[Wikimedia-l] Departure
All, For the last four years, I’ve led the Wikimedia Foundation’s finance, administration, and office IT teams. I've had the opportunity to work closely with many of you through collaboration with the Wikimedia affiliates. They have been remarkable experiences, and I am grateful for all I’ve learned from you during my time here. Therefore it is with some sadness that today I am letting you know that I’ve decided to take a new opportunity outside the WMF, at a California-based foundation focused on public education. It has been a privilege to work with so many exceptional people over the years. I’ve watched the WMF mature and take on many new challenges, and our community grow and diversify. Our commitment to our free knowledge mission is as strong as ever, and now shared by even more people. While I’ll no longer be on staff, I plan to find ways to stay involved in the Wikimedia community. I look forward to seeing the movement continue to do its important work. My last day will be September 30. I look forward to staying in touch and continuing to support our mission. Best, Garfield -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org <https://donate.wikimedia.org/>* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
Re: [Wikimedia-l] Environmental impact of Wikipedia
Here is the link to the other Greenpeace Report. http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/Global/usa/planet3/PDFs/2015ClickCleanKeyFindings.pdf This fiscal year we are going to see what can be done, if anything, to influence the owners of the data centers and the building owner for our offices to use more renewable energy. Regards, Garfield On Mon, Jul 6, 2015 at 8:25 AM, Gerard Meijssen gerard.meijs...@gmail.com wrote: Hoi, Greenpeace has a great writeup on the subject. It describes the current issues with the use of energy and how big websites make a difference. Thanks, GerardM http://www.greenpeace.nl/Global/nederland/report/2015/Klimaat%20en%20energie/Clicking%20Clean%20-%20A%20Guide%20to%20Building%20the%20Green%20Internet.pdf On 5 July 2015 at 17:45, Andrea Zanni zanni.andre...@gmail.com wrote: Hello everyone. I tried to find the info myself, with little success: I'm interested to know about the environmental impact of running Wikipedia (carbon emissions, etc.) and what we are doing about it. Sorry if I missed wikimedia-l threads, or other sources. The only thing I found regarding a green data center is a 2009 press release [1]. If I understand correctly, it was a carbon neutral data center. But, it was 2009. Now, it seems that we have a new data center [2][3]. I'm wondering what is the environmental impact of it, as encironmental impact was in the primary requirements for the choice [3]. More generally: does the Wikimedia Foundation have a green policy? Do other chapters? What can we do about it? Are we interested in doing something about it? IMHO, I think we should discuss this. I remember quite vividly that a representative of Greenpeace, at Wikimania in London, was quite clear in saying that we are not really good in this matter. As Wikimedia, as a whole, is more and more exposed (we now fight for the privacy of our users, (and I'm personally very proud of it)), and as we are the 5th website in the world, maybe it's a topic worth talking. Thank you Aubrey [1] https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikimedia_Selects_EvoSwitch_June_2009 [2] https://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/05/05/wikimedia-foundation-selects-cyrusone-in-dallas-as-new-data-center/ [3] http://www.cyrusone.com/data-center-locations/dallas-data-center-carrollton/#a1 [4] https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/RFP/2013_Datacenter#Primary_Requirements ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org https://donate.wikimedia.org/* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe
Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Foundation Annual Plan for FY 15-16
Hi Pine, I have answered your questions in the text of your email. Regards, Garfield On Tue, May 26, 2015 at 2:42 PM, Pine W wiki.p...@gmail.com wrote: Hi Garfield, Thanks for this update. * Is this intended to be the last annual plan, as WMF shifts to a quarterly planning cycle? If so, how will Fundraising know how much money to raise each quarter/year? This will not be the last annual plan. We will continue the annual plan process in future years. * Are SMART goals documented for each department? If so, where can we see them? In the quarterly goal setting process, the annual plan will be segmented into quarterly goals for each department or team. The success of the quarterly goals set by each department or team will reported on in the Wikimedia Foundation Quarterly Report https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia_Foundation_Quarterly_Report,_FY_2014-15_Q3_(January-March).pdf. * I see that there are many new proposed FTEs but I'm unclear on what SMART goals those FTEs are intended to address. Is there a page that documents clear links between the FTE hires, the SMART goals for their departments, and explanations of how current capacity is insufficient to address the needs that these new hires are addressing? Additional information will be provided on the goals and how the new hires will impact those goals. I support making targeted in FTE increases that are clearly linked to goals and/or filling gaps, and I would like to see those links in this document or in an appendix. Thank you for this feedback. I am very interested in hearing what my fellow Wikimedians think of this document, particularly those who have experience with managing our affiliates and those with FDC experience. Thanks, Pine On Tue, May 26, 2015 at 2:27 PM, Garfield Byrd gb...