecca Handler, Head of Major Gifts: Major Gift
cultivation...anytime you have a lead on a Major Donor, feel free to
contact Rebecca for help. She can arrange meetings with Sue, Erik,
and Jimmy as needed.
** Anya Shyrokova, Development Associate: CiviCRM expert and general
fundraising knowledge.
* [http://www.gpaumier.org/blog/229_five-fundraising-tips-for-
wikimedia-chapters/ Guillom's 5 Tips for Chapters] A most excellent
guide to Chapter fundraising.
* Need help setting up your CiviCRM database, this might help:
[[CiviCRM_Gift_Coding]]. It's how we code our gifts at the foundation.
Dear All,
Yesterday we received a letter from the UK Tax Authorities rejecting our application for recognition as a charity. Citing a legal precedent, they stated that "the production of an encyclopaedia is not the charitable advancement of education" and therefore we were not established for exclusively charitable purposes. The ruling they gave stated that "If the object be the mere increase of knowledge it is not in itself a charitable object unless it is combined with teaching or education".
The full letter from the HMRC is copied below with some explanatory notes added in { }
Their objection goes to the heart of what we have been established to do. On the surface, it does not appear that any different wording in our constitution or correspondence would have given us a different outcome. Nonetheless, the legal issues may be arguable - our job is not just to produce content in isolation, but also to spread that knowledge and make it accessible to all. I should imagine this will come down to the finer points of law, and it is probably best to engage a lawyer at this stage when we appeal.
If we had applied to the Charity Commission before HMRC the application would have been considered by different lawyers but the same law would apply. Therefore, it is likely that we would have come up against the same problem.
I'm contacting the Foundation to ask them if they are aware of any lawyers familiar with UK law who could help us pro-bono on this.
I'm also sending a note to our MP to thank him for his help in speeding this up: although it is disappointed to get this response, it is better to get it now that in 3 or 6 months' time.
In the meantime, we should probably stop referring to ourselves as a "charity" or an "exempt charity". Before receiving this letter it was reasonable for us to do this as that was our honest view. Now we know there is some disagreement over this, I suggest we should describe ourselves as a "not-for-profit" instead. Whilst we can still get Gift Aid declarations (HMRC have previously confirmed this was ok) we should probably add a caveat on the form explaining that our charitable status is contested.
Regards,
Andrew Turvey
Secretary, Wikimedia UK
=========================
Company Secretary
Wikimedia UK
23 Cartwright Way
Beeston
Nottingham NG9 1RL
Date: 17 April 2009
Dear Mr Turvey,
Wiki UK Limited (operating name Wikimedia UK)
Thank you for your letter of 4 March 2009 and enclosures. I am sorry for the delay in replying.
I am aware that you have written to Nick Palmer MP {regarding delays in responding} - a reply to that letter will be sent separately to Nick Palmer MP.
The definition of a charitable company for tax purposes is contained at Section 506(1) Income and Corporation Taxes Act 1988 which states " 'charitable company' means any body of persons established for charitable purposes only". However, the determination of charitable status is a matter of general law.
To be a charity in law it is not sufficient that a company's activities or intended activities are charitable. The memorandum and articles of association of the company must declare objects that are charitable in law and be otherwise in acceptable charitable form so that the company could only carry out charitable activities.
The objects of Wiki UK Ltd are stated at clause 3 of its memorandum of association:
"The charity's Object is to aid and encourage people to collect, develop and effectively disseminate knowledge and other educational, cultural and historic content in the public domain or under a license that allows everyone to freely use, distribute and modify content, by means including (but not limited to):
[9 ways are them listed - for example 'acting as a voice and representative for the community of UK residents and citizens who use and edit such repositories'] "
In your letters of 23 November 2008 and 4 March 2009 you state that the primary purpose of setting up the company is to support the 'Wikipedia' website. {We actually said " support the “Wikipedia” website and the other projects of the Wikimedia Foundation, in ways that are compatible with UK charity law"}
The stated objects are not charitable in law. The production of an encyclopaedia is not the charitable advancement of of education and has not been accepted as such in law. In Re Shaw [1957] 1 WLR 729 Mr Justice Harman said "If the object be the mere increase of knowledge it is not in itself a charitable object unless it is combined with teaching or education". Nor is the support the Wikipedia, the stated primary purpose of Wiki UK Ltd, a charitable purpose.
Wiki UK Ltd is not established for charitable purposes only as required by the legislation and so is not a charity for tax purposes. The charity tax examptions and reliefs (including Gift Aid tax relief) are not, therefore, available to Wiki UK Ltd.
To help us improve customer service, please quote our reference number and provide a daytime telephone number in any correspondence.
Yours sincerely,
Higher Officer, Technical
You may remember that we submitted a response to an "Issues Paper" from the Intellectual Property Office back in February.
http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Copyright_consultation
They have now published the results of their "stakeholder events" they held - see link below.
Regards,
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Tom Holden" <thomas.holden(a)gmail.com>
To: "WMUK Board" <board(a)wikimedia.org.uk>
Sent: Monday, 22 June, 2009 14:05:56 GMT +00:00 GMT Britain, Ireland, Portugal
Subject: IPO Reports
I’m not sure if people had seen this, but it seems the Phase 1 IPO reports are now available. (Not quite sure why we weren’t invited to any of the stakeholder events, but oh well.) They seem broadly sensible (at least from the executive summary).
http://www.ipo.gov.uk/pro-types/pro-copy/c-policy/c-strategy/c-strategy-pha…
Tom
Interesting information below.
It would be great if they could come up with a form of "Crown Commons" that was compatible with our licenses rather than ending up with something like the BBC's creative license.
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Steve Virgin" <Steve.Virgin(a)dowjones.com>
To: "WMUK" <board(a)wikimedia.org.uk>
Sent: Friday, 19 June, 2009 14:05:28 GMT +00:00 GMT Britain, Ireland, Portugal
Subject: worth watching
New Infomation Advisor
http://blogs.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/digitalengagement/
by Richard 9. June 2009 12:40
First off a big thank you to everyone who has contributed to our earlier post on what a data.gov service might look like in the UK .
The big news for us is that Tim Berners-Lee has agreed to help the UK government make our information more open and accessible on the web - part of a drive towards letting the data about public services be public and open.
This work will be building on the work of the Power of Information Taskforce and their report . The Digital Engagement team are delighted to be supporting Tim in his work.
A few of the things he and his panel of technical and delivery experts will doing are:
· overseeing the creation of a single online point of access and work with departments to make this part of their routine operations.
· helping to select and implement common standards for the release of public data
· developing Crown Copyright and 'Crown Commons' licenses and extending these to the wider public sector
· driving the use of the internet to improve consultation processes.
· working with the Government to engage with the leading experts internationally working on public data and standards
This is strengthening the oversight, challenge and insight available as we drive the Digital Engagement agenda forward.
Steve Virgin
Media Consultant
Dow Jones Insight
Commodity Quay, East Smithfield, London E1W 1AZ.
Tel: +44 (0) 203 217 5281/+44 (0) 117 965 4041
Mob: +44 (0)7795 031 935/07766 227 352
Fax: +44 (0) 203 217 5232
Email: steve.virgin(a)dowjones.com
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