[Foundation-l] Omidyar Network Commits $2 Million Grant to Wikimedia Foundation

[Thomas Dalton]

2009/8/25 Nathan <nawrich at gmail.com>:
> This is good news. It doesn't seem strange to me at all that a major donor
> gains a limited voice on the Board, particularly when the donor can offer
> expertise and connections in addition to funding. It also serves as a more
> plausible explanation for Halprin's appointment than the conspiracy theory
> about Wikia, corrupt practices and misuse of tax-free funds.

The cash is obviously useful, and I think this kind of arrangement is
fairly common in the charity world, but it will inevitably cause drama
in the community.

> We voted for these Board members, in most cases repeatedly; it does them a
> disservice to essentially accuse them of abusing the trust granted them by
> the community.

I don't recall an intention to sell seats on the board being mentioned
in any of their candidate statements...

> One thing I'm curious about... Why did this announcement come from Greg?

That bit I have to agree with you on, I was very curious about it. It
seems the press release was issued, Greg found it and realised it
hadn't been posted here so did so. Why it wasn't announced here at the
same time the press release was sent out, I don't know...