[Foundation-l] (no subject)

[Kat Walsh]

On 7/9/07, Dan Rosenthal <swatjester at gmail.com> wrote:
> (preface: i know this is not your position.)
>
> But that's just it, why should we be outside the norm of American
> charitable boards? Ok yeah, we have some differences, collaborative
> wiki, web 2.0, etc. etc. It's still a board, and boards have certain
> requirements to be run effectively, and one of those is the financial
> independence of the board members from the organization they serve.
>
> Think of reimbursement as the foundation as a corporate entity buying
> things.  You have to go to Tapei. The foundation purchases the
> ticket, as you are a board member. They purchase your hotel room.
> Those are expenses inherent in the travel. The foundation does NOT
> purchase your child care. The foundation does NOT purchase your
> electric bills while you are away, or your pet feeding expenses, or
> your family member's lunch budgets. Those are not the purview of the
> foundation as an entity. Only getting you to the destination, giving
> you a place there to stay and conduct your business, and getting you
> back home. Child care has nothing to do with that.
>
> If dependent reimbursement is given out as a benefit or gift to the
> board, rather than a staple of function, that's something completely
> different. But lets be perfectly honest: there's no evidence that the
> foundation is in a financial position to be giving benefits and gifts
> like that,.

I am in support of reimbursing reasonable expenses directly incurred
for work the Foundation has asked of them, including child care.

Wikimedia in the past has chosen board members because of their
commitment to the orgnization and its mission, and not for their
direct or indirect financial support, unlike many other organizations.

An employee may negotiate the salary if it is not sufficient to cover
what they require, and any reasonable employer will look at the costs
and the benefits and the circumstances and do what makes sense.
Because of this, such a policy may be more restrictive for a
compensated employee, whose expenses beyond the standard
air/food/lodging should already be accounted for in their
compensation, than for a volunteer who often chooses to forgo other
employment opportunities in order to give time to Wikimedia, who
already pays the opportunity cost of not working more, and who now
must pay additional expenses as well.

This is not a windfall for any of us, and perhaps for most of us we
have not only done things that were not essential at our own expense,
but also set aside time to do this instead of things that would be
more lucrative. Being on the board is not intended to be a windfall,
but neither is it intended to be an undue hardship.

Right now, if we would like to be able to keep the sorts of people
that the community has indicated through its vote that it wishes to
see on the board, who have given their time and given up opportunities
to do so, and has asked them to travel on behalf of the organization,
at a benefit to the organization, I do not think it unreasonable that
expenses should be compensated.

No travel is approved unless it is considered worthwhile; conference
speeches, board meetings, and opportunities for fundraising or
business deals are some examples of things worth enough to pay travel
and incidentals for them; I support the idea of making such expenses
public as far as is possible. For some events, a price tag can be
placed on the benefit and for others it cannot; still, it is an
expense that is considered worthwhile. Should then the cost of child
care, as a small portion of the total expense and certainly no luxury,
be a sticking point that may make the difference between having
someone who should represent us able to attend or not, or prevent
those we would most like to represent us from being able to serve on
the board at all? I don't think that it should.

-Kat


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