Dear All,
Please see email below on behalf of Jaime Villagomez, CFO of the Wikimedia Foundation.
Hello everyone,
The Wikimedia Foundation has submitted to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and posted on-wiki[1] our annual Form 990 filing. The Form 990 is the annual financial reporting which is required by the federal government for active nonprofit organizations in the United States.
In addition to posting the Form 990 on-wiki, we have also posted an accompanying page with answers to frequently asked questions related to the form and information we submitted.[2] Almost all financial reports by their very nature can be confusing, so to add clarity here is a simple breakdown of what this form covers.
It was pointed out last year that the dates covered by our financial reports can be confusing given our fiscal year is different from the calendar year. This "2015 Form 990" covers the financial activities of the Wikimedia Foundation for the 2015-2016 fiscal year, which ran from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016. A notable exception is information related to the compensation of our officers, key employees, highest paid staff and independent contractors, which is instead based on the 2015 calendar year.
The Wikimedia Foundation's total revenue from fiscal year 2015-2016 was US$78,691,737. Our total expenses from this period were US$65,061,845 and our total net assets at the end of the fiscal year were US$91,782,795.
Included in the approximately US$65 million expenses from this period is a US$5 million seed contribution to the Wikimedia Endowment, building on the initial donation by Jim Pacha of approximately US$1 million. This contribution accounts for the bulk of the increase from the year before in "grants and similar amounts paid" listed on the summary page. It is listed as an expense in the form because the Endowment is an independent fund housed at Tides. To learn more about the purpose and structure of the Wikimedia Endowment, visit its Meta-Wiki page.[3]
The Form 990 also includes information about the salaries of the Wikimedia Foundation's five highest paid employees. The salaries for all paid positions are set according to salary bands which are determined bi-annually based on independent third party survey data.[4] Executive salaries are subject to this same standard. All executive salaries, with the exception of the Executive Director's salary, are set by the Executive Director in discussion with the Board of Trustees. The Board of Trustees uses the independent third party survey data, as well as comparative data from other nonprofit organizations, to set the salary of the Executive Director, and to assess and advise on other executive salaries.
The largely technical and high-skilled nature of some of our work requires competitive wages to recruit the best talent and compensate them fairly for their expertise and commitment. We believe that the Wikimedia Foundation continues to pay competitively, but within in the average (50th percentile) when compared to tech companies, and higher average (90th percentile) compared to nonprofits.
In addition to salary information, the report includes other payments made to the highest paid employees upon their departure from the organization (known as severance payments). Following our regular practice for staff departures, these amounts are set on a case-by-case based on a person's tenure with the organization. We recognize that people have an interest in this topic, and that there will be some questions. However, as an employer we are limited in what we can discuss publicly. Out of respect for the people involved, and in consideration of the laws and ethics related to sharing human resources information, we will not be commenting on the specific nature of the severance payments or circumstances which may be related to them.
Through reports and discussions like these, the Wikimedia Foundation will continue to strive to provide a responsible level of transparency and accountability for our work. I imagine there are other questions, and I invite you to review the on-wiki FAQ[2], or email me if your question is not answered there.
Thank you to the Foundation's Talent & Culture, Legal, Advancement and Communications departments for their assistance with developing this year's Form 990 and related communications. A very big thank you to our Finance and Administration department for their hard work once again preparing this important public filing.
Best,
Jaime
[1] Wikimedia_Foundation_2015_Form_990 https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia_Foundation_2015_Form_990.pdf [2] Wikimedia_Foundation_Form_990_Frequently_Asked_Questions https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_issues_and_information/2015_Wikimedia_Foundation_Form_990_Frequently_Asked_Questions [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Endowment [4] https://www.radford.com/home/surveys/gts/
Every time the subject of WMF's level of financial opacity/transparency comes up I am disappointed. I think that my views on this matter are well known, so rather than repeat them in detail for the nth time I will say again that I object to WMF's limited transparency and believe that it is very inconsistent with the practices that I would expect of a well-governed charity.
Pine
On Wed, May 24, 2017 at 8:27 PM, Tony Le tle@wikimedia.org wrote:
A notable exception is information related to the compensation of our officers, key employees, highest paid staff and independent contractors, which is instead based on the 2015 calendar year.
