Hi folks,
I'd like to ask for your thoughts about (1) whether it would be a good idea, and if so (2) how, to get non-WMF funding sources for community work which WMF can't, won't, or shouldn't fund, and could benefit from paid human resources.
Two areas that I have in mind that could benefit from paid human resources for community work are
(1) the *Signpost*, which seems to me like it requires enough skilled work to produce on a weekly basis that its staff should be paid in a manner similar to the staff of US college weekly newspapers. (For a time I was a regular *Signpost* contributor, but no longer. I know how much work was involved in doing a good job with creating and publishing the *Signpost* weekly.)
and
(2) conflict of interest work, in three domains: (a) education of COI editors, particularly those who express interest in abiding by community norms and policies; (b) reviews of changes that have been made or proposed in a manner consistent with the spirit of community norms of policies; and (c) investigations of potential COI problems such as undisclosed paid editing.
Perhaps there are other areas which would also benefit from additional paid human resources, but which WMF can't, won't, or shouldn't fund.
Let me repeat the questions that I asked at the top of this email. (1) How would people feel about non-WMF funding for these kinds kind of work, if funding can be found? (2) If funding for these kinds of work would be beneficial, how might the funding be possible to obtain it without WMF involvement?
A third question which will need some thought, if there aren't a lot of objections to the concept and if funding can be found, is "who should administer the funding?" WMF shouldn't, and my initial thought is that setting up a new 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization would be a good way to go. I suggest waiting to think about this question for the moment, and first focusing on the two other questions.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Pine