phoebe ayers wrote: > The Board of Trustees has recently reviewed our fundraising model and issues > related to the way donor funds are received. This review followed detailed > discussions among the Board's Audit Committee and with our outside auditors, > which highlighted issues about the level of financial controls over donor > funds that go directly to the chapters who act as payment processors. This > review focused on the model established last year, under which donors in > certain countries are exclusively directed to the local chapter during the > annual fundraiser. In our 2010-2011 year, about $4M net went directly to 12 > chapters, representing roughly 15% of the total funds donated to the > movement. > > There are several problems with this model, and with the current fundraising > situation. Some chapters have received large sums of money early in their > organizational lives, before they have built the capacity and financial > controls to safeguard and best use those resources in pursuit of the > mission. Some chapters have received many times their planned budget in a > single fundraiser. Additionally, in some countries, transferring funds > internationally has been limited by regulatory constraints. > > There are also currently no movement-wide controls applied consistently to > all entities that receive donor funds. Some chapters, despite being > well-funded, have not reported in a timely way on their activities, their > financial status, and their use of donor funds, or have had difficulties > following the regulatory requirements of their countries. > > This fundraising model has also contributed to significant resource > disparity among chapters. Some of the largest fundraising chapters have > revenue far greater than their stated need and capacity to spend, while > other chapters receive revenue only from Foundation grants or have almost no > revenue at all. The model also suggests that chapters are entitled to funds > proportional to the wealth of their regions, which amplifies the gap between > the Global North and South.
I think it's great that the Board is looking into this. I was vaguely aware of the problem and it's certainly one that needs to be addressed. I have two questions from your post: * Is there a breakdown of the amount of money given to chapters from the past fundraiser? A chart or something somewhere? There definitely should be and I imagine there is, but I wouldn't be able to locate it off-hand. * Have any chapters been asked to give money back? If so, what has been the response? MZMcBride _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l
