[Foundation-l] Chapters

[Victor Vasiliev]

On Mon, Aug 29, 2011 at 3:38 AM, Nathan <nawrich at gmail.com> wrote:
> If the WMF plans for grants to be the interim method of funding for
> developing chapters (aside from that raised independently by the chapters
> themselves) then I expect that they will tweak the process to account for
> the specific issues involved (like not wanting to bury chapters in
> book-length paperwork requirements).
Oh, really? Do you really believe that current Foundation staff is
capable of handling at least 30 different organization around the
world? I doubt it. Even now, the situation is fairly ridiculous: they
sign the same (am I correct?) agreement with all chapters, regardless
of how much would this chapter get, what is its budget, how difficult
is it to transfer money to and fro.

The problem with "over-budget money" may be solved fairly easily: just
make an independent, per-chapter-tailored fundraiser. If UK chapter
collects its budget faster than WMF, just change their landing page to
WMF, and they will not get unused money! Neither will they have to
transfer anything to WMF. If some other chapter does not collect its
budget, make its fundraiser longer. Some chapters are doomed to be
locally underfunded; they can apply for WMF grants. Besides, some
chapters are located in countries where December fundraising is
legally problematic.

But please, get rid of the idea that WMF can act in a similar way to
all chapters and sign the same agreement. Instead of forcing one-way
funding model, Foundation should *really* work on the way it
communicates with chapters. Either by loosening the control or by
increasing the amount of time spent on them. Honestly, I believe that
right now it would extremely irresponsible from their side to take
obligations of approving and controlling the budget of 30 chapters, as
am almost certain they would not be able to fulfill them adequately.

--vvv