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 https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Conflict_of_interest_policy, protecting whistleblowers https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Whistleblower_policy, guidelines for data retention https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Legal:Data_retention_guidelines 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 https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/200049703. -
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 https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2023-2024, in the Foundation’s Annual Report https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/annualreport/2022-annual-report/, and in a series of Diff posts about the Foundation’s compensation practices https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/02/17/wikimedia-foundation-remote-first-and-global-community-of-staff/, global guidelines https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/04/06/wikimedia-foundation-global-guidelines-policies-practices/, and our approach to hiring https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/05/03/building-a-global-staff-community-at-the-wikimedia-foundation/ .
The Community Affairs Committee of the Board will host its regular Open Conversation with Trustees https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Community_Affairs_Committee/2023-05-18_Conversation_with_Trustees next Thursday May 18 at 1800 UTC where this topic will be on the agenda along with a final opportunity for feedback on the Foundation’s Annual Plan. Questions about the Form 990 are invited on the talk page on Meta https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_Foundation_Form_990_Frequently_Asked_Questions&action=edit&redlink=1.
[1] https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/financial-reports/#a2-2021-2022 [2] https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/05/09/highlights-of-form-990-for-the-wikimed... [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_F... [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_F... [5] https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/04/06/wikimedia-foundation-global-guidelines...
Best regards, antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
*NOTICE: You may have received this message outside of your normal working hours/days, as I usually can work more as a volunteer during weekend. You should not feel obligated to answer it during your days off. Thank you in advance!*
Dear all,
Page 49 of the new Form 990 (2021) shows the following total compensation figures for former CEO Katherine Maher and Janeen Uzzell in that year:
*$798,632 and $515,553 *respectively. Both figures far exceed all prior records.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/1/14/Wikimedia_Foundation_...
The Form 990 now shows a total of *six* executives whose total compensation exceeded *$400,000*.
For comparison, the Form 990 for the year before (2020) showed a total of *eight* executives whose total compensation exceeded *$300,000*:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/e/e4/Wikimedia_Foundation_...
These are interesting developments.
Andreas
On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 4:25 PM Nataliia Tymkiv ntymkiv@wikimedia.org wrote:
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 https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Conflict_of_interest_policy, protecting whistleblowers https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Whistleblower_policy, guidelines for data retention https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Legal:Data_retention_guidelines 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 https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/200049703.
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 https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2023-2024, in the Foundation’s Annual Report https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/annualreport/2022-annual-report/, and in a series of Diff posts about the Foundation’s compensation practices https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/02/17/wikimedia-foundation-remote-first-and-global-community-of-staff/, global guidelines https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/04/06/wikimedia-foundation-global-guidelines-policies-practices/, and our approach to hiring https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/05/03/building-a-global-staff-community-at-the-wikimedia-foundation/ .
The Community Affairs Committee of the Board will host its regular Open Conversation with Trustees https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Community_Affairs_Committee/2023-05-18_Conversation_with_Trustees next Thursday May 18 at 1800 UTC where this topic will be on the agenda along with a final opportunity for feedback on the Foundation’s Annual Plan. Questions about the Form 990 are invited on the talk page on Meta https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_Foundation_Form_990_Frequently_Asked_Questions&action=edit&redlink=1.
[1] https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/financial-reports/#a2-2021-2022 [2] https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/05/09/highlights-of-form-990-for-the-wikimed... [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_F... [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_F... [5] https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/04/06/wikimedia-foundation-global-guidelines...
Best regards, antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
*NOTICE: You may have received this message outside of your normal working hours/days, as I usually can work more as a volunteer during weekend. You should not feel obligated to answer it during your days off. Thank you in advance!*
Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l Public archives at https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/... To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org
I'm sure someone at the Foundation will have a better response, and you may have puzzled this together yourself already, but we've seen in previous years that the reported salary went up in the last year of someone's service, possibly due to consulting fees and severance packages. Both Maher and Uzzell left the Foundation in 2021. Typically the WMF has been cautious to give much detail on this though (understandably).
Lodewijk
On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 10:03 AM Andreas Kolbe jayen466@gmail.com wrote:
Dear all,
Page 49 of the new Form 990 (2021) shows the following total compensation figures for former CEO Katherine Maher and Janeen Uzzell in that year:
*$798,632 and $515,553 *respectively. Both figures far exceed all prior records.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/1/14/Wikimedia_Foundation_...
The Form 990 now shows a total of *six* executives whose total compensation exceeded *$400,000*.
For comparison, the Form 990 for the year before (2020) showed a total of *eight* executives whose total compensation exceeded *$300,000*:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/e/e4/Wikimedia_Foundation_...
These are interesting developments.
Andreas
On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 4:25 PM Nataliia Tymkiv ntymkiv@wikimedia.org wrote:
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 https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Conflict_of_interest_policy, protecting whistleblowers https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Whistleblower_policy, guidelines for data retention https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Legal:Data_retention_guidelines 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 https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/200049703.
