Re-reading my original email and the reaction to it I should clarify:
----- "Andrew Turvey" <andrewrturvey(a)googlemail.com> wrote:
> The plan is to sell them at cost price to members only.
"Cost price" isn't a restriction from the Foundation - their main restriction is that it must be either sold only to members or given away for free as publicity. It's up to us what price we sell them at, although if we make significant profit margins there are certain tax and charity consequences which may be better avoiding. Also I don't want members to get the impression we're profiteering. Thinking about it again, cost+20% - which I understand is what cafepress do - sounds about right to cover waste, stock etc.
As I've mentioned before, I don't think the potential volumes justify turning this into a fundraising business. However, I do think it could be a good way to attract new members and give a benefit to existing members.
I love the idea of a calendar, and we already have a potential partner in this with Robbies Photographics - one of the sponsors of the Wikipedia Loves Art event.
Andrew
We've received approval from the Wikimedia Foundation to produce merchandising with Wikimedia trademarks and copyrighted logos on it for sale to our members - anything from mugs and mouse-mats to cufflinks and ties. The plan is to sell them at cost price to members only.
Quick question - what kind of thing would you be interested in buying and which logos would you want to use (Wikipedia globe? Wikimedia? Wiktionery? Complete family? [1])
[1] http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia_logo_family_complete.svg
Please let me know either by personal reply or just reply to the list.
Regards,
Hopefully it will be the kind of perk that will attract people who are already active in the projects to become members. As to selling at above cost, the Foundation wasn't too keen on that - worried that we would develop into some kind of commercial arm of the Foundation, which is not really their idea of the role of chapters.
Andrew
----- "Thomas Dalton" <thomas.dalton(a)gmail.com> wrote:
> From: "Thomas Dalton" <thomas.dalton(a)gmail.com>
> To: wikimediauk-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> Sent: Sunday, 13 September, 2009 23:12:46 GMT +00:00 GMT Britain, Ireland, Portugal
> Subject: Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Merchandising
>
> 2009/9/13 Andrew Turvey <andrewrturvey(a)googlemail.com>:
> > We've received approval from the Wikimedia Foundation to produce merchandising with Wikimedia trademarks and copyrighted logos on it for sale to our members - anything from mugs and mouse-mats to cufflinks and ties. The plan is to sell them at cost price to members only.
>
> Cost price? What is the point of that? Merchandising is a great way of
> making money. I don't think the existence of members-only merchandise
> is going to get many extra people to sign up. I would be happy to pay
> a little extra for my WMUK t-shirts.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia UK mailing list
> wikimediauk-l(a)wikimedia.org
> http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l
> WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
>
> Subject: Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Merchandising
> I'm not a fan of merchandising as part of a charities function. But if
> it is done it should have the saving grace of having a sufficient
> markup to help finance the organisation.
Agreed. It isn't something you can do without seriously considering the
business aspects. There will be issues like waste and unsold stock.
>
> Now what would be cool would be Wikipedia calenders. Flowers, sports
> events historical events - we could theme quite a few and they'd make
> great gifts. It would also be a good article improvement process as
> the nominated articles for the calender would be liable to get good
> scrutiny and input whist we discuss which should go in the calender.
> OK we would need wmf agreement to do this as a fundraiser sold outside
> the membership, but there is a well established charity market for
> such things. I for one can think of half a dozen calenders that I
> might buy as winter solstice presents for assorted friends and
> relatives.
A calendar is a good idea, and one that can be done with a lot of
volunteer input. You need to select articles to feature, or other
appropriate content. For a UK-specific audience you'd have to consider
the anniversaries and holidays to highlight. This can all be done by
volunteers.
In theory you could actually handle the distribution with volunteers
too. If you reliably handle the sales side and get the data for mailing
labels, then you have the finished calendars delivered somewhere and
volunteers handle the process through to getting them in sacks to go to
the post office.
Regardless of how you can involve volunteer labour, you do need a
business plan and know who you are going to outsource work like printing
to. Other UK charities can probably give advice on how they handle such
issues, and I would assume there is scope for working with other
chapters to work out how to best implement various fundraising
merchandise ideas. A reason I'd really support the calendar idea is that
it fits with the WMF principle of sharing knowledge.
Brian McNeil.
> 2009/9/14 Isabell Long <isabell121(a)gmail.com>:
> > 2009/9/14 Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton(a)gmail.com>:
> >> 2009/9/14 Brian McNeil <brian.mcneil(a)wikinewsie.org>:
> >>> I would take it as a given that this would be restricted to UK-only delivery
> >>> to avoid trading on the WMF's toes, or that of any other chapters.
> >>
> >> "Wikipedia" t-shirts should probably be UK-only. "Wikimedia UK"
> >> t-shirts may as well be global, although I'm not sure many people
> >> outside the UK would want one (unless they buy it at a WMUK event as a
> >> momento, I guess, but that would be selling it in the UK, so is
> >> irrelevant).
> >
> > I'd want one, although I live in the UK now so that makes sense!
> > T-shirts would be a good idea with just Wikimedia UK written on.
