Dear all,
Today, the Wikimedia Foundation published the Form 990 [1], an informational tax form required annually of all nonprofit organisations based in the US. The Form 990 provides a financial overview of the Foundation, including the balance sheet, revenue and expenses, as well as grantmaking, governance, and other financial policies. It also includes compensation information required for senior executives. This document is reviewed by the Board each year before it is published on the Foundation website.
Because of reporting periods, the Form 990 provides a look back at the activities and budget for the Foundation in prior years. This year’s Form 990 covers last fiscal year (July 2021-June 2022), and for compensation related reporting, it covers the 2021 calendar year. Because the Form 990 is a tax document with a complicated format, this year the Foundation has also published a Diff post [2] that provides an overview of the different sections of the form; an executive summary [3] of the Form, and an FAQ on Meta [4].
This year’s Form 990 contains several key takeaways:
Growth in support of Wikimedia projects: In the 2021-2022 fiscal year, the Foundation invested 77% in Program Services, an increase of 4 percentage points as compared to fiscal year 2020–2021 of 73%. This measure reflects how much of the organisation’s expenses are allocated towards the programs and services that it exists to deliver. This surpasses third-party standards for how much nonprofit organisations should spend on programs, which should be the majority of their budget (more than 65% according to the Better Business Bureau).
Increase in community grants: During fiscal year 2021-2022, the Foundation’s revenue received through donations and grants, totaled $164.2 million, a roughly $9 million increase from the prior fiscal year. The Foundation increased its grants programme by 50%, from $10.1M in the prior fiscal year to $15.2M in fiscal year 2021-2022.
Comprehensive governance policies: The Foundation follows a number of best practices for governance as an established nonprofit organisation. The Form 990 includes a section confirming written policies regarding our approach to conflicts of interest, protecting whistleblowers, guidelines for data retention and governance practices, including those related to the Foundation's Board structure, voting rights, and independence. These governance policies and practices have helped the Foundation to receive the highest rating from sites like Charity Navigator.
Leadership Transition: This year’s Form 990 also reports on a period of significant leadership transition at the Wikimedia Foundation, including the CEO stepping down. The Form includes compensation information as well as severance disclosures for Foundation executives who departed in 2021. This January, the Wikimedia Foundation introduced a new standardised severance policy, which was shared in a Diff post [5]. Separation payments to two additional executives that precede the implementation of this standardised policy will be disclosed in future Form 990s.
Finally, the Form 990 is one of several documents that the Foundation publishes each year, to provide more visibility into the budget and how the Foundation allocates resources towards its work. In addition to the Form 990, you can find additional information in this year’s Annual Plan, in the Foundation’s Annual Report, and in a series of Diff posts about the Foundation’s compensation practices, global guidelines, and our approach to hiring.