That sounds interesting, Lila. Would it be possible to introduce some
concepts of beeing agile in this process and forget about quarterly goals
and 3 year planning?
Rupert
On Nov 24, 2015 19:53, "Lila Tretikov" <lila(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
Hi Craig,
You are right, this has been an ongoing request for years. This year we did
many infrastructure updates for financial planning. However we missed some
objectives. I take responsibility, specifically for the very short
community feedback window on the annual plan this year. We fixed this in
our upcoming plan. Overall we have improved in some of our core budgeting
and accounting areas, but still have work to do.
This is what we have done this year to set up for financial controls:
+ Implemented KPIs across the organizations.
+ Implemented quarterly goals and reviews across organization.
+ Reduced book close to 15 days.
+ Catalogued projects to set up project-based accounting.
+ Created business cases to evaluate cost/benefit analysis as an evaluation
tool for new projects.
+ Accounting/analytics software updates.
Here is what is upcoming the rest of the fiscal year:
+ 3 year forward revenue/spend forecast.
+ A consultation with community about strategic goals.
+ A 30 day review period for the annual plan.
+ More detailed annual plan, project based accounting where possible.
Impact goals.
+ Gap analysis of the annual plan vs. FDC.
+ Wikidata integration into the annual plan.
Here is what under advisement:
+ 3rd party review of the annual plan.
+ FDC process alignment.
Project based budgeting and 3 year forward projections are going to give us
good understanding of the overall costs of multi-year projects. We will be
able to answer for the total cost of developing Wikidata or new editing
environment. This is a great improvement over what we were able to do
previously and will help us with setting priorities in the future.
Lila
On Tue, Nov 24, 2015 at 4:28 AM, Craig Franklin <cfranklin(a)halonetwork.net
wrote:
> Hi Lila,
> I very much appreciate your prompt
response, but this has been an ongoing
> issue for years. What is required now is not more going around in
circles
with "consultation" and
"discussions" that don't go anywhere; what is
needed is for the WMF to take action to improve the transparency of its
planning, and review its planning process so that the plans end up
having a
> closer relation to the actual outcomes. The ball, as they say, is firmly
> in your court.
> Cheers,
> Craig
> On 24 November 2015 at 14:27, Lila Tretikov <lila(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
>> We fully acknowledge the issue
with the shortened AP review this year
and
> are committed to the 30 day review going
forward. Since the overall
issue
> has been noted since as far back as 2012 we
are doing a review of our
> process in comparison to the FDC standards to build best practices going
> forward. You can add you comments here to help guide the conversation:
>
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User_talk:LilaTretikov_(WMF)#Annual_Plan
>
> Lila
>
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 23, 2015 at 8:09 PM, Craig Franklin <
> cfranklin(a)halonetwork.net> wrote:
>
>> I likewise appreciate the strong language on the situation with the
WMF;
>> the general opacity and vagueness of
public budget plans (especially
>> considering the requirements for affiliate organisations in this area)
is
>> something that has been widely noted on
this list and elsewhere, and to
>> my
>> mind not answered in a satisfactory way. It is good to see a fearless
>> FDC
>> that is prepared to "tell it as it is", and make sure that this
problem
>> is
>> receiving continued attention.
>>
>> It is my hope that the Foundation will address the issues raised here
in
>> a
>> constructive and transparent manner, rather than ignoring them or
trying
>>> to
>>> spin them away.
>>>
>>> Cheers,
>>> Craig
>>>
>>> On 24 November 2015 at 12:04, Pine W <wiki.pine(a)gmail.com> wrote:
>>>
>>> > Thank you FDC.
>>>
>>> > Many of the
small and midsized APG requests fared well in this round.
>>> That
>>> > is nice to see.
>>>
>>> > I find it
concerning that the larger the organization, the more
>>> problems
>>> > the FDC seemed to find with the org's budget and performance
>>> management
>>> > practices. One would expect the larger organizations to have mature
and
>>> > robust practices in these areas. Regarding WMF in particular, my
>>> concerns
>>> > about its budget practices are well documented and I appreciate that
>>> the
>>> > FDC is also taking note of the persistence of the problems. I hope
>>> that WMF
>>> > will get serious about its financial transpatency.
>>>
>>> > A couple of
questions about Wikidata:
>>>
>>> > I'm
confused about the funding for Wikidata. In one place the FDC
says
>> that
>> > "Nonetheless, the FDC is exasperated by the inability of WMDE to to
>> > disaggregate the costs of Wikidata from other projects." and in
another
>> > place the FDC says that "We
have recommended a reduced amount for
WMDE
>> in
>> > this round with the expectation that WMDE will not cut Wikidata or
>> their
>> > other tech development work, but will instead find cost savings
>> elsewhere
>> > in its annual plan." If the FDC wants a disaggregated budget (which
is
>>> > understandable) then why is the FDC expecting WMDE to dip into its
>>> other
>>> > funds and/or make cuts elsewhere in order to cover the work in this
>>> > proposal that the FDC is declining to fund in this proposal? This
>>> > expectation seems to be a bit of a contradiction.
