As far as I can tell, the way that this is supposed to work is for there to be no WMF influence on funds distribution.
"We affirm that all funds given to the Wikimedia movement are given in support of our global projects... funds raised via the Wikimedia project sites should be considered to be movement money, not the entitlement of a particular organization or stakeholder. Decision-making about funds dissemination should be broad and inclusive, consistent with our mission, vision and values. ... To support a broader and more inclusive decision-making process for funds distribution, the Wikimedia Foundation will create a volunteer-driven body (working title: the Funds Dissemination Committee, or FDC) whose sole purpose will be to make recommendations to the Wikimedia Foundation for funding activities and initiatives in support of the mission goals of the Wikimedia movement. All funds raised via the Wikimedia project sites will be distributed via the recommendations of the FDC, with the exception of Wikimedia Foundation core operating costs and the operating reserve as described above." -- Board of Trustees, [[wmf:Resolution:Funds Dissemination Committee]]
Where are we on this? Since the 2015-16 annual plan the WMF hasn't been filling out its FDC applications (to regular objections every annual plan review and FDC election), and the Grants process pages on Meta are prominently labeled "Wikimedia Foundation Grants". I'm having difficulty finding out how the various Grants systems are run, but the IEG final decisions are apparently made by WMF staff, and the FDC doesn't seem to be directly involved in those?
I haven't found any retraction of the original board resolution, so I assume that the current situation is a temporary setup until whatever remaining obstacles are dealt with and the FDC is capable of fulfilling its mandate. (I don't know what these obstacles might be. I think it would be helpful if the WMF and/or Board would comment on this.) Although the WMF, for the duration, appears to act as though it's their money to distribute and makes many of the relevant decisions, that appears not to be the (eventual) intended process.
(My apologies if some of this is inaccurate. The pages on Meta aren't well organized, and it's hard to get a coherent picture of how things work.)
(Also, FWIW, I really think it would be a bad idea to directly fund content creation or Signpost support.)
-- Yair Rand
בתאריך יום ב׳, 3 בספט׳ 2018 ב-22:07 מאת Pine W <wiki.pine@gmail.com >:
I apologize for the unusually large load of typos, especially misspelling Kaarel's name. Usually I get enough sleep but last night I didn't. Apparently my attention to detail is diminished.
I'm rapidly spending my Wikimedia-l quota of 15 emails per calendar month, so if there is extensive discussion on this topic then I may ask that we move the conversation to a wiki page.
Regards,
Pine ( https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pine )
On Mon, Sep 3, 2018 at 9:02 PM Pine W wiki.pine@gmail.com wrote:
Hello colleagues,
A topic which I feel that I should address again on this mailing list is revenue for Wikimedia work, specifically WMF and non-WMF sources of
revenue.
I will start by talking about my personal situation, and then discuss
some
related situations.
I am currently requesting a grant from WMF. I cannot afford afford to
work
on this project in a sustainable way without funding, and I feel that I
am
making a request that is reasonably aligned with market rates for someone with my current level of skills and knowledge, but I feel conflicted
about
requesting funding from WMF because of the potential for difficulties between WMF and the community, especially because of the potential that I would be reluctant to express my views regarding WMF due to fear of
losing
WMF funding. (I'm not linking to my grant request here because I don't
want
this email to give the impression that I'm using this topic to ask for community endorsements for my grant request.)
Similarly, *The Signpost *is labor-intensive to produce, and I would like for funding to be available for the more prolific *Signpost *contributors so that they have a good reason to treat their labor for The Signpost as part time jobs. However, it would be difficult to maintain the editorial independence of *The Signpost *from WMF if the contributors (especially contributors to the "News and Notes" and "In the Media" sections, and the contributors who are responsible for the overall editing and publication
of *The
Signpost*) received funding from WMF.
There are many other areas in the Wikimedia community where there is enough work that is not getting done by volunteers, and/or where
volunteers
can put in so many hours that they can get burnt out, that I think that non-WMF funding would be good to make available for contributors who
would
like to work in these areas. Two examples are investigations of
undisclosed
paid editing, and translation and development of medical content.
With Kaarl's cooperation (thank you, Kaarl) I have requested that two of the WMF strategy working groups consider non-WMF funding for Wikimedia
work
as a part of their discussions.
I would like for significant non-WMF revenue to be available for
Wikimedia
work. I think that this could be arranged with WMF's cooperation,
although
there is a long journey between saying that "I think that this could be arranged" and having a successful system in place.
If you have thoughts that you would like to share on this topic, then I hope that you will comment here on this mailing list, or in some other appropriate location such as one or both of the relevant strategy talk pages ([1 <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20/Wor...
] or [2 <
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20/Wor...
]).
Let me make a specific invitation to WMF employees to share your
thoughts.
I would like to hear your comments, both official and personal, if that
is
okay and if you would like to comment.
Thank you,
Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe