Treasurers

treasurers@lists.wikimedia.org

63 discussions

Start a nNew thread

breakdown of 2012 fundraiser
by rupert THURNER 07 Feb '13

07 Feb '13

hi, is there or will there be any breakdown of the 2012 fundraiser available? rupert.

1 0

Wage policy and transparency
by Thierry Coudray 24 Sep '12

24 Sep '12

I open this discussion as this issue arise for WMFr and its professionalization, and I believe same for others chapters. I would like to know if the foundation or others chapters who have recruited or will do it have define a wage policy and have decide a public transparency for this wages. Wikimedia France had an employee during less than one year before we separated through a negociation.It's salary was not published but easy to find in our accounts as he was our only employee. We then recruited within a short period, 3 employees with a permanent contract and one with fixed-term contract in charge of the fundraising. So it raised the question of wage policy, equity between employees, and transparency of wages. Even more because some of this employees are former WMFr volunteers. In France, the practice is that the wages in charities or NGOs are generally 15 to 20% below market value. Difficult to check for small organizationsbecause in France, it's culturally not easy to speak/disclose personal wage even if things are changing. Difficult also because some jobs in charities are very specific and sometimes do not have their equivalent in the job-market. If a charities or NGOs received more than 50 000 € of public money (from public administration, cities, etc.), the organization has to disclose it's more 3 highest wages, post and name of the post-holder. But most of the time, this disclosure is not easy to find for an ordinary donator as you should do where to find it, most of the time in an annex, lost in the middle of accountings documents. We have discussions on this point on WMFr board, and personaly I'm a for the higher wages transparancy we can, for our members and donators, despite cultural curbs. Thierry -- Thierry Coudray Administrateur - Trésorier Wikimédia France <http://www.wikimedia.fr/> Mob. 06.82.85.84.40 http://blog.wikimedia.fr/

15 28

Re: [treasurers] Financial Reports for Chapter Members
by Craig Franklin 20 Aug '12

20 Aug '12

This post is mainly targeted at the Treasurers of membership organisations among us, but others are of course welcome to chip in. At WMAU, we've recently had a request from one of our members for a monthly report of the chapter's financial situation to be made available to members. This is somewhat unusual, as I don't recall ever being in an organisation that has done this on a monthly basis for its members, as opposed to an end-year summary at the AGM, which we do already do. What I think is specifically being requested is a balance sheet and P&L statement as at the close of every month. I'm a bit hesitant to do this to be honest, while I often answer specific questions from members, unaudited MA figures can sometimes be misleading and move about a bit as various adjustments are made for the auditor. Naturally, within five minutes of being released to our members, the documents could be anywhere, so it's as good as making them public. Does any other chapter provide this sort of high level information on a regular basis, other than at the annual general meeting (or equivalent)? We'll also be seeking advice from the relevant department of government on this question, but I wonder if anyone else has some experience or perspectives to share? Thanks, Craig Franklin Wikimedia Australia

4 3

Fwd: [Internal-l] ERR News (Estonian Public Broadcasting): Tax Board Backs Down in Wikipedia Exemption Case
by Stuart West 29 Mar '12