>>>
>>> > I'm
also wondering how WMDE is able to submit a dedicated request for
>>> > restricted funding for Wikidata if the Wikidata project is so
>>> integrated
>>> > into WMDE's other budgets that the FDC finds the integration to be
>>> > problematic. Can the FDC or our colleagues at WMDE explain this?
>>>
>>> > Wikidata is
a high profile project with a good reputation, and I hope
>>> that
>>> > the issues can be resolved soon.
>>>
>>> > Thanks,
>>>
>>> > Pine
>>> > On Nov 23, 2015 14:09, "matanya moses"
<matanya(a)foss.co.il> wrote:
>>>
>>> > > Hello
Wikimedians,
>>> >
>>> > >
tl;dr: The FDC’s recommendations for this round of the APG grant
>>> requests
>>> > > have now been published at:
>>> >
>>>
>>>
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/FDC_recommendations/2…
>>> >
>>> > >
The Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) meets twice a year to help
>>> make
>>> > > decisions about how to effectively allocate movement funds to
>>> achieve the
>>> > > Wikimedia movement's mission, vision, and strategy. [1] We met
for
>>> four
>>> > > days last week in San Francisco to review 11 proposals submitted
for
>>> this
>>> > > round of funding. [2]
>>> >
>>> > >
The committee has now posted our Round 1 2015-2016 recommendations
>>> on the
>>> > > annual plan grants (APG) to the Wikimedia Foundation Board of
>>> Trustees.
>>> > [3]
>>> > > The WMF Board representatives to the FDC (Denny Vrandecic,
Jan-Bart
>>> de
>>> > > Vreede and Dariusz Jemielniak) will lead the Board in its review
of
>>> these
>>> > > recommendations. The WMF Board will review the recommendations
and
>>> then
>>> > > make their decision on them before 1 January 2016.
>>> >
>>> > >
This round, the eleven proposals came from ten chapters and one
>>> thematic
>>> > > organisation, totaling requests of approximately $3.8 million
USD.
>>> Ten
>>> > > affiliates were returning to the APG program, and one was a new
>>> > applicant.
>>> > > This round, one organisation requested a restricted grant to
support
>>> one
>>> > > particular program. All other grant requests were for general
>>> funding.
>>> >
>>> > >
Before we met for our face-to-face deliberations, the FDC carefully
>>> > > reviewed all proposals and supporting documentation (e.g.,
budgets,
>>> > plans,
>>> > > strategies) in detail, aided by staff assessments and analysis on
>>> impact,
>>> > > finances, and programs, as well as community comments on the
>>> proposals.
>>> > The
>>> > > committee had long and intense conversations about the proposals
>>> > submitted
>>> > > this round. By listening and carefully considering all available
>>> data,
>>> > the
>>> > > committee achieved consensus on all proposal deliberations.
>>> >
>>> > >
In addition to the above, the FDC has also included a
recommendation
>> > about
>> > > the WMF itself to improve its own level of planning transparency
and
>> > budget
>> > > detail. The WMF staff were not involved in the conception or
writing
>>> of
>>> > > this additional recommendation.
>>> >
>>> > >
For your reference, there is a formal process to submit appeals
about
>>> > > these recommendations or complaints about the FDC process. The
>>> processes
>>> > > for both are outlined below.
>>> >
>>> > >
Any applicant that wants to appeal the FDC’s recommendation about
>>> their
>>> > > proposal this round should submit it by 23:59 UTC on 8 December
2015
>> in
>> > > accordance with the appeal process outlined in the FDC Framework. A
>> > formal
>> > > appeal to challenge the FDC’s recommendation should be in the form
>> of a
>> > > 500-or-fewer word summary. The appeal should be submitted on-wiki,
>> [4]
>> > and
>> > > must be submitted by the Board Chair of a funding-seeking
applicant.
>>> >
>>> > >
Complaints about the process can be filed by anyone with the
>>> > Ombudsperson,
>>> > > and can be made any time. The complaint should be submitted on
wiki,
>> as
>> > > well. [5] The ombudsperson will publicly document the complaint,
and
>>> > > investigate as needed.
>>> >
>>> > >
Please take a look at the upcoming calendar [6] to learn about
other
>>> > > upcoming milestones in the APG program.
>>> >
>>> > >
Again, we offer our sincere thanks to the 11 organisations who
>>> submitted
>>> > > annual plan grant proposals to the FDC this round.
>>> >
>>> > >
On behalf of the FDC,
>>> >
>>> > >
Matanya Moses (FDC chair), User:Matanya
>>> >
>>> > >
[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG
>>> > > [2]
>>>
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Proposals/2015-2016_round1
>>> > > [3]
>>> >
>>>
>>>
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/FDC_recommendations/2…
>>> > > [4]
>>> >
>>>
>>>
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Appeals_to_the_Board_on_the_reco…
>>> > > [5]
>>> >
>>>
>>>
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Complaints_about_the_FDC_process
>>> > > [6]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Calendar
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > >
_______________________________________________
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>>> immediately
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