> >
> > --
> > Regards,
> > Isabell Long. <isabell121(a)gmail.com>
> > [[User:Isabell121]] on all public Wikimedia projects.
> > Freenode Community Co-Ordinator - issyl0 on irc.freenode.net
> > PGP Key ID: 0xB6CA6840
>
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia UK mailing list
> wikimediauk-l(a)wikimedia.org
> http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l
> WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
Hi
This Sunday we have our 25th London meetup, and several special draws:
[[User:Bduke]] the treasurer of the Australian chapter is probably
coming and would especially like to meet UK chapter people.
Mike Peel from the UK chapter board will be joining us in London
We have two, possibly three survivors of Wikimania in Buenos Aires,
including JamesF who attended the chapters meeting.
Plus of course the usual good range of beer.
WereSpielChequers
Full details at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/London_25
Mayo Wynne Baxter appear to be hosting a free copyright seminar in
Brighton Sep 30th 5.30-7.30pm. If there is someone in that area may be
worth going along to see what the professional photography industry is
thinking about at the moment:
http://copyrightaction.com/forum/free-copyright-seminar-brighton-sep-30th-5…
--
geni
One of the winners of the Wikipedia Loves Art project that we ran in February is in London later this month (she lives in France) - would anyone be interested in meeting up?
Please let me know.
Andrew
=======
Forwarded message:
Andrew,
I just booked a Eurostar ticket for Sept. 23rd. (arrive around 12 leave at 8 p.m.) I am planning to spend time in the V&A reveling in the beauty. I would love to meet some of the folks there that are involved in the Wiki program. Is there a chance of that?
Thanks so much,
Jenny O'Donnell
Dear all,
Please find copied below the minutes of the board meeting held on Tuesday. The minutes are also available on the wiki at [1] and your comments, corrections or questions are welcome in reply or on the wiki talk page.
[1] http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetings/2009-09-01
The main things to come out of the meeting were:
- The wording of the Charity Commission application [2] was approved and will be submitted shortly.
- Two policies were also adopted - on conflicts of interest [3] and child protection [4] - although amendments will be discussed at the next business meeting.
- We accepted three new members - taking us up to 32 which is an increase of nearly 20% from the AGM.
- The Schools Project and Britain Loves Wikipedia have both prepared timelines and budgets; the same for Workplace Learning Lunches will be done by 15th September.
- We are asking the Foundation if we can reallocate £500 from the funding for the schools project to cover child protection checks.
[2] http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Charity_Commission_application
[3] http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Conflict_of_Interest_policy
[4] http://uk.wikimedia.org/wiki/Child_Protection_Policy
Regards,
Andrew Turvey
Secretary
Wikimedia UK
Wikimedia UK is the operating name of Wiki UK Limited.
Wiki UK Ltd is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827.
The Registered Office is at 23 Cartwright Way, Nottingham, NG9 1RL, United Kingdom.
Wikimedia UK Board meeting Tuesday 1st September 2009, 8:30pm BST at #wikimedia-uk-board
Present: Michael Peel (MP) (Chair); Andrew Turvey (AT) (minutes); Zeyi He (ZH); Joseph Seddon (JS) (part); Paul Williams (PW); Tom Holden (TH)
Apologies: Steve Virgin (SV); JS for early departure
Contents
• 1 Minutes of previous meetings
• 1.1 Matters arising
• 2 Reports
• 2.1 Secretary's
• 2.2 Treasurer's
• 2.3 Chair's
• 2.4 Conferences
• 2.5 Corporate
• 2.6 Initiatives
• 2.7 Volunteers
• 3 Charity commission application
• 3.1 Conflict of interest policy
• 3.2 Vulnerable people section of the application
• 3.3 Child Protection Policy
• 3.4 Public benefit section of the application =
• 4 Any other business
• 5 Next meeting
Minutes of previous meetings
The minutes of the meeting dated 18 August was approved.
The following actions were carried forward:
1. AT will look into where we could produce branded merchandise.
2. MP to draft templates for the six press scenarios identified at Media relations#Media response .
3. MP to work with SV to do mini press releases, no more than one per month, advertising spikes in traffic per WP:POPULAR related to particular news events.
4. JS to get a copy of the WMF's press release contact list in the UK.
5. PW will develop a proposal for buying a computer for the Schools Project with, potentially, peripherals such as a projector, screen, printer etc.
6. JS to draft an email for the Open Knowledge Foundation mailing list, to recruit new members.
7. AT to arrange printing of the business cards
8. MP to investigate moving our wiki at http://uk.wikimedia.org to http://www.wikimedia.org.uk subject to technical feasibility re Single User Logins and hosting, with gb.wikimedia.org as a potential alternative. Bug Report . Once this has been completed, MP to follow up with Wikimedia Ukraine regarding the "uk." website conflict.
9. AT agreed to investigate getting paid legal advice on charitable status, using the Foundation's offer to fund.
10. TH will inform member #29 of their acceptance and update the Register of Members accordingly.
11. SV will chase Steve Bowbrick to get an update on how his meeting with some senior BBC managers to discuss collaboration went.
