Thanks everyone - WMDE welcomes and follows with interest community discussions about our proposal, the relevance of Wikidata and the use of community funds. That's the beauty of a community reviewed process.
However, statements asserting that we did not provide specific information force us to set the record straight. I am not giving any new information. It's all there - in the WMDE proposal https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Proposals/2015-2016_round1/Wikimedia_Deutschland_e.V./Proposal_form and the discussion page:
- Administration costs at the organizational level were differentiated as per FDC member request here https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants_talk:APG/Proposals/2015-2016_round1/Wikimedia_Deutschland_e.V./Proposal_form#Administration_costs .
- The overhead rate is explained here. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants_talk:APG/Proposals/2015-2016_round1/Wikimedia_Deutschland_e.V./Proposal_form#budget_.26_finances (scroll down below the table)
(The WMDE overhead rate is 28%. '*Rate*' signifies, that each department contributes equally to overhead as a percentage of its departmental budget. Therefore, the breakdown is also the same across the organization, whether its the Software or the Education Department. I don't think there is a more transparent way to do this, as this standard method does not allow to hide any costs)
- Floating capacity is differentiated and explained here https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants_talk:APG/Proposals/2015-2016_round1/Wikimedia_Deutschland_e.V./Proposal_form#budget_.26_finances. (scroll down a few bullets)
WMDE is committed to accountability and transparency and we invest staff, systems and financial resources to accieve this. This is reflected in how diligently WMDE worked to provide community, FDC members and staff with answers to their questions. An informed, fair discussion can and should be based upon the data we provided.
Thank you! Nikki Zeuner and WMDE's ZEN Team
Nikki Zeuner Partnerships and Development Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. | Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | 10963 Berlin Tel. (030) 219 158 260 Mobil: 0172 547 1261 US: 1 (520) 743-6801 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 Nz. Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das Finanzamt für Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/681/51985. http://wikimedia.de
2015-11-25 4:53 GMT+01:00 Risker risker.wp@gmail.com:
Thank you, Nikki. Yes, about 70% of the costs were broken down, more or less. But almost 30% - totalling over US$635,000 - is undifferentiated "floating capacity" and "administrative costs". Those two amounts, which are not broken down by program, total more than any other Wikimedia movement entity except WMDE has received in the past three rounds.
User:Risker - FDC member
On 24 November 2015 at 10:13, Nicola Zeuner nicola.zeuner@wikimedia.de wrote:
Dear Risker, Gerard et al.,
Just a quick correction:
WMDE did indeed provide a detailed cost breakdown for Wikidata costs as well as other software development costs, down to the activity level, in table 6b, in the financial section <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Proposals/2015-2016_round1/Wikime...
of the WMDE proposal.
When first FDC member Risker <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants_talk:APG/Proposals/2015-2016_round1/W...
and then FDC staff <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants_talk:APG/Proposals/2015-2016_round1/W...
asked about a separation of costs, our response referred them to table 6b, and clarified that the first *eight* line items cover core Wikidata
development
work (the remaining five items cover closely related development and community activities that support Wikidata).
Hope this helps to inform this discussion.
Thanks, Nikki Zeuner (WMDE)
Nikki Zeuner Partnerships and Development Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. | Tempelhofer Ufer 23-24 | 10963 Berlin Tel. (030) 219 158 260 Mobil: 0172 547 1261 US: 1 (520) 743-6801 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 Nz. Als gemeinnützig anerkannt durch das Finanzamt für Körperschaften I Berlin, Steuernummer 27/681/51985. http://wikimedia.de
2015-11-24 14:47 GMT+01:00 Risker risker.wp@gmail.com:
Hello Gerard -
The recommended grant for Wikimedia Deutschland is larger than ever,
and
represents a 42% increase from last year's grant. This is a massive increase. Please don't confuse the fact that WMDE did not get
everything
it wanted with whether or not Wikidata is underfunded. Remember, the request was not just for Wikidata funding, and despite many attempts by
the
FDC to get precise data on the actual planned expenses for Wikidata,
the
committee was not provided with this information. While the funds
provided
are restricted (in that they can only be spent on the projects WMDE
applied
for), WMDE can spend the entire amount on Wikidata if it wants to.
Perhaps
that is where you might want to turn your attention.
User:Risker - FDC member
On 24 November 2015 at 04:02, Gerard Meijssen <
gerard.meijssen@gmail.com
wrote:
Hoi, So in essence one of the most relevant development project -
Wikidata -
that is arguably already underfunded will be even more underfunded
and
we
have to say thank you for doing a good job? Ok.. I thank Wikimedia
Germany
for doing a stellar job. It is an acknowledged source for inspiration
and I
have been really happy in all the contacts that I have had with them
over
the years.
It is not up to me to doubt the sincere efforts of the FDC but I am saddened that while WMF has more cash than that it can spend
important
work
is curtailed .. for what? Other development projects are not treated
in
this way and a great opportunity to do even more is missed as a
result.
