Forwarding this on Veronique's behalf :-)
---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Veronique Kessler vkessler@wikimedia.org Date: 2008/11/21 Subject: [Internal-l] Wikimedia Foundation's Audited Financial Statements on the Foundation Wiki To: internal-l@lists.wikimedia.org
I am pleased to announce that the Wikimedia Foundation's audited financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2008 are available on the Foundation wiki at:
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Finance_report#Audited_financial_stateme...
In anticipation of any questions, we have also prepared a Question and Answer sheet also posted on the Foundation wiki at:
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/2007-2008_Financial_Statements_Questions...
I am happy to answer any questions you might have.
Regards, Veronique Kessler -- Veronique Kessler Chief Financial and Operating Officer Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. vkessler@wikimedia.org
Support Free Knowledge today by donating to http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate
First of all, congratulations, and thanks as always for making this data as public and transparent as possible.
I had a few questions regarding the Question-and-Answer page, regarding Form 990. The current plan is to publish Form 990 by mid-February, it seems -- did the Foundation received an extension again this year? With an extension, the deadline would be February 16, rather than November 17 -- I'm assuming that's what happened.
Also, while extensions are granted fairly liberally, is it normal practice to receive extensions on an annual basis?
Thanks.
Ral315 wrote:
I had a few questions regarding the Question-and-Answer page, regarding Form 990. The current plan is to publish Form 990 by mid-February, it seems -- did the Foundation received an extension again this year? With an extension, the deadline would be February 16, rather than November 17 -- I'm assuming that's what happened.
Also, while extensions are granted fairly liberally, is it normal practice to receive extensions on an annual basis?
Yes, extensions are routine all around. I think at one point it was mentioned that some organizations or their auditors deliberately push back filing Form 990 until the last possible moment, although I doubt we want to make that our philosophy. But really it's much like any other tax filing, including personal income taxes. The IRS is less concerned about promptness in filing, as long as you obtain the proper extension, than about the filing being correct. (What you don't get an extension for, of course, is actual payment of any tax you owe.)
Anyway, our first priority was completing the audit itself rather than completing Form 990, so we're using a routine extension. I believe the last one was not filed until this past May, as the previous audit was also considerably delayed, so we're making progress on the timetable. I don't anticipate any serious difficulties or big surprises with the next Form 990, but it will still need time to prepare and review.
--Michael Snow
On Sat, Nov 22, 2008 at 12:33 AM, Ral315 wiki.ral315@gmail.com wrote:
Also, while extensions are granted fairly liberally, is it normal practice to receive extensions on an annual basis?
A three-month extension is requested approximately 37% of the time. An additional three-month extension is requested by approximately 8% of those filing for an extension. http://www.jhu.edu/listeningpost/news/pdf/comm04preliminary.pdf
Thank you very much. It looks like the foundation's finances are in excellent order. A few things that jump out at me - despite the size of the foundation in pretty much every respect increasing dramatically over the last year, the money spent on travel (which is something I remember some people thought was too high last year) has only increased 16% (and that's including inflation, so in real terms it's even less). Also, despite the hiring of new executives, hiring fundraisers, moving to new offices, an increase in support required for the increased staff and who knows what else, the percentage of spending on projects is still 63%, down from 77% last year, a pretty small drop considering (and obviously that's not including the $billions worth of work done by volunteers on the projects). All in all, it appears the foundation is doing an excellent job and making very good use of the contributions it receives. Thank you, and well done!
Thomas Dalton wrote:
Thank you very much. It looks like the foundation's finances are in excellent order.
I agree that they're in better shape than they have been in the past. Veronique and her team deserve a great deal of credit for putting a good system in place.
A few things that jump out at me - despite the size of the foundation in pretty much every respect increasing dramatically over the last year, the money spent on travel (which is something I remember some people thought was too high last year) has only increased 16% (and that's including inflation, so in real terms it's even less).
The concerns about travel expenses are something we've taken to heart and will continue to be watchful about. Given the nature of this as an international undertaking, that doesn't necessarily mean we will cut travel expenses drastically, but they need to have a purpose. For example, the chapters will be having a meeting in Berlin next April. The location helps minimize the cost because many of the chapters are nearby in Europe, but we'll need to provide financial support to ensure that the more distant chapters can also be represented at the meeting. So our travel costs will probably always be a bit higher than at an average American nonprofit.
Also, despite the hiring of new executives, hiring fundraisers, moving to new offices, an increase in support required for the increased staff and who knows what else, the percentage of spending on projects is still 63%, down from 77% last year, a pretty small drop considering (and obviously that's not including the $billions worth of work done by volunteers on the projects).
The functional allocation of expenses was still a matter of some concern as discussed in our October board meeting. You're right in identifying some of the issues that make the percentage of project spending lower than would be ideal. Essentially, it has seemed prudent to build up the organizational side for a while, to correct past problems and put a structure in place that's capable of effectively securing and administering funds for project-specific spending. We're beginning to see progress in that regard, though it will take time to build up to "full" capacity, however we might interpret that. (An interesting question, actually - what would full capacity really mean for our projects?)
All in all, it appears the foundation is doing an excellent job and making very good use of the contributions it receives. Thank you, and well done!
Thank you for the kind words, we hope to continue this in the future.
--Michael Snow
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