29 Mar '12

FYI a great outcome in Wikimedia Estonia's efforts to obtain tax-exempt status. Begin forwarded message: > From: Raul Veede <raul.veede(a)gmail.com> > Subject: Re: [Internal-l] Fwd: ERR News (Estonian Public Broadcasting): Tax Board Backs Down in Wikipedia Exemption Case > Date: March 28, 2012 1:26:58 PM GMT+02:00 > To: "Local Chapters, board and officers coordination (closed subscription)" <internal-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> > Reply-To: "Local Chapters, board and officers coordination \(closed subscription\)" <internal-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> > > Actually, the original verb after my citation was "grumbled", but no news outlet has yet dared to publish that word. > > Well, we basically intimidated our Tax Board, carrying our disupte into media on the very first day and bragging about support by WMF. Many thanks! > > Indeed, this outcome was good for WMEE, but it would have been even better if we could have a clear decision from the court that could be used by other non-profits to claim tax exemptions. Theoretically, Estonian legal system does not depend on precedents, but practice is a little bit different. We hoped to be useful for the whole 3rd sector, but at least everyone knows now it pays to be bold. > > Raul > > On Wed, Mar 28, 2012 at 2:01 PM, David Gerard <dgerard(a)gmail.com> wrote: > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: David Gerard <dgerard(a)gmail.com> > Date: 28 March 2012 12:01 > Subject: ERR News (Estonian Public Broadcasting): Tax Board Backs Down > in Wikipedia Exemption Case > To: Communications Committee <wmfcc-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org> > > > Well done WMEE! > > http://news.err.ee/culture/72556373-ba16-4ac5-82f3-b4a155a5a2a0 > > Tax Board Backs Down in Wikipedia Exemption Case > Steve Roman > Published: 13:27 > > picture: In Estonian, it's called 'Vikipeedia.' > > The Tax and Customs Board decided on March 27 to grant Wikimedia > Eesti, the not-for-profit organization that runs the Estonian > Wikipedia, tax-exempt status, thereby averting a court hearing on the > issue that was to take place the same day. > > The organization had taken legal action against the government because > of changed rules that deny it tax-exempt status as a non-governmental, > philanthropic organization. > > "For Wikimedia Eesti, this is certainly happy news, but unfortunately > it doesn't especially help matters for other NGOs who could have used > our court precedent in the future," said Wikimedia board member Raul > Veede. > > Veede noted that a broader goal of initiating the court case was to > draw attention to the Tax Board's narrow interpretation of what > comprises a charity organization which, he said, was leaving a number > of NGOs and volunteer groups subject to tax, uudised.err.ee reported. > > He had earlier explained that, while the text of the law had remained > the same, a few years ago the Tax Board changed its interpretation of > what counts as a charity eligible for tax-exempt status. > > Veede said that the new interpretation now rests on two conditions: > first, the charity must distribute material goods; and, second, it > must serve people who are disadvantaged as compared to the rest of > society. However, the Estonian-language website of Wikipedia, with its > mission of content creation and information dissemination, does not > meet these criteria. > > > - d. > > _______________________________________________ > Internal-l mailing list > Internal-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/internal-l > > _______________________________________________ > Internal-l mailing list > Internal-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/internal-l

1 0

Movement-wide governance/transparency standards
by Stuart West 16 Mar '12

16 Mar '12

At our WMF Board meeting last weekend, the Board followed up on one of the recommendations from the movement roles team and asked the WMF Audit Committee to work with community to help create a set of movement wide accountability/governance/transparency standards. I took a first shot at putting some up on meta: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Audit_committee/Draft_Accountability_standar… Please take a look and jump in and help with some edits. I know many of you have spent a lot of time thinking through these issues and am looking forward to creating something really useful for all our chapters and movement organizations. One question I had was whether we should somehow segment these into goals for new organizations (say in the first year or two) and goals for more mature organizations. What do you think? How could we set that up without somehow suggesting some "standards" are less important than others? -s =============== Stuart West Treasurer Wikimedia Foundation stu(a)wikimedia.org

1 1

donations and spending: per capita, per GDP, per country
by rupert THURNER 06 Mar '12