Thanks, GerardM
On 24 November 2015 at 03:04, Pine W wiki.pine@gmail.com wrote:
Thank you FDC.
Many of the small and midsized APG requests fared well in this
round.
That
is nice to see.
I find it concerning that the larger the organization, the more
problems
the FDC seemed to find with the org's budget and performance
management
practices. One would expect the larger organizations to have mature
and
robust practices in these areas. Regarding WMF in particular, my
concerns
about its budget practices are well documented and I appreciate
that
the
FDC is also taking note of the persistence of the problems. I hope
that
WMF
will get serious about its financial transpatency.
A couple of questions about Wikidata:
I'm confused about the funding for Wikidata. In one place the FDC
says
that
"Nonetheless, the FDC is exasperated by the inability of WMDE to to disaggregate the costs of Wikidata from other projects." and in
another
place the FDC says that "We have recommended a reduced amount for
WMDE
in
this round with the expectation that WMDE will not cut Wikidata or
their
other tech development work, but will instead find cost savings
elsewhere
in its annual plan." If the FDC wants a disaggregated budget (which
is
understandable) then why is the FDC expecting WMDE to dip into its
other
funds and/or make cuts elsewhere in order to cover the work in this proposal that the FDC is declining to fund in this proposal? This expectation seems to be a bit of a contradiction.
I'm also wondering how WMDE is able to submit a dedicated request
for
restricted funding for Wikidata if the Wikidata project is so
integrated
into WMDE's other budgets that the FDC finds the integration to be problematic. Can the FDC or our colleagues at WMDE explain this?
Wikidata is a high profile project with a good reputation, and I
hope
that
the issues can be resolved soon.
Thanks,
Pine On Nov 23, 2015 14:09, "matanya moses" matanya@foss.co.il wrote:
Hello Wikimedians,
tl;dr: The FDC’s recommendations for this round of the APG grant
requests
have now been published at:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/FDC_recommendations/20...
The Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) meets twice a year to
help
make
decisions about how to effectively allocate movement funds to
achieve
the
Wikimedia movement's mission, vision, and strategy. [1] We met
for
four
days last week in San Francisco to review 11 proposals submitted
for
this
round of funding. [2]
The committee has now posted our Round 1 2015-2016
recommendations
on
the
annual plan grants (APG) to the Wikimedia Foundation Board of
Trustees.
[3]
The WMF Board representatives to the FDC (Denny Vrandecic,
Jan-Bart
de
Vreede and Dariusz Jemielniak) will lead the Board in its review
of
these
recommendations. The WMF Board will review the recommendations
and
then
make their decision on them before 1 January 2016.
This round, the eleven proposals came from ten chapters and one
thematic
organisation, totaling requests of approximately $3.8 million
USD.
Ten
affiliates were returning to the APG program, and one was a new
applicant.
This round, one organisation requested a restricted grant to
support
one
particular program. All other grant requests were for general
funding.
Before we met for our face-to-face deliberations, the FDC
carefully
reviewed all proposals and supporting documentation (e.g.,
budgets,
plans,
strategies) in detail, aided by staff assessments and analysis on
impact,
finances, and programs, as well as community comments on the
proposals.
The
committee had long and intense conversations about the proposals
submitted
this round. By listening and carefully considering all available
data,
the
committee achieved consensus on all proposal deliberations.
In addition to the above, the FDC has also included a
recommendation
about
the WMF itself to improve its own level of planning transparency
and
budget
detail. The WMF staff were not involved in the conception or
writing
of
this additional recommendation.
For your reference, there is a formal process to submit appeals
about
these recommendations or complaints about the FDC process. The
processes
for both are outlined below.
Any applicant that wants to appeal the FDC’s recommendation about
their
proposal this round should submit it by 23:59 UTC on 8 December
2015
in
accordance with the appeal process outlined in the FDC
Framework. A
formal
appeal to challenge the FDC’s recommendation should be in the
form
of a
500-or-fewer word summary. The appeal should be submitted
on-wiki,
[4]
and
must be submitted by the Board Chair of a funding-seeking
applicant.
Complaints about the process can be filed by anyone with the
Ombudsperson,
and can be made any time. The complaint should be submitted on
wiki,
as
well. [5] The ombudsperson will publicly document the complaint,
and
investigate as needed.
Please take a look at the upcoming calendar [6] to learn about
other
upcoming milestones in the APG program.
Again, we offer our sincere thanks to the 11 organisations who
submitted
annual plan grant proposals to the FDC this round.
On behalf of the FDC,
Matanya Moses (FDC chair), User:Matanya
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Proposals/2015-2016_round1
[3]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/FDC_recommendations/20...
[4]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Appeals_to_the_Board_on_the_recom...
[5]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Complaints_about_the_FDC_process
[6] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Calendar
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