12. JS agreed to follow up with his contacts at the BBC Digital Revolution and click and get them in touch with the Workplace Learning Lunches.
13. JS to email round draft blog post on th 2010 Conference for approval.
[ edit ] Matters arising
AT will recirculate the email to the WMF formalising the agreement to use Wikimedia Foundation trademarks in members-only merchandising and send after 24 hours.
ACTION: AT
It was agreed that the budget for each project from the funding received from the Foundation should be reduced pro-rata to take account of the adverse exchange rate when we received the money:
Project Expense Expected value (GBP) Value (USD) Actual value (GBP)
Encouraging Wikipedia use in schools Computer 1,000 1,630 953.16
Travel 1,000 1,630 953.16
Content access projects Travel, refreshments 1,000 1,630 953.16
Content generation projects Advertising 1,000 1,630 953.16
Attending the chapters conference Travel, accommodation 500 815 476.58
Attending free content conferences Travel 500 815 476.58
Total 5,000 8,150 4,765.80
We agreed to ask the Foundation to reallocate this funding as follows:
Under "Encouraging Wikipedia use in schools":
1. "Computer" change to "Computer and peripherals" and reduce by £250 ($427.50)
2. "travel" change to "travel and shipping" and reduce by £250 ($427.50)
3. New category "statutory checks" allocate £500 ($855)
Under Content generation projects
1. "Advertising" change to "Advertising and travel"
TH agreed to contact the Foundation to request the change.
ACTION: TH
JS left the meeting
It was agreed to pencil in the weekend 10-11 October for an in person board meeting. Members would be expected to fund their own travel and accommodation as required. MP will follow up by email.
ACTION: MP
It was agreed to transfer the press release on 5m commons files to the main wiki and request drafting help from wikimediauk-l, commons-l, wmfcc-l and the Commons Village Pump. AT and PW agreed to cover press queries whilst MP is away, redirecting the phone to AT and giving PW's phone as an alternate.
ACTION: AT, PW
[ edit ] Reports
[ edit ] Secretary's
The Secretary's report was noted. AT agreed to email round a summary of the proposed fundraiser agreement for discussion at the next business meeting.
ACTION: AT
AT agreed to draft a response to the supporter who wants to support us anonymously and circulate to the board.
ACTION: AT
[ edit ] Treasurer's
Members 30, 31 and 32 were approved unanimously. TH will notify the new members and update the Register accordingly.
ACTION: TH
[ edit ] Chair's
The Chair's Report was noted. It was agreed in principle that Britain Loves Wikipedia could use part of the advertising budget to register a domain name such as www.blw.org.uk. MP agreed to investigate options and recommend a domain to register.
ACTION: MP
[ edit ] Conferences
The Conferences Report was noted.
[ edit ] Corporate
No report was available.
[ edit ] Initiatives
The Initiatives Report was noted. The Schools Project and Britain Loves Wikipedia are both on track and AT will prepare a timeline and budget for the Workplace Learning Lunches by 15th September.
It was agreed that the board did not have to approve the budget or timeline but it could be discussed if a member felt it should be. Otherwise, the initiatives would be left to run themselves. Only the actual expenditure of funds requires board approval.
[ edit ] Volunteers
The Volunteers Report was noted. MP suggested members merchandising would be a good membership draw and donors in the winter fundraiser should be able to join at the same time. AT agreed to complete the business cards action in time for the PLASA conference.
[ edit ] Charity commission application
[ edit ] Conflict of interest policy
The Conflict of Interest policy was adopted with minor amendments. It was agreed the Board would consider any amendments at its next business meeting.
AT agreed to contact each board member to complete the register of interests.
ACTION: AT
[ edit ] Vulnerable people section of the application
The wording of section D of the Charity commission application was approved with minor changes.
[ edit ] Child Protection Policy
The Child Protection Policy was adopted with minor amendments. It was agreed the Board would reconsider this policy in detail at its next business meeting.
MP agreed to arrange CRB checks for board members and Schools Porject volunteers once the funding reallocation had been agreed with the Foundation.
ACTION: MP
[ edit ] Public benefit section of the application =
The revised wording of section C of the Charity commission application was approved with minor changes.
Now that all section had been completed and all required policies adopted, the application is now ready to send. AT agreed to submit it to the Charity Commission.
ACTION: AT
[ edit ] Any other business
It was agreed to look into moving our OTRS system to one hosted by ourselves to reduce the risk that confidential emails are inappropriately viewed by non-WMUK people or emails are sent in the name of the chapter without approval. MP agreed to investigate.
ACTION: MP
MP has contacted the foundation requesting detailed statistics on the proportion of UK internet users who use Wikipedia. It was agreed he should continue to follow this up.
ACTION: MP
The September newsletter is due out on 13th September. AT agreed to draft a section on the charity application; PW will contact others to get sections written as needed. MP will distribute on wiki on 14th.
ACTION: AT, PW, MP
[ edit ] Next meeting
The next meeting was arranged for Tuesday 15th September 2009, 8:30 - 10:30 in #wikimedia-uk-board.
