We are secure because of the volunteers, not the funding. If the
foundation were to disappear, the project could continue. The only
funding actually necessary is for the physical operation of the
project.
On Wed, Jun 30, 2010 at 8:49 PM, Birgitte SB <birgitte_sb(a)yahoo.com> wrote:
--- On Wed, 6/30/10, Veronique Kessler <vkessler(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
From: Veronique Kessler
<vkessler(a)wikimedia.org>
Subject: Re: [Foundation-l] 2010-11 Annual Plan Now Posted to FoundationWebsite
To: susanpgardner(a)gmail.com, "Wikimedia Foundation Mailing List"
<foundation-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Date: Wednesday, June 30, 2010, 3:53 PM
Thanks everyone for your comments
thus far (and for the thank yous too :)).
As we progress through accomplishing the goals of the
strategic plan, we
will have a better idea of what level our operating budget
will need to
be to make everything happen and be sustainable. We
will have done some
experimentation with initiatives like geographic
investments and the
addition of more roles to support chapters. We don't
know what our
optimal operating level will be and what fundraising level
we can
sustain. We have made some predictions based on a lot
of factors and we
will be able to respond appropriately to new information,
changes in
circumstances, etc. as we progress through this fiscal year
and future
years.
For the endowment, Eugene really summed up the endowment
issue well. I
want to point out that typically endowments do not fund the
ongoing
annual expenses of an organization. A portion of the
annual earnings on
the endowment may be allocated to help support operations
but it is
usually a small percentage. In the past, one could
estimate 8-10%
earnings each year and then allocate some to operations and
roll the
rest back to the endowment to continue to grow it.
Alas, these days,
8-10% returns are hard to come by. Just to put it
into perspective, if
we were to support a $20 million budget with 5% earnings
from an
endowment, we would need $400 million dollars.
Endowments can be very
useful and we will continue to analyze this option for the
future but it
is unlikely that an endowment would ever provide our entire
operating
budget each year.
I don't think anyone would expect an endowment to fund all that is being done in the
current budget. I have always thought of the endowment issue as being about always
keeping the lights on. Ensuring that the content will remain accessible in some worst
case scenario. Access is probably the weakest link in the whole copyleft paradigm. I
think most of us can name examples of how contract law has locked up what copyright law
couldn't touch.
WMF has not always been as stable as it is right now. Maybe it is hard for all the
people who joined the movement during this upswing of stability to understand quite how
some of the earlier adopters feel about the endowment. I think it is about people feeling
that the work that we have all done is secure. Since the WMF is not moving in the
direction of an endowment right now, it would be nice if they could highlight some other
things that secure what has already been accomplished. The endowment is not about just
about funding, I think it is probably also symbolic of endurance to many people. There is
a worry about the content remaining available in the long term. If there is not an
endowment to donate towards, I think people could use something else to symbolize a
commitment to the future endurance of the content that has been gathered.
Birgitte SB
_______________________________________________
foundation-l mailing list
foundation-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
Unsubscribe:
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
--
David Goodman, Ph.D, M.L.S.