06 Mar '12

hi, how much sense does it make to *compare donations and spending against the population and the economic power of a country*? we already have such numbers? i tried to put some together exemplary for 2011 fundraiser, with 2012 budgets, comparing germany, india, united states. but i am quite unsure if such a table makes sense ... for the spending, it seems that *twice as much money is spent in the united states, than in germany*. india is far, far, away. but, i _think_ this might be true for most of the countries. just to make it clear, if somebody living in the u.s. travels to india, it would be counted as an expense in the united states, not india. for fundraising, in *countries like germany and switzerland 50% - 100% more is donated than in the united states*, depending if one counts GDP or population. people in india, despite having a much bigger GDP than germany, do not donate a lot of money to the movement. *de* *in* *us* 80 1210 310 population, mio 5400 190 14400 donations, thousand 3089 4469 15065 gdp, billion 3640 50 28000 spending, thousand (local people, living in the country) 38 4 48 gdp/capita, thousand *68* *0.16* *46* *donation/capita* *1.75* *0.04* *0.96* *donation/gdp* *45* *0.04* *90* *spending/capita* *1.18* *0.01* *1.86* *spending/gdp* references: * 2011 donations: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Ah1QkDyemcHbdHNFZEs0ZEgxWHF2cV… * budget wmde 2012: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Wirtschaftsplan_2012_WMD… * the above table in google docs: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Amy296SGLxdvdHVSNkZoSGFFV2dmOX… rupert.

