[Foundation-l] Fundraising Letter Feb 2012

[Thomas Dalton]

Ting,

Thank you for this. I'm confused, though. You say you want to have another
month of discussions, but I don't see any questions in your letter. What is
it you want to discuss?

Everyone that wants to has expressed their views. The numerous debates on
meta and elsewhere have reached their natural conclusions. This continuing
uncertainty is very bad for the movement. If the WMF wants to take charge
of the movement then you need to actually make a decision. You can't both
take charge and be indecisive.
On Feb 9, 2012 8:12 AM, "Ting Chen" <tchen at wikimedia.org> wrote:

> The Board approves the following letter to be sent to the community:
>
> Dear members of the Wikimedia Movement,
>
> As you are probably aware we have been discussing the the future of
> fundraising and fund dissemination for the Wikimedia Movement for almost 6
> months now. After discussing fundraising and funds dissemination at this
> past meeting, the board has drafted the following statement. It our
> intention to discuss these matters in the coming weeks to come to a final
> decision mid March.
>
> But first we would like to thank everyone who took part in the discussion
> so far and spent their valuable time providing us with their viewpoints
> which we have of course taken into account in our decision making process.
> We hope that you will continue to participate by giving feedback on this
> letter.
>
> ==Funds dissemination==
> The board wants to create a volunteer-driven body to make recommendations
> for funding for movement-wide initiatives (Working title: Funds
> Dissemination Committee, FDC). The Wikimedia Foundation has decision-making
> authority, because it has fiduciary responsibilities to donors which it
> legally cannot delegate. The new body will make recommendations for funds
> dissemination to the Wikimedia Foundation. We anticipate a process in which
> the Wikimedia Foundation will review and approve all but a small minority
> of recommendations from the FDC. In the event that the Wikimedia Foundation
> does not approve a recommendation from the FDC, and the FDC and the
> Wikimedia Foundation aren't subsequently able to reach agreement, then the
> FDC can ask the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees to request the
> recommendation be reconsidered.
>
> #the FDC will be a diverse body of people from across our movement (which
> may include paid staff) with appropriate expertise for this purpose, whose
> primary purpose is to disseminate funds to advance the Wikimedia mission;
> #the WMF staff will support and facilitate the work of the FDC
> #Proposals can range from one time smaller contributions for small
> projects from individuals to larger financing for operational costs of
> chapters or associations
>
> The board intends to evaluate this process together with the FDC and see
> if it is working.
>
> ==Fundraising==
> Our thoughts on fundraising are less specific. We have come to the
> following two statements which are important
>
> * If and when payment processing is done by chapters, it should be done
> primarily for reasons of tax, operational efficiency (including
> incentivizing donor cultivation and relations), should not be in conflict
> with funds dissemination principles and goals, and should avoid a
> perception of entitlement.
>
> * The board is sharpening the criteria for payment processing. Payment
> processing is not a natural path to growth for a chapter; and payment
> processing will likely be an exception -- most chapters will not do so.
>
>
> The Wikimedia Board of Trustees
>
> NB: Please note that rather than spend a LOT of time on wording at this
> time, the board preferred to amend the above text if necessary when moving
> towards a resolution. This letter indicates our intent, and we may
> "wordsmith as needed" in our final resolutions.
>
> --
> Ting Chen
> Member of the Board of Trustees
> Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
> E-Mail: tchen at wikimedia.org
>
>
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