We previously mentioned that the Wikimedia Foundation has started a discussion about concluding a new Chapter Agreement with Wikimedia UK and the other chapters.

Unfortunately, the draft agreement that was put forward has generated significant disagreements between the Foundation and chapters and it hasn't been easy to get a consensus. The Foundation has therefore decided to put this process on hold until the next chapters meeting in spring next year.

Full email from the Foundation is copied below for your information. We will, as always, keep supporters informed as to any further developments.

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.

----- Forwarded Message -----
From: "Erik Moeller" <erik@wikimedia.org>
To: "Local Chapters, board and officers coordination (closed subscription)" <internal-l@lists.wikimedia.org>
Sent: Wednesday, 12 August, 2009 03:20:10 GMT +00:00 GMT Britain, Ireland, Portugal
Subject: [Internal-l] Pausing revision of the chapters agreement

I apologize for the delay in composing this note. As you know, earlier
this year we shared with you a first draft of a revised chapters
agreement. This was designed to bring greater clarity to the chapters
/ WMF relationship.

There are clearly some points in this draft about which there is
significant disagreement. While we would have ideally liked to develop
consensus quickly, after some internal discussion, we've concluded
that this is clearly not going to happen. We don't want disagreements
about legal language to distract us from shared objectives, so we're
suggesting that we park the issue for now. WMF and the chapters are
working together constructively in many areas and we want to focus our
energy on growing and deepening those relationships.

With regard to newly approved chapters, we will execute the existing agreement:

http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Agreement_between_chapters_and_Wikimedia_Foundation

There are some inconsistencies in current agreements with some
chapters which we may seek to resolve directly with those chapters.
And of course we'll continue to develop the fundraising agreement for
the fundraiser and beyond.

As you know, the strategic planning process is kicking into full gear,
and we want chapters to be involved in this process to the greatest
extent possible. The process may also inform how we want to structure
the WMF / chapters relationship. Finally, we simply don't have the
organizational bandwidth to engage in a deep, prolonged discussion
about every element of the agreement structure at this point, and we
don't want to do so at the expense of critical mission activities.

I suggest that we reopen this discussion at the next WMF / chapters
meeting at the earliest. I know there are some specific issues that
are of concern to some chapters, such as online shops, and I hope that
we'll be able to give more attention to these issues soon, and
independently of this process.

Erik
--
Erik Möller
Deputy Director, Wikimedia Foundation

Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate

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