5 6

WMDE governance & accountability
by Sebastian Moleski 28 Feb '12

28 Feb '12

Hi everyone, picking up the task from Tomer, I'd like to share some of our practices regarding governance and accountability. == Overview == "Wikimedia Deutschland - association for the promotion of free knowledge" is a Germany-based non-profit, charitable membership association created in 2004. It has received charity status in the same year and has kept it since then. Its primary governing document is the charter found at http://wikimedia.de/wiki/Satzung/en (English and German version). Its mission is the creation, collection, and distribution of Open Content in order to support equal opportunity to access to knowledge and education. Main focus of the organization lies on the Wikimedia projects. Wikimedia Deutschland has a wholly-owned tax-exempt subsidiary set up in 2009 for the sole purpose of collecting donations in Germany and transferring a portion to the Wikimedia Foundation and a portion to Wikimedia Deutschland. This is purely a legal construct to satisfy German tax regulations regarding sending donations into foreign countries. Formally, Wikimedia Deutschland's CEO is also CEO of this subsidiary. The Supervisory Board of Wikimedia Deutschland also serves as the Supervisory Board of the subsidiary. All the disclosure and accountability standards we adhere to for Wikimedia Deutschland also apply to the subsidiary, including publication of the financial and annual reports, setting up and discussing an annual plan, etc. == Governance == === Members Assembly === The governance structure of Wikimedia Deutschland is defined in parts by the German civil code (BGB) which requires that each membership association have a written charter, regular meetings of the Members Assembly, an Executive Board, and some minimum rights for each member that cannot be abrogated. Beyond those basics, membership associations are free to structure themselves according to their own needs, which we have used to adapt to the evolving nature of the organization. Wikimedia Deutschland has three "governing bodies": the Members Assembly, the Supervisory Board, and the Executive Board. The Members Assembly currently meets twice a year. Among its responsibilities are electing the Supervisory Board, electing the auditors, appriving the annual plan, receiving and deliberating on the annual report, approving the actions of and discharging the members of the Supervisory and the Executive Board, approving rules of procedure, determining membership fees (currently €24 per year minimum), and approving liabilities in excess of a certain minimum. We have currently 1272 members, 927 of which are "active members" and 345 of which are "supporting members". Active members are entitled to attend, speak, file motions, and vote at the Members Assembly. Supporting members may attend, speak, and file motions but do not have a vote. === Supervisory Board === Since November 2011, there's a Supervisory Board consisting of 10 members elected for one year. Four of those members are also officers of the organization, specifically the President (currently yours truly), two Vice Presidents (currently Ralf Liebau and Sebastian Wallroth), and the Treasurer (currently Delphine Ménard). The Members Assembly elects each of the officers as well as six at-large board members. All board members are unpaid volunteers and are not liable for the organization's actions. The primary role of the Supervisory Board is to provide guidance and oversight. Among its responsibilities are appointing and removing members of the Executive Board as well as setting terms of their employment contracts, setting targets and objectives for the Executive Board, revising the organization's strategic plan, overseeing/controlling the Executive's activities, granting or denying approval for certain significant transactions, amending the annual plan, and serving as legal representatives of the organization in subsidiaries. We meet about three times a year for a full weekend as well as twice a year for one-day sessions to prepare the Members Assembly. To better distribute our work, the Supervisory Board is divided into 11 departments with two or three board members each serving in one. As a result, every board member is usally part of two or three departments. In addition, there is one permanent committee (the Executive Committee) and currently two ad-hoc committees (Members Assembly and Strategic Plan). The Executive Committee is charged with conducting the annual executive review. Over the past three years, we've designed an elaborate review process that takes into account day-to-day activities, strategic target achievement, and employee surveys. The review is typically conducted after the first Members Assembly and directly influences the variable component of the Executive's pay as well as contract renewal, if applicable. Most of our work is one on our board wiki and irregular phone conferences. Access to the wiki is limited to the Executive and our shared assistant. Time commitment for board members varies. The Supervisory Board does not engage in the day-to-day activities of the organization. Members of the Supervisory Board may not be employed by the organization, nor can they accept any sort of paid contract. == Executive Board == As of November 2011, there's an Executive Board which is tasked with managing the actual operations. It currently consists of one person, Pavel Richter, who serves as the organization's CEO. The members of the Executive Board are paid professionals with fixed-term contracts not exceeding five years. Pavel's current contract runs until the end of 2015 with renewal negotiations likely to start a year in advance. Having two separate and distinct boards implements what is customarily called a "two-tier system", which is very common in Germany (see also http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Board_of_directors#Two-tier_system). The CEO is the legal representative of the organization in and out of court. He signs all contracts, hires and fires employees, and is in general responsible for making sure the annual plan is carried out. All employees report to him, whether directly or indirectly. Within the framework of the annual plan and the organization's rules, the CEO is free to choose what projects to undertake, what resources to use, and in general how to conduct the activities of the organization. He also prepares the annual report and financial statements and reports to the Supervisory Board and the Members Assembly. == Auditors == Each year, the Members Assembly elects two volunteer auditors. Auditors must independent of the Supervisory and the Executive Board and must not be employed by the organization either. They are charged with reviewing the financial accounts of the organization after the close of the fiscal year, in preparation of the upcoming Members Assembly. The CEO and the Treasurer typically attend the audit. The auditors may call for a special Members Assembly if they discover irregularities that warrant it. Starting in 2012, we will also hire an external auditor to review our books. Our fiscal year is the calendar year, with all the disadvantages that brings from an operations perspective.. German non-profit tax law requires that annual reports for charitable organizations must be presented according to the calendar year, regardless of whether the organization chooses a different tax law. Charity status is also bestowed for three calendar years at a time. As a result, German non-profit organizations tend not to have fiscal years deviating from the calendar year. == Community projects budget == In March 2011, the Members Assembly approved a board proposal to create a new fund to support community-driven