[Foundation-l] Wikimedia finances and the economy

[Thomas Dalton]

> Having reserves and contingency margins are a good and necessary
> thing, but I agree with Anthony that it is generally more honest for
> non-profits to declare what there reserves and margins are rather than
> rolling them into the larger budget in black box fashion.  In the
> large public sector projects I've worked with contingency funds were
> always an explicit part of the budget, and it certainly helped to know
> where things really stood as funding and expense realities evolved.

I've only seen an extremely summarised budget that, for example, says
technology has budgeted $2,705,000 for the year. I don't know how
that's broken down, but I expect the tech team (and Sue) have a more
detailed budget (they haven't just plucked that number out of thin
air) that may well include an explicit contingency fund.