Indeed. I'm now fully convinced that fundraising agreements are only a tactic by WMF to prevent any chapter from being operationally independent from it.

If I remember correctly, fundraising agreements, or payment processing, was originally invented when WMDE began making deals with external sponsors to secure its own funding, in a way that bypassed WMF in the negotiation process. The fundraising agreement was thus invented to make sure WMDE derives its main income from WMF projects, preventing them from becoming independent from WMF in its source of income.

Now, a few years down the line, WMF is stripping first the medium-sized chapters, then WMUK, of fundraising status, this time to prevent us from being independent from WMF in fundraising and other operations.

Having seen the drama of the last few years as a regular chapter volunteer and Wikimania attendee, I've had enough of this. I've lost trust in the WMF in the way they treat chapters too. It is becoming clearer and clearer to me that WMF is simply using chapters as pawns in their game of chess, rather than genuine-heartedly supporting the growth of local Wikimedian communities in their independent efforts to promote the Wikimedia mission.

On 29 September 2012 16:06, James Farrar <james.farrar@gmail.com> wrote:

As best as I can tell, the WMF doesn't trust any chapter to raise funds, feeling threatened by any slight sign of independence that a chapter might exhibit.

This is a naked power-grab by the WMF as they have taken the  opportunity to do what they've been wanting to do for months.

And I am confident that fundraising won't be coming back. Bureaucracies don't surrender power - ever.

On Sep 29, 2012 3:07 PM, "HJ Mitchell" <hjmitchell@ymail.com> wrote:
The WMF don't trust WMUK to raise funds. 

Perhaps too succinct? ;)

(this email is not intended to express my opinion on the issue, because I've yet to form one)
 
Harry Mitchell
Phone: 024 7698 0977
Skype: harry_j_mitchell

From: Doug Weller <dougweller@gmail.com>
To: UK Wikimedia mailing list <wikimediauk-l@lists.wikimedia.org>
Sent: Saturday, 29 September 2012, 14:59
Subject: Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Joint statement with the Foundation

Can someone here please explain this issue succinctly?
Thanks.
Doug

On Sat, Sep 29, 2012 at 2:42 PM, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On Sep 29, 2012 1:40 PM, "Neil Harris" <neil@tonal.clara.co.uk> wrote:
>>
>> On 29/09/12 13:20, James Farrar wrote:
>>>
>>> Indeed, and for now I remain a member.
>>>
>>> This is subject to finding out precisely why the charity is voluntarily
>>> throwing away money.
>>> On Sep 28, 2012 11:11 PM, "Deryck Chan" <deryckchan@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>
>> Doesn't Gift Aid depend on the recipient, not the payment processor?
>>
>> If so, I would have thought that donating to WMUK, even with WMF acting as
>> the payment processor, would presumably be entitled to Gift Aid.
>
> Don't be fooled by the WMF's political choices of language. We're not
> talking about payment processing, we're talking about who is actually
> fundraising.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia UK mailing list
> wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org
> http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l
> WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
>



--
Doug Weller
http://www.ramtops.co.uk

_______________________________________________
Wikimedia UK mailing list
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http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l
WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org



_______________________________________________
Wikimedia UK mailing list
wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org
http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l
WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org


_______________________________________________
Wikimedia UK mailing list
wikimediauk-l@wikimedia.org
http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l
WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org