programs, the "Community projects budget" (see also http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Deutschland/Community_projects_bud…). The fund has a volume of 250,000 Euro for 2012. Allocation of funds is steered by a special budget committee consisting of three chapter members, three community members, and the Treasurer. There are two rounds per year where community members can submit project proposals for funding. The budget committee collects all proposals, invites some for personal presentations, and finally recommends a set of projects for funding to the CEO. The funding guidelines are determined by the budget committee in consultation with the community, the CEO, and the Supervisory Board. The CEO typically approves the committee's recommendation without changes. The budget committee is tasked with evaluating its work as well as the effectiveness of the fund itself and reporting to the Members Assembly. The fund has already been a great succcess in that over 100 project ideas have been submitted already with about 15 of them being supported financially by the organization. Please check out the Meta page for additional information. == Government regulations == Germany is a federal republic consisting of sixteen states. As a tax-exempt organization incorporated in the State of Berlin, Wikimedia Deutschland is subject to the laws and regulations of Berlin, the federal government, and the European Union. Non-profit tax law is determined by the federal government, as interpreted by the tax office in Berlin. There are extensive laws and regulations covering tax-exempt organizations which are mostly led by the principle that tax-exempt organizations must not use their tax advantages to compete with for-profit organizations and that tax-exemption is only granted for activities that benefit society as a whole, or at least large parts of society. There are no German laws requiring disclosure of financial accounts for non-profit organizations, regardless of size. The tax office requires annual reports, but those are covered by the same privacy regulations applying to individual tax returns and are therefore not available to the general public. There are, however, a number of non-government institutions that have created codes of conduct for fundraising organizations which we voluntarily abide by. As a result, we make a number of disclosures on our website including annual financial statements, annual reports, legal representatives, staff, and major donors. == Finance & legal == The organization's finances are governed by the laws of Germany, rules of procedure approved by the Members Assembly, the annual plan, and the operations plans. We currently have one full-time staff responsible for managing day-to-day financial activities. Most of our accounting, payroll, and tax return preparation work is done by an external accounting/tax advisor firm that specializes in non-profit organizations. We have no legal staff of our own but rather rely almost entirely on JBB, a Berlin-based law firm specializing in copyright, personality rights, labor, and other areas of commercial law. They have been our representatives in all our cases where Wikimedia Deutschland was sued for Wikipedia content issues. JBB has also assisted or represented the Foundation in a number of cases originating in Germany. == Transparency == Main vehicle for transparency is our website at http://www.wikimedia.de/. The staff publishes monthly reports as well as irregular progress reports on individual projects. All our financial and annual reports can be accessed on our website as well. We also employ Meta to publish drafts for our annual plan as well as our strategic plan (http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Kompass_2020/de). In addition, Wikimedia Deutschland maintains a wiki (open to everyone, one-time registration is required) called the Forum (http://forum.wikimedia.de/) aimed mostly at our members and the community for discussions on the Members Assembly and other current topics. The Forum also contains agendas and minutes of Supervisory Board meetings, motions filed for the Members Assembly, and minutes from the Assembly. == Mission oversight & strategy development == In 2009, Wikimedia Deutschland started a strategy development process culminating in a ten year vision and five year strategic goals (see also http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Kompass_2020/de). The strategic plan is subject to periodic review and updates based on the results of past activities. The responsibility to update as well as oversee implementation of the strategic plan lies with the Supervisory Board. Based on these strategic goals, our staff prepare an annual plan to be presented to the Supervisory Board by the CEO in early September. The annual plan is fairly high-level and mostly names the top priorities for the next year and what parts of the budget to spend on it (2012 can be found here: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Deutschland/2012_Programme_Plan). Based on conversations and deliberations by the Supervisory Board, the CEO revises the plan and publishes it in the Forum for our members and the community to see and comment. In parallel, the CEO and members of the Supervisory Board conduct a tour through Germany where we present the plan and solicit feedback on it in five different cities. The tour is a direct consequence of the fact that, so far, we have rarely received much feedback online. Taking into account all the feedback collected, the CEO publishes another revision of the plan in October, presents it to the Supervisory Board for final approval, and finally presents it to the Members Assembly to vote on in November. Following the Members Assembly, our staff creates a specific project plan for the year outlining which activities and programs specifically to engage in, what resources are to be used, and how to measure success. The project plan is submitted to the Supervisory Board for approval and serves as the blueprint for the organization's activities throughout the year. == Wrap-up == I know that was a lot, even though I've left out much of the detail. One thing I want to add is that it took some years to come up with the governance structure we have today. The two-tier system was created just last year, for example. 2011 was also the first year that the annual plan was submitted to the Members Assembly for approval. 2010 was the first year an annual plan was created based on strategic objectives. We've only started publishing our financial statements in 2009. In the early years, our board was very hands-on, similarly to the Foundation prior to Sue becoming ED. I expect our governance structure to continue to evolve in the future, just as the organization continues to change and develop. There will be, for example, a push to regionalize our activities more starting in 2012, which may lead to actual sub-sections being started in two larger German cities. Having external auditors reviewing our books is also likely have an impact on how we understand and live governance and accountability. To make it short: this is all very much a work in progress that won't likely ever come to an end as long Wikimedia Deutschland keeps evolving. Alright, now I'm done. I hope this was helpful to you. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask Delphine or me on this list. Best regards, Sebastian Moleski President ------------------------------------- Wikimedia Deutschland e. V. Eisenacher Straße 2 10777 Berlin Telefon 030 - 219 158 26-0 www.wikimedia.de Stellen Sie sich eine Welt vor, in der jeder Mensch an der Menge allen Wissens frei teilhaben kann. Helfen Sie uns dabei! http://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 27/681/51985.

