Le 4/30/13 12:04 AM, Nathan a écrit :
The WMF is not the only source of fundraising for
Wikimedia chapters
or other movement partners. Many chapters have successfully partnered
with other organizations to accomplish great things in outreach and
programming. Every chapter has the opportunity to raise money to
achieve meaningful results in their area, even without a single penny
from the FDC or GAC. It's clearly worthwhile to adjust the FDC
process to protect against misunderstandings, confusion and hurt
feelings. But we should acknowledge that such problems are both a
symptom of growing pains in the FDC allocation process and utterly
innate to any rationally devised method for selectively and
judiciously granting funds.
In the specific example of WMHK, it is beyond dispute that the FDC
reasonably criticized the plan to leap from zero to sixty in a single
budget cycle. The chapter understandably faces major obstacles in
engaging with institutions of civil society to further its goals;
China is not a free society, and the mission of Wikimedia does not
align well with the goals of government. It is, then, reasonable to
seek some support from the wider movement - particularly given the
importance of the chapters intended audience. But that support can and
should be one of gradually building the chapter on a slope that
parallels its activity and volunteer engagement.
It's not logical to assume that because the WMF has funds it should in
some way equitably distribute those funds around the world.
What happens to the idea according to which the funds belong to the
Wikimedia mouvement rather than to Wikimedia Foundation ?
Supporting
chapter operations, and funding offices and staff in
dozens of
countries, is not the chief object of the money raised from donors. We
need to get away from the belief that chapters are unquestionably the
best use of movement resources. There is a place for outreach,
publicity, and targeted educational programs. But the WMF is best
situated to supplement the efforts begun by volunteers, in the same
way the WMF itself was created and has grown.
I would object to the idea that WMF is best situated to supplement
efforts started by volunteers and that statement parts from the decision
made some months ago to deflate WMF role.
But we may agree to disagree on this.
Additionnaly... I must add that when WMF was precisely at the current
stage of most chapters (with no staff and no office), it was run in a
rather creative fashion that would make everyone cough today in
comparison to the requirements and obligations made mandatory to
chapters. Uh. You may have a slightly more ideal view of the past :)
It would be a poor use
of movement funds indeed if the WMF decided to pour
money into infant
chapters with minimal development and fuzzy strategic goals. That's a
recipe for, at an absolute minimum, good-faith mismanagement and waste
of scarce donor resources. Avoiding this path was a very wise decision
by the trustees, and I only hope they remain resolute despite
criticism and Sue's impending departure.
I mostly hope that they stay consistant with their own past decisions
(=we were sold the fact that the money collected belong to the
mouvement, not to the entity collecting it. If so, decisions of
allocations should not become WMF ones).
In any cases... I know not if WM HK should have been funded or not. What
I know is that the mouvement need happy and rested and humanly treated
volunteers to stay healthy.
We keep talking about editors decrease. Maybe in the future, we'll talk
about irl volunteers (as in "chapter members") decrease as well.
In the past years, we have seen several times organizers of Wikimania
plain disappear after the event. Burn-out. I do not think it is a good
outcome. For no-one.
And I do not think it is a good idea to slap a chapter organizing
Wikimania this year with words such as "infant, minimal development,
fuzzy strategic goals" whose funding would be "at an absolute minimum,
mis-management and waste of donor resources".
Organizing Wikimania is an effort which deserve a little bit more
respect than this. Either we trust the chapter to host Wikimania or we
do not. I do.
And I think that even though you are free to think funding this chapter
would be a bad move, it would be a good move from a human perspective to
present apologies for using such a strong statement.
Florence
Nathan
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