Thank you. I have two questions:
1. Does the above statement mean that any severance pay or other special compensation Lila Tretikov might have received at the end of her tenure in 2016 will only show in the 2016 Form 990, due in about a year's time?
2. Speaking of severance pay, I note that Erik Möller's compensation seems to have increased from almost exactly $200,000 in the 2014 calendar year[1] to a little over $302,000 in the 2015 calendar year[2], despite the fact that, as far as I recall, he left the Foundation on April 30th 2015[3] and thus only worked 4 of the year's 12 months.
If Erik was paid at the same rate in 2015 as he was in 2014, he would have stood to receive salary payments of around $67,000.
This is almost a quarter of a million dollars less than his actual compensation according to the form released now.
Is this $235,000 discrepancy wholly or partly due to a severance payment Erik received at the end of his employment, and if so, what was the amount and the rationale?
Andreas
[1] Page 52 in https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/2/27/Form_990_FY_2014-2015... [2] https://wikimediafoundation.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AWikimedia_Foundatio... [3] https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2015-April/077516.html
Andreas,
Page 52 reports that Moeller received $208,306 in severance: that seems to be a year's salary. There is no stated reason for the payment.
"Rogol"
On Thu, May 25, 2017 at 2:02 PM, Andreas Kolbe jayen466@gmail.com wrote:
On Wed, May 24, 2017 at 8:27 PM, Tony Le tle@wikimedia.org wrote:
A notable exception is information related to the compensation of our officers, key employees, highest paid staff and independent contractors, which is instead based on the 2015 calendar
year.
Thank you. I have two questions:
- Does the above statement mean that any severance pay or other special
compensation Lila Tretikov might have received at the end of her tenure in 2016 will only show in the 2016 Form 990, due in about a year's time?
- Speaking of severance pay, I note that Erik Möller's compensation seems
to have increased from almost exactly $200,000 in the 2014 calendar year[1] to a little over $302,000 in the 2015 calendar year[2], despite the fact that, as far as I recall, he left the Foundation on April 30th 2015[3] and thus only worked 4 of the year's 12 months.
If Erik was paid at the same rate in 2015 as he was in 2014, he would have stood to receive salary payments of around $67,000.
This is almost a quarter of a million dollars less than his actual compensation according to the form released now.
Is this $235,000 discrepancy wholly or partly due to a severance payment Erik received at the end of his employment, and if so, what was the amount and the rationale?
Andreas
[1] Page 52 in https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/2/27/ Form_990_FY_2014-2015_-_Public.pdf [2] https://wikimediafoundation.org/w/index.php?title=File% 3AWikimedia_Foundation_2015_Form_990.pdf&page=8 [3] https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimedia-l/2015- April/077516.html _______________________________________________ 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
On Thu, May 25, 2017 at 2:51 PM, Rogol Domedonfors domedonfors@gmail.com wrote:
Andreas, Page 52 reports that Moeller received $208,306 in severance: that seems to be a year's salary. There is no stated reason for the payment.
"Rogol"
Thank you. As you say, page 52 informs us that –
---o0o---
Per terms of a severance agreement, upon separation from the organization under certain circumstances, L. Tretikov, Executive Director, is entitled to receive a severance payment. No payment was made during 2015. In addition, the following key employee and highest compensated employees were also entitled to and received severance payments during 2015: E. Moeller, $208,306, G. Young, $98,446, T. Gilbey, $80,000, and D. Sicore, $100,000.
---o0o---
Damon Sicore's entire compensation for half a year's work (February to July 2015) was thus around $292,000.
I think many donors would be surprised to find that outgoing WMF managers with checkered work histories are paid such substantial severance payments, against a historical backdrop of fundraising messages creating the impression that funds are urgently needed to keep the lights on, and minimal WMF spending on content-facing initiatives like providing unpaid volunteers with free access to reference sources.
Also, given that Lila only left in spring 2016, it seems odd for the document to state that no severance payment was made to her during 2015. She hadn't left yet. If there was such a severance payment in spring 2016, over a year ago, it would be right to tell the donor and editor community now. That is what a highly transparent donor-funded organisation would do.
Andreas
wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org