5 7

Re: [treasurers] WMES governance & accountability
by Josep Nogué Felip 25 Feb '12

25 Feb '12

> From: "Mar?a Sefidari" <maria(a)wikimedia.org.es> > To: treasurers(a)lists.wikimedia.org > Subject: [treasurers] WMES governance & accountability > > Spanish law requires disclosure of financial accounts for > non-profit organizations, regardless of size. The tax office requires > annual reports, but those are covered by the same privacy regulations > applying to individual tax returns and are therefore not available to the > general public. Value Added Tax reports must be submitted every three > months. > Hi María I see you are filing VAT tax settlements in Spain. We at first did so this meant paying a professional to do the paperwork and had a significant cost. >From what I see in your bylaws I think you have the right to request the exemption as we did. In case it can be of help, I attach links to application requesting the exemption [1] (in Catalan, sorry), Certificate of Secretary [2] (also in Catalan), and the document from Spanish Tax Agency acknowledging Amical Viquipèdia as a social institution and granting us exemption from VAT in Spain. [3] (in Spanish) [1] http://www.viquimedia.cat/v/images/8/8a/Sol_Exempci%C3%B3_IVA.pdf [2] http://www.viquimedia.cat/v/images/2/2d/Certif_Exempci%C3%B3_IVA-1.pdf [3] http://www.viquimedia.cat/v/images/7/73/Exempci%C3%B3_IVA_Amical_Viquip%C3%…

2 1

WMES governance & accountability
by "María Sefidari" 21 Feb '12

21 Feb '12

Hi everyone, Following Sebastien, I'd like to share some of our practices regarding governance and accountability. == Overview == "Wikimedia España" is a Spain-based non-profit membership association created in 2011. Its primary governing document are the bylaws found at http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Espa%C3%B1a/Borrador_de_estatutos/… (English and Spanish version). There are also several documents ("Reglamentos") that regulate internal processes. The purpose of the association is to promote, directly or indirectly, the distribution, improvement and support of all initiatives that support free access, use, study, modification and redistribution of content, like the projects hosted and supported by the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Wikimedia España was registered as a non-profit in the National Register of Associations on February 2011, and successfully accepted on April 2011. It seeks to become an "Asociación de Utilidad Pública" (AUP, "Public use/interest association"). According to the law, two years must pass after the succesful registration of April 2011, after which time we will have to show the required documentation of the last two years (financial reports, yearly reports, VAT statements, certifications, etc). One of the benefits of becoming AUP is that donors will have up to 25% of tax-deductibility. == Governance == === Members General Assembly === The governance structure of Wikimedia España is defined in parts by the Spanish civil code and the Law of Associations (LODA) which requires that each membership association have a written charter, regular meetings of the Members Assembly, a Board, and some minimum rights for each member that cannot be abrogated. Beyond those basics, membership associations are free to structure themselves according to their own needs. Wikimedia España has two "governing bodies": the Members General Assembly and the Board. The General Assembly happens at least once a year. Among its responsibilities are electing the Board, approving rules of procedure, determining membership fees (currently €30 per year). We have currently 69 members. All are active members, entitled to attend, speak, file motions, and vote at the General Assembly. === Board === The Board has 8 members elected for three years. The procedure for an election involves open lists, and consists of a group of members submitting an open list to fill all the posts. This means that individuals that belong to one list may not be elected to enter the Board, even if the rest of people of that list are. Currently the Chair is Jorge Sierra, the Vice-Chair is yours truly, the Secretary is Marcos Tallés and the Treasurer is Miguel García. Per our bylaws, there must be at least three other Board members. Members of the Board engage in the day-to-day activities of the association, and are charged with programming, coordinating and executing activities of the association; directing and supervising its administrative and economic management and approving any agreement or legal document; subjecting, to the approval of the General Assembly, the annual balance sheet and budget, the annual report and the project of activities, as well as any other proposals it decides to present; deciding on the admission of new members, and other things. Most of our work is one on our board wiki, board mailing list and irregular phone conferences. Access to the wiki is limited to the Board and members who help with certain projects. Time commitment for board members varies. Board members do not receive any kind of salary from the association. Wikimedia España has no staff. == Auditors == Any member may call for an external auditor. All members can request access to the books, and it must be given to them. Every year the Spanish Treasury reviews our accounts. Please see the next section. Our fiscal year is the calendar year, with all the disadvantages that brings from an operations perspective. Spanish non-profit tax law requires that annual reports for charitable organizations must be presented according to the calendar year, regardless of whether the organization chooses a different tax law. == Government regulations == Spain consists of seventeen autonomous regions (+ Ceuta and Melilla). Independently of the region of Spain where an organization is based, all are subject to the LODA and other national laws and regulations. Spanish law requires disclosure of financial accounts for non-profit organizations, regardless of size. The tax office requires annual reports, but those are covered by the same privacy regulations applying to individual tax returns and are therefore not available to the general public. Value Added Tax reports must be submitted every three months. == Finance & legal == The organization's finances are governed by the laws of Spain, rules of procedure approved by the Members General Assembly. Every year we must submit the "Informe de Actividades Económicas" (IAE, Financial Activities Report), which is examined by the Spanish Treasury. == Transparency == Main vehicle for transparency are our website at http://www.wikimedia.org.es/ and Meta at http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Espa%C3%B1a. The Board publishes trimonthly reports as well as irregular progress reports on individual projects. All our reports can be accessed on meta. In addition, Wikimedia España maintains a wiki (open to members, one-time registration is required) aimed mostly at our members for discussions on the Members General Assembly and other current topics. **** I hope that was helpful. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask Miguel or me on this list. Best regards, -- María Sefidari Wikimedia España http://www.wikimedia.org.es

1 0

Visitors at WMF Audit Committee meetings
by Stuart West 04 Feb '12

04 Feb '12

One idea we've had on the Wikimedia Foundation Audit Committee is to put in place a visitor program. We think it could be a good way to drive additional transparency, and also to help share some useful practices with other movement organizations. Below are some initial thoughts on parameters for a program. Our next meeting is scheduled for 14 February from 1:30-3:00 pacific time. The primary agenda item is the review a draft of our annual public disclosure filing with U.S. tax authorities. If that sort of thing interests you, and you are available at that time, and you are comfortable with the parameters outlined below, please let me know via email at stu<at>wikimedia.org. Thanks. -s ============================== Stuart West Wikimedia Foundation Board member and Audit Committee Chair stu<at>wikimedia.org Selection of visitors - The committee chair will drive process of soliciting visitors for each meeting, likely thru treasurers list, internal-l, blog post. - We will limit to one visitor per meeting (we often have complex and confidential discussions so smaller group discussion are likely to be more valuable) - To give many people the chance to participate, individuals can only "visit" one meeting - Preference will go to visitors with an audit committee or treasurer role in movement organizations. - We will also try to ensure rotation among geographies/languages/etc. Conditions for participation - Visitors must agree to keep any sensitive content confidential, and to keep confidential any materials that are distributed prior to publication - Visitors would be allowed to participate in most discussion, though the Chair reserves right to ask visitors to take some questions/conversations offline - Visitors would not participate in executive session (when just the committee members meet, without management, the auditors, etc.) - Visitors who have a financial/auditing background must be careful, because if they show too much interest they will be sought as future audit committee members. This is an experiment that we'll try for a couple meetings, and all of these are subject to change/improvement.

1 0

2024

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

Treasurers