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 https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2023-2024, in the Foundation’s Annual Report https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/annualreport/2022-annual-report/, and in a series of Diff posts about the Foundation’s compensation practices https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/02/17/wikimedia-foundation-remote-first-and-global-community-of-staff/, global guidelines https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/04/06/wikimedia-foundation-global-guidelines-policies-practices/, and our approach to hiring https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/05/03/building-a-global-staff-community-at-the-wikimedia-foundation/ .
The Community Affairs Committee of the Board will host its regular Open Conversation with Trustees https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Community_Affairs_Committee/2023-05-18_Conversation_with_Trustees next Thursday May 18 at 1800 UTC where this topic will be on the agenda along with a final opportunity for feedback on the Foundation’s Annual Plan. Questions about the Form 990 are invited on the talk page on Meta https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_Foundation_Form_990_Frequently_Asked_Questions&action=edit&redlink=1.
[1] https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/financial-reports/#a2-2021-2022 [2] https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/05/09/highlights-of-form-990-for-the-wikimed... [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_F... [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_F... [5] https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/04/06/wikimedia-foundation-global-guidelines...
Best regards, antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
*NOTICE: You may have received this message outside of your normal working hours/days, as I usually can work more as a volunteer during weekend. You should not feel obligated to answer it during your days off. Thank you in advance!*
Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l Public archives at https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/... To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org
Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l Public archives at https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/... To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org
The information is right there, Lodewijk, all you need to do is click the link. The Form 990 discloses https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/1/14/Wikimedia_Foundation_2021_Form_990.pdf#page=49 that the WMF paid five executives a combined total of over $1.2 million in severance pay. About half of this went to Katherine Maher. Individual severance figures are given on page 50 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/1/14/Wikimedia_Foundation_2021_Form_990.pdf#page=50 :
- Katherine Maher $623,286 (over 150% of her base compensation in her last full year) - Janeen Uzzell $324,748 (over 100% of her base compensation in her last full year) - Heather Walls $153,612 - Lynette Logan $74,645 - Anthony Negrin $70,920
For historical comparison, the severance payment Lila Tretikov got in 2016 was $262.5K, approx. 77% of her $342K base compensation in 2015, her last full year.
So severance payments for top executives seem to be trending up.
Andreas
On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 8:56 PM effe iets anders effeietsanders@gmail.com wrote:
I'm sure someone at the Foundation will have a better response, and you may have puzzled this together yourself already, but we've seen in previous years that the reported salary went up in the last year of someone's service, possibly due to consulting fees and severance packages. Both Maher and Uzzell left the Foundation in 2021. Typically the WMF has been cautious to give much detail on this though (understandably).
Lodewijk
On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 10:03 AM Andreas Kolbe jayen466@gmail.com wrote:
Dear all,
Page 49 of the new Form 990 (2021) shows the following total compensation figures for former CEO Katherine Maher and Janeen Uzzell in that year:
*$798,632 and $515,553 *respectively. Both figures far exceed all prior records.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/1/14/Wikimedia_Foundation_...
The Form 990 now shows a total of *six* executives whose total compensation exceeded *$400,000*.
For comparison, the Form 990 for the year before (2020) showed a total of *eight* executives whose total compensation exceeded *$300,000*:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/e/e4/Wikimedia_Foundation_...
These are interesting developments.
Andreas
On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 4:25 PM Nataliia Tymkiv ntymkiv@wikimedia.org wrote:
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 https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Conflict_of_interest_policy, protecting whistleblowers https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Whistleblower_policy, guidelines for data retention https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Legal:Data_retention_guidelines 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 https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/200049703.
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 https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2023-2024, in the Foundation’s Annual Report https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/annualreport/2022-annual-report/, and in a series of Diff posts about the Foundation’s compensation practices https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/02/17/wikimedia-foundation-remote-first-and-global-community-of-staff/, global guidelines https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/04/06/wikimedia-foundation-global-guidelines-policies-practices/, and our approach to hiring https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/05/03/building-a-global-staff-community-at-the-wikimedia-foundation/ .
The Community Affairs Committee of the Board will host its regular Open Conversation with Trustees https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Community_Affairs_Committee/2023-05-18_Conversation_with_Trustees next Thursday May 18 at 1800 UTC where this topic will be on the agenda along with a final opportunity for feedback on the Foundation’s Annual Plan. Questions about the Form 990 are invited on the talk page on Meta https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_Foundation_Form_990_Frequently_Asked_Questions&action=edit&redlink=1.
[1] https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/financial-reports/#a2-2021-2022 [2] https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/05/09/highlights-of-form-990-for-the-wikimed... [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_F... [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_F... [5] https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/04/06/wikimedia-foundation-global-guidelines...
Best regards, antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
*NOTICE: You may have received this message outside of your normal working hours/days, as I usually can work more as a volunteer during weekend. You should not feel obligated to answer it during your days off. Thank you in advance!*
Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l Public archives at https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/... To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org
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Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l Public archives at https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/... To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org
Hello,
I'm a bit lost on this, probably because I'm not familiar with US Work laws. Why did Katherine Maher received $623,286 on severance pay? Was she fired?
Best, Paulo
Andreas Kolbe jayen466@gmail.com escreveu no dia terça, 9/05/2023 à(s) 22:17:
The information is right there, Lodewijk, all you need to do is click the link. The Form 990 discloses https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/1/14/Wikimedia_Foundation_2021_Form_990.pdf#page=49 that the WMF paid five executives a combined total of over $1.2 million in severance pay. About half of this went to Katherine Maher. Individual severance figures are given on page 50 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/1/14/Wikimedia_Foundation_2021_Form_990.pdf#page=50 :
- Katherine Maher $623,286 (over 150% of her base compensation in her
last full year)
- Janeen Uzzell $324,748 (over 100% of her base compensation in her
last full year)
- Heather Walls $153,612
- Lynette Logan $74,645
- Anthony Negrin $70,920
For historical comparison, the severance payment Lila Tretikov got in 2016 was $262.5K, approx. 77% of her $342K base compensation in 2015, her last full year.
So severance payments for top executives seem to be trending up.
Andreas
On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 8:56 PM effe iets anders effeietsanders@gmail.com wrote:
I'm sure someone at the Foundation will have a better response, and you may have puzzled this together yourself already, but we've seen in previous years that the reported salary went up in the last year of someone's service, possibly due to consulting fees and severance packages. Both Maher and Uzzell left the Foundation in 2021. Typically the WMF has been cautious to give much detail on this though (understandably).
Lodewijk
On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 10:03 AM Andreas Kolbe jayen466@gmail.com wrote:
Dear all,
Page 49 of the new Form 990 (2021) shows the following total compensation figures for former CEO Katherine Maher and Janeen Uzzell in that year:
*$798,632 and $515,553 *respectively. Both figures far exceed all prior records.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/1/14/Wikimedia_Foundation_...
The Form 990 now shows a total of *six* executives whose total compensation exceeded *$400,000*.
For comparison, the Form 990 for the year before (2020) showed a total of *eight* executives whose total compensation exceeded *$300,000*:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/e/e4/Wikimedia_Foundation_...
These are interesting developments.
Andreas
On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 4:25 PM Nataliia Tymkiv ntymkiv@wikimedia.org wrote:
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 https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Conflict_of_interest_policy, protecting whistleblowers https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Whistleblower_policy, guidelines for data retention https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Legal:Data_retention_guidelines 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 https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/200049703.
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 https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2023-2024, in the Foundation’s Annual Report https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/annualreport/2022-annual-report/, and in a series of Diff posts about the Foundation’s compensation practices https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/02/17/wikimedia-foundation-remote-first-and-global-community-of-staff/, global guidelines https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/04/06/wikimedia-foundation-global-guidelines-policies-practices/, and our approach to hiring https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/05/03/building-a-global-staff-community-at-the-wikimedia-foundation/ .
The Community Affairs Committee of the Board will host its regular Open Conversation with Trustees https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Community_Affairs_Committee/2023-05-18_Conversation_with_Trustees next Thursday May 18 at 1800 UTC where this topic will be on the agenda along with a final opportunity for feedback on the Foundation’s Annual Plan. Questions about the Form 990 are invited on the talk page on Meta https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_Foundation_Form_990_Frequently_Asked_Questions&action=edit&redlink=1.
[1] https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/financial-reports/#a2-2021-2022 [2] https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/05/09/highlights-of-form-990-for-the-wikimed... [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_F... [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_F... [5] https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/04/06/wikimedia-foundation-global-guidelines...
Best regards, antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
*NOTICE: You may have received this message outside of your normal working hours/days, as I usually can work more as a volunteer during weekend. You should not feel obligated to answer it during your days off. Thank you in advance!*
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I was wondering the same thing, Paulo.
Victoria did say https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Village_pump_(proposals)&diff=prev&oldid=1123369545 last year, on-wiki: The Board has done its main job - changed the CEO.
(Victoria did not provide further details when asked.)
Andreas
On Wed, May 10, 2023 at 10:01 AM Paulo Santos Perneta < paulosperneta@gmail.com> wrote:
Hello,
I'm a bit lost on this, probably because I'm not familiar with US Work laws. Why did Katherine Maher received $623,286 on severance pay? Was she fired?
Best, Paulo
Andreas Kolbe jayen466@gmail.com escreveu no dia terça, 9/05/2023 à(s) 22:17:
The information is right there, Lodewijk, all you need to do is click the link. The Form 990 discloses https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/1/14/Wikimedia_Foundation_2021_Form_990.pdf#page=49 that the WMF paid five executives a combined total of over $1.2 million in severance pay. About half of this went to Katherine Maher. Individual severance figures are given on page 50 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/1/14/Wikimedia_Foundation_2021_Form_990.pdf#page=50 :
- Katherine Maher $623,286 (over 150% of her base compensation in her
last full year)
- Janeen Uzzell $324,748 (over 100% of her base compensation in her
last full year)
- Heather Walls $153,612
- Lynette Logan $74,645
- Anthony Negrin $70,920
For historical comparison, the severance payment Lila Tretikov got in 2016 was $262.5K, approx. 77% of her $342K base compensation in 2015, her last full year.
So severance payments for top executives seem to be trending up.
Andreas
On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 8:56 PM effe iets anders effeietsanders@gmail.com wrote:
I'm sure someone at the Foundation will have a better response, and you may have puzzled this together yourself already, but we've seen in previous years that the reported salary went up in the last year of someone's service, possibly due to consulting fees and severance packages. Both Maher and Uzzell left the Foundation in 2021. Typically the WMF has been cautious to give much detail on this though (understandably).
Lodewijk
On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 10:03 AM Andreas Kolbe jayen466@gmail.com wrote:
Dear all,
Page 49 of the new Form 990 (2021) shows the following total compensation figures for former CEO Katherine Maher and Janeen Uzzell in that year:
*$798,632 and $515,553 *respectively. Both figures far exceed all prior records.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/1/14/Wikimedia_Foundation_...
The Form 990 now shows a total of *six* executives whose total compensation exceeded *$400,000*.
For comparison, the Form 990 for the year before (2020) showed a total of *eight* executives whose total compensation exceeded *$300,000*:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/e/e4/Wikimedia_Foundation_...
These are interesting developments.
Andreas
On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 4:25 PM Nataliia Tymkiv ntymkiv@wikimedia.org wrote:
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 https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Conflict_of_interest_policy, protecting whistleblowers https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Whistleblower_policy, guidelines for data retention https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Legal:Data_retention_guidelines 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 https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/200049703.
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 https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2023-2024, in the Foundation’s Annual Report https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/annualreport/2022-annual-report/, and in a series of Diff posts about the Foundation’s compensation practices https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/02/17/wikimedia-foundation-remote-first-and-global-community-of-staff/, global guidelines https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/04/06/wikimedia-foundation-global-guidelines-policies-practices/, and our approach to hiring https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/05/03/building-a-global-staff-community-at-the-wikimedia-foundation/ .
The Community Affairs Committee of the Board will host its regular Open Conversation with Trustees https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Community_Affairs_Committee/2023-05-18_Conversation_with_Trustees next Thursday May 18 at 1800 UTC where this topic will be on the agenda along with a final opportunity for feedback on the Foundation’s Annual Plan. Questions about the Form 990 are invited on the talk page on Meta https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_Foundation_Form_990_Frequently_Asked_Questions&action=edit&redlink=1.
[1] https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/financial-reports/#a2-2021-2022 [2] https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/05/09/highlights-of-form-990-for-the-wikimed... [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_F... [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_F... [5] https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/04/06/wikimedia-foundation-global-guidelines...
Best regards, antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
*NOTICE: You may have received this message outside of your normal working hours/days, as I usually can work more as a volunteer during weekend. You should not feel obligated to answer it during your days off. Thank you in advance!*
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Le 10/05/2023 à 11:01, Paulo Santos Perneta a écrit :
Hello,
I'm a bit lost on this, probably because I'm not familiar with US Work laws. Why did Katherine Maher received $623,286 on severance pay? Was she fired?
Hello Paulo,
When an employee leaves, you would always get a statement on the vein of "mutual agreement" or that "so and so is leaving" without any further details. When being asked about a specific situation Talent and Culture (= Human Resources) never speaks of individual cases. If I was the one leaving, I would not want the organization to give any details on my behalf, more so if I had a role with public exposure such as a C-level. In the same way, the organization does not want further details regarding the cause and I imagine there are very legal reasons for it.
In my experience that is regardless of which party initiated (the employee willingness to leave, or the organization asking for the position/role/person to leave or whatever over situation). It was the same in France with past employers: terminations of contracts are publicly quiet.
What I got explained is that in the USA a contract termination might come with a non disparage clause. It restricts the parties from criticizing each other (if it is mutual) essentially meaning neither the organization nor the employee would speak about the departure. The clause details what happens if a party breaches it. I imagine the former employee would have to reimburse part (or all) of the severance package or the organization would pay a lump sump to the employee. And I imagine there might be legal consequences. Then as I often said: I am not a lawyer.
In short I don't think either party can give any detail and regardless I think we should respect the privacy of the past employees.
Antoine "hashar" Musso
Hello Antoine,
this certainly does not count for contractors, since there has been at least one case where the WMF left a public bad recommendation in public networks after a contractor did not work for the WMF any more - and this is something that I have never seen from any client or employer in my life before.
All this discussion here shows me though that you can get really rich by working for the WMF - all paid by donation money that mostly has been donated for Wikipedia, which is created without any editor getting money. We can discuss here as much as we want, this won't change anything at all.
Regards, Gereon
Am 14.05.2023 um 08:06 schrieb Antoine Musso:
Le 10/05/2023 à 11:01, Paulo Santos Perneta a écrit :
Hello,
I'm a bit lost on this, probably because I'm not familiar with US Work laws. Why did Katherine Maher received $623,286 on severance pay? Was she fired?
Hello Paulo,
When an employee leaves, you would always get a statement on the vein of "mutual agreement" or that "so and so is leaving" without any further details. When being asked about a specific situation Talent and Culture (= Human Resources) never speaks of individual cases. If I was the one leaving, I would not want the organization to give any details on my behalf, more so if I had a role with public exposure such as a C-level. In the same way, the organization does not want further details regarding the cause and I imagine there are very legal reasons for it.
In my experience that is regardless of which party initiated (the employee willingness to leave, or the organization asking for the position/role/person to leave or whatever over situation). It was the same in France with past employers: terminations of contracts are publicly quiet.
What I got explained is that in the USA a contract termination might come with a non disparage clause. It restricts the parties from criticizing each other (if it is mutual) essentially meaning neither the organization nor the employee would speak about the departure. The clause details what happens if a party breaches it. I imagine the former employee would have to reimburse part (or all) of the severance package or the organization would pay a lump sump to the employee. And I imagine there might be legal consequences. Then as I often said: I am not a lawyer.
In short I don't think either party can give any detail and regardless I think we should respect the privacy of the past employees.
Antoine "hashar" Musso
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Speaking of which... I was reading with a lot of interest the new policy regarding severance packages...
I read on the diff (1)
"The guidelines have also provided an opportunity to better align our processes globally when staff leave the Foundation. This includes a new standardized severance policy for staff at all levels of one month of severance pay for every year of their employment, up to nine months (unless local laws require otherwise) – any exceptions require a joint recommendation by the Head of Talent & Culture and the General Counsel, with final approval from the CEO. The guidelines have allowed us to make these and other policies more transparent to staff irrespective of where they live and work. "
I suppose this decision was partly made because some staff did not benefit from a severance package (or only from a very poor one), in particular in cases of non-US based staff. If that's the case, it is a good move to introduce more equity.
Out of curiosity...
1) is the one month of severence pay entirely based on the last month salary, or the last year salary, or does it take into account the previous years (which were presumbly at lower salary) ?
2) for those staff who are "exceptions", is the agreement with the exception done at the beginning of the tenure, at the end of the tenure (as part of the departure discussion) or can be discussed-rediscussed at any time during the agreement ?
3) do you plan to communicate on the number (or percentage) of staff who are actually in the "exception" packages ? (no name obviously, but an idea of the size of that segment. Because if the "exception" segment is 50% of the 700+ staff, then equity is not it...)
4) do you plan to adopt a "maximum" for those in the exception segment (for example, the standard is 1 month per year employed... to limit the severance to equivalent "xx months of employed years")
5) last... is there an incentive system in place to invite WMF staff to make donations to WMF or to the other Wikimedia entitites (such as doubling their donations)
Salaries at the WMF seem to have climbed tremendously the past few years (2). Severance packages seriously climb as well. Many will turn a blind eye on this, but I am sure you realize that others might be concerned. I fully understand and support the approach that would result in more equity for WMF staff and recognise that this must be a challenge to implement due to the diversity of countries they live in. I also recognise the need to make working for WMF appealing, hence confortable packages. But still...Is there anything done to better address the serious escalation of severance packages of the high level executives ? (beside inviting them to leave asap they have been employed more than 5 years that is)
Flo
(1) https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/04/06/wikimedia-foundation-global-guidelines...
(2) https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_salaries
Le 09/05/2023 à 21:55, effe iets anders a écrit :
I'm sure someone at the Foundation will have a better response, and you may have puzzled this together yourself already, but we've seen in previous years that the reported salary went up in the last year of someone's service, possibly due to consulting fees and severance packages. Both Maher and Uzzell left the Foundation in 2021. Typically the WMF has been cautious to give much detail on this though (understandably).
Lodewijk
On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 10:03 AM Andreas Kolbe jayen466@gmail.com wrote:
Dear all, Page 49 of the new Form 990 (2021) shows the following total compensation figures for former CEO Katherine Maher and Janeen Uzzell in that year: *$798,632 and $515,553 *respectively. Both figures far exceed all prior records. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/1/14/Wikimedia_Foundation_2021_Form_990.pdf#page=49 The Form 990 now shows a total of *six* executives whose total compensation exceeded *$400,000*. For comparison, the Form 990 for the year before (2020) showed a total of *eight* executives whose total compensation exceeded *$300,000*: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/e/e4/Wikimedia_Foundation_2020_Form_990.pdf#page=48 These are interesting developments. Andreas On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 4:25 PM Nataliia Tymkiv <ntymkiv@wikimedia.org> wrote: 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 <https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Conflict_of_interest_policy>, protecting whistleblowers <https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Whistleblower_policy>, guidelines for data retention <https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Legal:Data_retention_guidelines>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 <https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/200049703>. * 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 <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2023-2024>, in the Foundation’s Annual Report <https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/annualreport/2022-annual-report/>, and in a series of Diff posts about the Foundation’s compensation practices <https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/02/17/wikimedia-foundation-remote-first-and-global-community-of-staff/>, global guidelines <https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/04/06/wikimedia-foundation-global-guidelines-policies-practices/>, and our approach to hiring <https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/05/03/building-a-global-staff-community-at-the-wikimedia-foundation/>. The Community Affairs Committee of the Board will host its regular Open Conversation with Trustees <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Community_Affairs_Committee/2023-05-18_Conversation_with_Trustees>next Thursday May 18 at 1800 UTC where this topic will be on the agenda along with a final opportunity for feedback on the Foundation’s Annual Plan. Questions about the Form 990 are invited on the talk page on Meta <https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_Foundation_Form_990_Frequently_Asked_Questions&action=edit&redlink=1>. [1] https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/financial-reports/#a2-2021-2022 [2] https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/05/09/highlights-of-form-990-for-the-wikimedia-foundation/ [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_Foundation_Form_990_Frequently_Asked_Questions#FY_2021-2022_Form_990:_Executive_Summary [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_Foundation_Form_990_Frequently_Asked_Questions#Overview [5]https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/04/06/wikimedia-foundation-global-guidelines-policies-practices/ Best regards, antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees /NOTICE: You may have received this message outside of your normal working hours/days, as I usually can work more as a volunteer during weekend. You should not feel obligated to answer it during your days off. Thank you in advance!/ _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l Public archives at https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/message/LUM4FS6ABPG4TBUFF6QHYJD3FT36W2AU/ To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l Public archives at https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/message/YB3QIEPJM43ZAKNMOGRV3ONYK6STKY2H/ To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org
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Flo and Andreas,
Have you asked these questions to askcac@wikimedia.org?
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Community_Affairs_Commi...
-LW
On Thu, May 11, 2023 at 12:22 PM Florence Devouard fdevouard@gmail.com wrote:
Speaking of which... I was reading with a lot of interest the new policy regarding severance packages...
I read on the diff (1)
"The guidelines have also provided an opportunity to better align our processes globally when staff leave the Foundation. This includes a new standardized severance policy for staff at all levels of one month of severance pay for every year of their employment, up to nine months (unless local laws require otherwise) – any exceptions require a joint recommendation by the Head of Talent & Culture and the General Counsel, with final approval from the CEO. The guidelines have allowed us to make these and other policies more transparent to staff irrespective of where they live and work. "
I suppose this decision was partly made because some staff did not benefit from a severance package (or only from a very poor one), in particular in cases of non-US based staff. If that's the case, it is a good move to introduce more equity.
Out of curiosity...
is the one month of severence pay entirely based on the last month salary, or the last year salary, or does it take into account the previous years (which were presumbly at lower salary) ?
for those staff who are "exceptions", is the agreement with the exception done at the beginning of the tenure, at the end of the tenure (as part of the departure discussion) or can be discussed-rediscussed at any time during the agreement ?
do you plan to communicate on the number (or percentage) of staff who are actually in the "exception" packages ? (no name obviously, but an idea of the size of that segment. Because if the "exception" segment is 50% of the 700+ staff, then equity is not it...)
do you plan to adopt a "maximum" for those in the exception segment (for example, the standard is 1 month per year employed... to limit the severance to equivalent "xx months of employed years")
last... is there an incentive system in place to invite WMF staff to make donations to WMF or to the other Wikimedia entitites (such as doubling their donations)
Salaries at the WMF seem to have climbed tremendously the past few years (2). Severance packages seriously climb as well. Many will turn a blind eye on this, but I am sure you realize that others might be concerned. I fully understand and support the approach that would result in more equity for WMF staff and recognise that this must be a challenge to implement due to the diversity of countries they live in. I also recognise the need to make working for WMF appealing, hence confortable packages. But still...Is there anything done to better address the serious escalation of severance packages of the high level executives ? (beside inviting them to leave asap they have been employed more than 5 years that is)
Flo
(1) https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/04/06/wikimedia-foundation-global-guidelines...
(2) https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_salaries
Le 09/05/2023 à 21:55, effe iets anders a écrit :
I'm sure someone at the Foundation will have a better response, and you may have puzzled this together yourself already, but we've seen in previous years that the reported salary went up in the last year of someone's service, possibly due to consulting fees and severance packages. Both Maher and Uzzell left the Foundation in 2021. Typically the WMF has been cautious to give much detail on this though (understandably).
Lodewijk
On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 10:03 AM Andreas Kolbe jayen466@gmail.com wrote:
Dear all,
Page 49 of the new Form 990 (2021) shows the following total compensation figures for former CEO Katherine Maher and Janeen Uzzell in that year:
$798,632 and $515,553 respectively. Both figures far exceed all prior records.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/1/14/Wikimedia_Foundation_...
The Form 990 now shows a total of six executives whose total compensation exceeded $400,000.
For comparison, the Form 990 for the year before (2020) showed a total of eight executives whose total compensation exceeded $300,000:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/e/e4/Wikimedia_Foundation_...
These are interesting developments.
Andreas
On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 4:25 PM Nataliia Tymkiv ntymkiv@wikimedia.org wrote:
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.
The Community Affairs Committee of the Board will host its regular Open Conversation with Trustees next Thursday May 18 at 1800 UTC where this topic will be on the agenda along with a final opportunity for feedback on the Foundation’s Annual Plan. Questions about the Form 990 are invited on the talk page on Meta. [1] https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/financial-reports/#a2-2021-2022 [2] https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/05/09/highlights-of-form-990-for-the-wikimed... [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_F... [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_F... [5] https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/04/06/wikimedia-foundation-global-guidelines...
Best regards, antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees NOTICE: You may have received this message outside of your normal working hours/days, as I usually can work more as a volunteer during weekend. You should not feel obligated to answer it during your days off. Thank you in advance!
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Andreas,
You write
Victoria did say
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Village_pump_(proposals)&diff=prev&oldid=1123369545 last year, on-wiki: The Board has done its main job - changed the CEO.
(Victoria did not provide further details when asked.)
I want to say that The Board has done its main job - changed the CEO means " by mutual agreement". If there's a mutual agreement that the current CEO is leaving, the Board will inevitably have to find a new one, e.g. change the CEO.
Also, I find your complete lack of good faith and attempts to catch out everybody on anything very unpleasant and completely contradictory to the spirit of the Movement.
Victoria
On Thu, May 11, 2023 at 9:49 PM Lauren Worden laurenworden89@gmail.com wrote:
Flo and Andreas,
Have you asked these questions to askcac@wikimedia.org?
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Community_Affairs_Commi...
-LW
On Thu, May 11, 2023 at 12:22 PM Florence Devouard fdevouard@gmail.com wrote:
Speaking of which... I was reading with a lot of interest the new policy
regarding severance packages...
I read on the diff (1)
"The guidelines have also provided an opportunity to better align our
processes globally when staff leave the Foundation. This includes a new standardized severance policy for staff at all levels of one month of severance pay for every year of their employment, up to nine months (unless local laws require otherwise) – any exceptions require a joint recommendation by the Head of Talent & Culture and the General Counsel, with final approval from the CEO. The guidelines have allowed us to make these and other policies more transparent to staff irrespective of where they live and work. "
I suppose this decision was partly made because some staff did not
benefit from a severance package (or only from a very poor one), in particular in cases of non-US based staff. If that's the case, it is a good move to introduce more equity.
Out of curiosity...
- is the one month of severence pay entirely based on the last month
salary, or the last year salary, or does it take into account the previous years (which were presumbly at lower salary) ?
- for those staff who are "exceptions", is the agreement with the
exception done at the beginning of the tenure, at the end of the tenure (as part of the departure discussion) or can be discussed-rediscussed at any time during the agreement ?
- do you plan to communicate on the number (or percentage) of staff who
are actually in the "exception" packages ? (no name obviously, but an idea of the size of that segment. Because if the "exception" segment is 50% of the 700+ staff, then equity is not it...)
- do you plan to adopt a "maximum" for those in the exception segment
(for example, the standard is 1 month per year employed... to limit the severance to equivalent "xx months of employed years")
- last... is there an incentive system in place to invite WMF staff to
make donations to WMF or to the other Wikimedia entitites (such as doubling their donations)
Salaries at the WMF seem to have climbed tremendously the past few years
(2). Severance packages seriously climb as well. Many will turn a blind eye on this, but I am sure you realize that others might be concerned.
I fully understand and support the approach that would result in more
equity for WMF staff and recognise that this must be a challenge to implement due to the diversity of countries they live in.
I also recognise the need to make working for WMF appealing, hence
confortable packages.
But still...Is there anything done to better address the serious
escalation of severance packages of the high level executives ? (beside inviting them to leave asap they have been employed more than 5 years that is)
Flo
(1)
https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/04/06/wikimedia-foundation-global-guidelines...
(2) https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_salaries
Le 09/05/2023 à 21:55, effe iets anders a écrit :
I'm sure someone at the Foundation will have a better response, and you
may have puzzled this together yourself already, but we've seen in previous years that the reported salary went up in the last year of someone's service, possibly due to consulting fees and severance packages. Both Maher and Uzzell left the Foundation in 2021. Typically the WMF has been cautious to give much detail on this though (understandably).
Lodewijk
On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 10:03 AM Andreas Kolbe jayen466@gmail.com
wrote:
Dear all,
Page 49 of the new Form 990 (2021) shows the following total
compensation figures for former CEO Katherine Maher and Janeen Uzzell in that year:
$798,632 and $515,553 respectively. Both figures far exceed all prior
records.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/1/14/Wikimedia_Foundation_...
The Form 990 now shows a total of six executives whose total
compensation exceeded $400,000.
For comparison, the Form 990 for the year before (2020) showed a total
of eight executives whose total compensation exceeded $300,000:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/e/e4/Wikimedia_Foundation_...
These are interesting developments.
Andreas
On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 4:25 PM Nataliia Tymkiv ntymkiv@wikimedia.org
wrote:
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.
The Community Affairs Committee of the Board will host its regular
Open Conversation with Trustees next Thursday May 18 at 1800 UTC where this topic will be on the agenda along with a final opportunity for feedback on the Foundation’s Annual Plan. Questions about the Form 990 are invited on the talk page on Meta.
[1]
https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/financial-reports/#a2-2021-2022
[2]
https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/05/09/highlights-of-form-990-for-the-wikimed...
[3]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_F...
[4]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_F...
[5]
https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/04/06/wikimedia-foundation-global-guidelines...
Best regards, antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees NOTICE: You may have received this message outside of your normal
working hours/days, as I usually can work more as a volunteer during weekend. You should not feel obligated to answer it during your days off. Thank you in advance!
Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org,
guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
Public archives at
https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/...
To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-leave@lists.wikimedia.org
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Public archives at
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Public archives at
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Good pointer Lauren.
This is now done
Florence
Le 11/05/2023 à 22:48, Lauren Worden a écrit :
Flo and Andreas,
Have you asked these questions to askcac@wikimedia.org?
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Community_Affairs_Commi...
-LW
On Thu, May 11, 2023 at 12:22 PM Florence Devouard fdevouard@gmail.com wrote:
Speaking of which... I was reading with a lot of interest the new policy regarding severance packages...
I read on the diff (1)
"The guidelines have also provided an opportunity to better align our processes globally when staff leave the Foundation. This includes a new standardized severance policy for staff at all levels of one month of severance pay for every year of their employment, up to nine months (unless local laws require otherwise) – any exceptions require a joint recommendation by the Head of Talent & Culture and the General Counsel, with final approval from the CEO. The guidelines have allowed us to make these and other policies more transparent to staff irrespective of where they live and work."
I suppose this decision was partly made because some staff did not benefit from a severance package (or only from a very poor one), in particular in cases of non-US based staff. If that's the case, it is a good move to introduce more equity.
Out of curiosity...
is the one month of severence pay entirely based on the last month salary, or the last year salary, or does it take into account the previous years (which were presumbly at lower salary) ?
for those staff who are "exceptions", is the agreement with the exception done at the beginning of the tenure, at the end of the tenure (as part of the departure discussion) or can be discussed-rediscussed at any time during the agreement ?
do you plan to communicate on the number (or percentage) of staff who are actually in the "exception" packages ? (no name obviously, but an idea of the size of that segment. Because if the "exception" segment is 50% of the 700+ staff, then equity is not it...)
do you plan to adopt a "maximum" for those in the exception segment (for example, the standard is 1 month per year employed... to limit the severance to equivalent "xx months of employed years")
last... is there an incentive system in place to invite WMF staff to make donations to WMF or to the other Wikimedia entitites (such as doubling their donations)
Salaries at the WMF seem to have climbed tremendously the past few years (2). Severance packages seriously climb as well. Many will turn a blind eye on this, but I am sure you realize that others might be concerned. I fully understand and support the approach that would result in more equity for WMF staff and recognise that this must be a challenge to implement due to the diversity of countries they live in. I also recognise the need to make working for WMF appealing, hence confortable packages. But still...Is there anything done to better address the serious escalation of severance packages of the high level executives ? (beside inviting them to leave asap they have been employed more than 5 years that is)
Flo
Hi Andreas,
just one page further (page 50) it would have become clear that the WMF spent 1,247,211 USD on severance for five people. Why not ask that question instead? Don't distract from the actual issues ;-)
On Tue, 9 May 2023 at 19:03, Andreas Kolbe jayen466@gmail.com wrote:
Dear all,
Page 49 of the new Form 990 (2021) shows the following total compensation figures for former CEO Katherine Maher and Janeen Uzzell in that year:
*$798,632 and $515,553 *respectively. Both figures far exceed all prior records.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/1/14/Wikimedia_Foundation_...
The Form 990 now shows a total of *six* executives whose total compensation exceeded *$400,000*.
For comparison, the Form 990 for the year before (2020) showed a total of *eight* executives whose total compensation exceeded *$300,000*:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/e/e4/Wikimedia_Foundation_...
These are interesting developments.
Andreas
On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 4:25 PM Nataliia Tymkiv ntymkiv@wikimedia.org wrote:
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 https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Conflict_of_interest_policy, protecting whistleblowers https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Policy:Whistleblower_policy, guidelines for data retention https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Legal:Data_retention_guidelines 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 https://www.charitynavigator.org/ein/200049703.
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 https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2023-2024, in the Foundation’s Annual Report https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/annualreport/2022-annual-report/, and in a series of Diff posts about the Foundation’s compensation practices https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/02/17/wikimedia-foundation-remote-first-and-global-community-of-staff/, global guidelines https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/04/06/wikimedia-foundation-global-guidelines-policies-practices/, and our approach to hiring https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/05/03/building-a-global-staff-community-at-the-wikimedia-foundation/ .
The Community Affairs Committee of the Board will host its regular Open Conversation with Trustees https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Community_Affairs_Committee/2023-05-18_Conversation_with_Trustees next Thursday May 18 at 1800 UTC where this topic will be on the agenda along with a final opportunity for feedback on the Foundation’s Annual Plan. Questions about the Form 990 are invited on the talk page on Meta https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_Foundation_Form_990_Frequently_Asked_Questions&action=edit&redlink=1.
[1] https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/financial-reports/#a2-2021-2022 [2] https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/05/09/highlights-of-form-990-for-the-wikimed... [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_F... [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_related_information/2021_Wikimedia_F... [5] https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/04/06/wikimedia-foundation-global-guidelines...
Best regards, antanana / Nataliia Tymkiv Chair, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees
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Who approved these severance packages and when? I am not finding anything among Board resolutions/minutes from 2021, perhaps I missed it?
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