[Foundation-l] Report to the Board of Trustees June 2009-

[John Vandenberg]

On Sun, Sep 13, 2009 at 4:01 AM, Thomas Dalton <thomas.dalton at gmail.com> wrote:
> 2009/9/12 Yann Forget <yann at forget-me.net>:
>> Thomas Dalton wrote:
>>> While that is true, it is also important to remember that most people
>>> setting up a chapter have next to no experience of running a
>>> non-profit. They don't know what is and isn't appropriate to spend
>>> donations on, they don't necessarily know what needs to done and just
>>> because they know their culture in general doesn't mean they know how
>>> the charity sector works in their country. The Foundation could
>>> provide a lot of advice on those issues. While I don't doubt that the
>>> Portuguese Wikimedians are acting in good faith, trust requires two
>>> things - good faith and competence. They are almost certainly not
>>> competent since they haven't had an opportunity to develop that
>>> competence yet, so they should not be trusted to be making the right
>>> decisions.
>>
>> I think this is very rude. Why do you assume that people wanting to
>> create a Wikimedia chapter are incompetent? You need to have a bit more
>> trust for people you have never met and you don't know.
>
> Why would I assume that someone knows how to do something they have
> never done before? Someone from the Portuguese chapter has already
> admitted they have very little experience. Note, I don't use the word
> "incompetent" as an insult, I just use it to mean what it means - not
> having a particular relevant competence.

I am also shocked by this very broad brush.

You are not just saying that they lack experience, or "competence" -
you are saying that chapters are likely to misuse funds.

The people setting up a Wikimedia chapter are usually extremely
dedicated, and they have set up a board of competent Wikimedians to
collaborate on decision making.  They may not have experience running
a non-profit, however they are likely to be extremely socially
responsible to their members who are, for the most part, people they
work with closely on the Wikimedia projects.

If they are not responsible, the local memberships will dry up.

--
John Vandenberg