[Foundation-l] Board letter about fundraising and chapters

[Béria Lima]

MZM,

WMF *can't *ask money back from Chapters. By the agreement, Chapters who
participate in last year Fundraising need to give 50% of everything they
raised to WMF, but they are not forced to do anything more. And WMF can't
ask for more than that because there are 2 different organizations.
_____
*Béria Lima*
<http://wikimedia.pt/>(351) 925 171 484

*Imagine um mundo onde é dada a qualquer pessoa a possibilidade de ter livre
acesso ao somatório de todo o conhecimento humano. É isso o que estamos a
fazer <http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Nossos_projetos>.*


On 5 August 2011 18:06, MZMcBride <z em mzmcbride.com> wrote:

> phoebe ayers wrote:
> > The Board of Trustees has recently reviewed our fundraising model and
> issues
> > related to the way donor funds are received. This review followed
> detailed
> > discussions among the Board's Audit Committee and with our outside
> auditors,
> > which highlighted issues about the level of financial controls over donor
> > funds that go directly to the chapters who act as payment processors.
> This
> > review focused on the model established last year, under which donors in
> > certain countries are exclusively directed to the local chapter during
> the
> > annual fundraiser. In our 2010-2011 year, about $4M net went directly to
> 12
> > chapters, representing roughly 15% of the total funds donated to the
> > movement.
> >
> > There are several problems with this model, and with the current
> fundraising
> > situation. Some chapters have received large sums of money early in their
> > organizational lives, before they have built the capacity and financial
> > controls to safeguard and best use those resources in pursuit of the
> > mission. Some chapters have received many times their planned budget in a
> > single fundraiser. Additionally, in some countries, transferring funds
> > internationally has been limited by regulatory constraints.
> >
> > There are also currently no movement-wide controls applied consistently
> to
> > all entities that receive donor funds. Some chapters, despite being
> > well-funded, have not reported in a timely way on their activities, their
> > financial status, and their use of donor funds, or have had difficulties
> > following the regulatory requirements of their countries.
> >
> > This fundraising model has also contributed to significant resource
> > disparity among chapters. Some of the largest fundraising chapters have
> > revenue far greater than their stated need and capacity to spend, while
> > other chapters receive revenue only from Foundation grants or have almost
> no
> > revenue at all. The model also suggests that chapters are entitled to
> funds
> > proportional to the wealth of their regions, which amplifies the gap
> between
> > the Global North and South.
>
> I think it's great that the Board is looking into this. I was vaguely aware
> of the problem and it's certainly one that needs to be addressed.
>
> I have two questions from your post:
>
> * Is there a breakdown of the amount of money given to chapters from the
> past fundraiser? A chart or something somewhere? There definitely should be
> and I imagine there is, but I wouldn't be able to locate it off-hand.
>
> * Have any chapters been asked to give money back? If so, what has been the
> response?
>
> MZMcBride
>
>
>
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