[Foundation-l] Funding for the newly elected Board Members
Delirium
delirium at hackish.org
Mon Jun 21 00:48:40 UTC 2004
Delirium wrote:
> daniwo59 at aol.com wrote:
>
>> I know that the Wikimedia is currently strapped for cash. However, I
>> would like to propose that we cover certain key expenses for our
>> elected board members relating to their participation in Wikimedia
>> work. For instance, telephone calls overseas should be covered by the
>> Foundation, and not the elected representatives. A broadband
>> connection should be covered by the Foundation as well.
>>
>> While every participant is doing their work on Wikipedia and the
>> other projects voluntarily, Ant and Angela are expected to represent
>> us, the users. We should make it as easy for them as possible.
>
>
> I wouldn't consider this a high priority---certainly far below buying
> servers, which we already don't have enough money to buy. Unless we
> find ourselves in a situation where we have so much cash we don't have
> any place it could better be spent, I think a better approach would be
> to simply use email to communicate like everyone else does. As for
> internet connections, I assume anyone involved in the project already
> has one (how else would they be Wikipedians, given that this is
> primarily an internet-based project?).
Adding a qualification to this: I wouldn't be opposed to voluntary
donations by people who feel strongly about this. If there are expenses
that are turning out to be problematic, there could be a fund-raising
campaign to provide funding for the board members. But this should come
out of specific donations for that purpose: people should know they're
donating specifically to the "Wikimedia board of trustees communication
and travel fund" or something.
This is something I feel somewhat strongly about, especially since
someone mentioned how other organizations routinely do it: they are most
definitely not models to emulate. A great many non-profit organizations
are inefficient, wasteful, and often simply corrupt, with a relatively
small percentage of their money going towards their actual stated mission.
-Mark
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