@wikimedia.org wrote: The draft Annual Plan for FY 15-16 https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2015-16 is available for community input and comments. Please post any suggestions on the Talk page https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2015-16action=editredlink=1 . The objective of this process is to make certain that we have community feedback on this initial draft of the annual plan for next fiscal year (7/1/2015 - 6/30/2016) . We value this input to assist in the improvement of the final version . This draft version of the annual plan is also being reviewed by the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees so that the Wikimedia Foundation can review input from the Board of Trustees and community at the same time. T he final version of the Annual Plan is scheduled to be submitted to the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees for a vote on June 15, 2015 . Best regards, Garfield Best regards, Garfield -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org https://donate.wikimedia.org/* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/guidelineswikimedi...@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org https://donate.wikimedia.org/* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe
[Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Foundation Annual Plan for FY 15-16
The draft Annual Plan for FY 15-16 https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2015-16 is available for community input and comments. Please post any suggestions on the Talk page https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Wikimedia_Foundation_Annual_Plan/2015-16action=editredlink=1 . The objective of this process is to make certain that we have community feedback on this initial draft of the annual plan for next fiscal year (7/1/2015 - 6/30/2016) . We value this input to assist in the improvement of the final version . This draft version of the annual plan is also being reviewed by the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees so that the Wikimedia Foundation can review input from the Board of Trustees and community at the same time. T he final version of the Annual Plan is scheduled to be submitted to the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees for a vote on June 15, 2015 . Best regards, Garfield Best regards, Garfield -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org https://donate.wikimedia.org/* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe
Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF office location and remodel
I think with this and many other discussions, form should follow function. So as we begin to introduce and implement our new Strategic Plan it will inform this issue over time. Regards, Garfield On Thu, Apr 16, 2015 at 5:46 AM, rupert THURNER rupert.thur...@gmail.com wrote: Hi Garfield, many thanks for your answer! On Apr 9, 2015 5:35 PM, Garfield Byrd gb...@wikimedia.org wrote: Hi Pine, I have answered your questions in your email. Regards, Garfield On Thu, Apr 9, 2015 at 12:38 AM, Pine W wiki.p...@gmail.com wrote: Hi Garfield, Ok, follow up questions: * Does WMF have a plan to keep the Foundation and its essential functions operational if, say, the San Francisco main building all SF staff are completely offline and unreachable by phone for a week after an earthquake? Yes, we have a plan in place in case the building in San Francisco is unavailable. All San Francisco staff will not be offline for a week after an earthquake. Not all staff live in San Francisco, and Loma Prieta showed that even a major earthquake does not take the entire San Francisco Bay Area offline. So essential functions will continue even after an earthquake. In addition, even though many of our staff are in San Francisco, we do have staff in many other states and 18 countries. * Would there be worthwhile advantages to establishing a second main office in someplace like the US east coast or Europe? We have tried to setup a center of activity in other states and it did not prove to be worthwhile, as staff preferred to work from home or other locations. So it was an an additional cost with any additional benefit. It is my understanding that having an office outside the United States creates complications for Wikipedia and the other Wiki projects in the area of content protection. To create less headaches about this would it not be better to split up wmf in two, one doing the software at any convenient location, while the other one would own the domains, hosting and money? Thanks, and please reply when it's convenient for you. I'll follow up offline with HR about talent pool questions. Thanks, Pine On Apr 8, 2015 5:16 PM, Garfield Byrd gb...@wikimedia.org wrote: Hi Pine, If the Foundation decides to move, the cost of making the space usable for our staff is not a recoverable cost from the building owner. At this point, WMF is not planning on moving out of the San Francisco market area. We will be doing our best to manage cost when we renew our lease or move. The advantages of having good access to talented people and organizations WMF interacts with far outweigh any advantages to moving to a lower cost location outside of the San Francisco market area. Regards, Garfield On Tue, Apr 7, 2015 at 9:58 PM, Pine W wiki.p...@gmail.com wrote: Hi Garfield, I'm asking this on Wikimedia-l because a number of Wikimedians have noted the expensiveness of the San Francisco area including its high cost of living for staff, employer competition for engineering talent, and associated high salaries for WMF employees. I see on http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/8/8a/RFP_for_Real_Estate_Services.pdf that WMF is considering relocating its offices when its current main office lease expires. Questions: What happens to the remodel expenses that WMF is paying for at its current location? If WMF vacates the premesis, will it be compensated for the remodel by the building owner? I hope that WMF is contemplating fully exiting the San Francisco market area in order to economize, get better value for our donors' funds, have less competition for talent, and lower costs of living for staff. Is this being considered? Thanks very much, Pine -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org https://donate.wikimedia.org/* -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org https://donate.wikimedia.org/* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe
Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF office location and remodel
Hi Pine, I have answered your questions in your email. Regards, Garfield On Thu, Apr 9, 2015 at 12:38 AM, Pine W wiki.p...@gmail.com wrote: Hi Garfield, Ok, follow up questions: * Does WMF have a plan to keep the Foundation and its essential functions operational if, say, the San Francisco main building all SF staff are completely offline and unreachable by phone for a week after an earthquake? Yes, we have a plan in place in case the building in San Francisco is unavailable. All San Francisco staff will not be offline for a week after an earthquake. Not all staff live in San Francisco, and Loma Prieta showed that even a major earthquake does not take the entire San Francisco Bay Area offline. So essential functions will continue even after an earthquake. In addition, even though many of our staff are in San Francisco, we do have staff in many other states and 18 countries. * Would there be worthwhile advantages to establishing a second main office in someplace like the US east coast or Europe? We have tried to setup a center of activity in other states and it did not prove to be worthwhile, as staff preferred to work from home or other locations. So it was an an additional cost with any additional benefit. It is my understanding that having an office outside the United States creates complications for Wikipedia and the other Wiki projects in the area of content protection. Thanks, and please reply when it's convenient for you. I'll follow up offline with HR about talent pool questions. Thanks, Pine On Apr 8, 2015 5:16 PM, Garfield Byrd gb...@wikimedia.org wrote: Hi Pine, If the Foundation decides to move, the cost of making the space usable for our staff is not a recoverable cost from the building owner. At this point, WMF is not planning on moving out of the San Francisco market area. We will be doing our best to manage cost when we renew our lease or move. The advantages of having good access to talented people and organizations WMF interacts with far outweigh any advantages to moving to a lower cost location outside of the San Francisco market area. Regards, Garfield On Tue, Apr 7, 2015 at 9:58 PM, Pine W wiki.p...@gmail.com wrote: Hi Garfield, I'm asking this on Wikimedia-l because a number of Wikimedians have noted the expensiveness of the San Francisco area including its high cost of living for staff, employer competition for engineering talent, and associated high salaries for WMF employees. I see on http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/8/8a/RFP_for_Real_Estate_Services.pdf that WMF is considering relocating its offices when its current main office lease expires. Questions: What happens to the remodel expenses that WMF is paying for at its current location? If WMF vacates the premesis, will it be compensated for the remodel by the building owner? I hope that WMF is contemplating fully exiting the San Francisco market area in order to economize, get better value for our donors' funds, have less competition for talent, and lower costs of living for staff. Is this being considered? Thanks very much, Pine -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org https://donate.wikimedia.org/* -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org https://donate.wikimedia.org/* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe
Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF office location and remodel
Hi Fae, We have 215 staff in total, with a hub of activity in San Francisco and other staff in several other states and 18 countries. So I agree talented people can be found globally and WMF does hire the best talent it can find wherever they are located. At this point adding offices in other locations add cost without any benefits to the community or the Wikimedia Foundation. We also do not have the luxury of Mozilla's $300 million budget that can support a London office or Microsoft's billions to have a globally distributed workforce with offices. So we are not closing the door to anything. Based on our test project of trying to develop centers of activity in other parts of the United States there is no need for additional offices. We do need and will continue to hire a globally distributed staff of talented people to support our global community of talented volunteers. Regards, Garfield On Thu, Apr 9, 2015 at 2:19 AM, Fæ fae...@gmail.com wrote: On 9 April 2015 at 01:16, Garfield Byrd gb...@wikimedia.org wrote: ... The advantages of having good access to talented people and organizations WMF interacts with far outweigh any advantages to moving to a lower cost location outside of the San Francisco market area. I find the world-view expressed here slightly odd to read, perhaps because I am more European than American in background. My background includes working for long periods with many companies in the U.S. (such as Microsoft) and we managed to do that perfectly with a handful of employees in a Seattle office, and most developers and internal operations such as HR, finance etc. in Europe (very few of these people ever had a need or desire to talk directly with customers or partner organizations). It was easy enough for me to visit the U.S. a couple of times a year when there was a lot going on there, and work on a daily basis within a lively virtual team spread out in offices across London, Paris and New York. Talented people can be found in many places including San Francisco, and though Google is incredibly important, there many other critically important potential open knowledge partners without headquarters in SF (Europeana springs to mind). Even Mozilla has a very nice office to work with here in London. The idea that having all functions in SF has advantages that far outweigh all other considerations seems to over-egg the case, perhaps it would be a good thing to leave the door open a crack for alternative ways of working to be possible in a far future. Fae ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org https://donate.wikimedia.org/* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe
Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF office location and remodel
Hi Pine, If the Foundation decides to move, the cost of making the space usable for our staff is not a recoverable cost from the building owner. At this point, WMF is not planning on moving out of the San Francisco market area. We will be doing our best to manage cost when we renew our lease or move. The advantages of having good access to talented people and organizations WMF interacts with far outweigh any advantages to moving to a lower cost location outside of the San Francisco market area. Regards, Garfield On Tue, Apr 7, 2015 at 9:58 PM, Pine W wiki.p...@gmail.com wrote: Hi Garfield, I'm asking this on Wikimedia-l because a number of Wikimedians have noted the expensiveness of the San Francisco area including its high cost of living for staff, employer competition for engineering talent, and associated high salaries for WMF employees. I see on http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/8/8a/RFP_for_Real_Estate_Services.pdf that WMF is considering relocating its offices when its current main office lease expires. Questions: What happens to the remodel expenses that WMF is paying for at its current location? If WMF vacates the premesis, will it be compensated for the remodel by the building owner? I hope that WMF is contemplating fully exiting the San Francisco market area in order to economize, get better value for our donors' funds, have less competition for talent, and lower costs of living for staff. Is this being considered? Thanks very much, Pine -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org https://donate.wikimedia.org/* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe
Re: [Wikimedia-l] Call to Action
, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/guidelineswikimedi...@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org https://donate.wikimedia.org/* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe
Re: [Wikimedia-l] Why is bank transfer no longer possible?
Lodewijk, IBAN and bank account information is sent out upon request due to the level of attempted bank fraud when the account information was posted on the website. I can review with our bank to see if IBAN security and fraud protection has improved so that we can publicly post our IBAN number. Regards, Garfield On Mon, Nov 17, 2014 at 1:16 PM, Lodewijk lodew...@effeietsanders.org wrote: Hi Patricia, Thanks for telling that the iDEAL will be back soon. I don't quite understand from your answer why you add the increased hurdle of emailing the team for the IBAN though. Am I overlooking something? Best, Lodewijk On Mon, Nov 17, 2014 at 10:06 PM, Patricia Pena pp...@wikimedia.org wrote: Hi Lodewijk, Currently IDEAL is temporarily down on our pages (it went into maintenance mode after our annual campaign), but should be back up soon :) We know the importance of this method for Dutch donors and have supported this option since we started fundraising in the NL. We also support offline bank transfer (IBAN) and donors can get the account number with our Donor Services team. We had an extremely successful Fundraising campaign this year, and there will be some great mobile optimization coming up in the next few months, which will allow mobile donors to complete their donations in a much faster and easier way. Thanks! Pats On Mon, Nov 17, 2014 at 11:28 AM, Lodewijk lodew...@effeietsanders.org wrote: A while back now, the chapters were no longer allowed to fundraise, because the Wikimedia Foundation argued they would be better able to do this. At the time, this sounded somewhat reasonable. However, since then, there have been some disturbing developments - at least for Dutch donors. No longer it is possible to pay electronically (iDEAL, one of the most common methods is no longer supported - 'electronic banking' simply refers you back to the credit card page) or even via regular bank transfer (using an IBAN) in the Netherlands. The donation page https://donate.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:FundraiserLandingPagecountry=NLuselang=enutm_medium=spontaneousutm_source=fr-redirutm_campaign=spontaneous only allows credit card and paypal, and the 'other ways to give' simply sends you to the helpdesk if you want to make a bank transfer payment. What is the reasoning behind this? Have bank transfers become a legal swamp? Are there statistics suggesting that this method was no longer required by donors? Did the European bank account somehow get temporarily suspended? If it has become so hard to donate, maybe it makes more sense to send the donors to the local chapter pages where they can actually donate in the local suitable methods (in this case, Wikimedia Netherlands offers both iDEAL and IBAN http://www.wikimedia.nl/pagina/doneren-aan-wikimedia-nederland). One of the Dutch OTRS team members asked for elaboration, but didn't quite get a satisfying answer. I hope this is a temporary situation, and that this threshold will be removed again. It would be sad if we go through all kind of trouble to enable long tail methods like bitcoin, but skip bank transfer... Best, Lodewijk ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe -- Pats Pena | Sr. Manager, Global Operations Wikimedia Foundation office +1 (415) 839 6885 x6764 cell: +1 (415) 816 3349 fax: +1 (415) 284 9511 pp...@wikimedia.org *Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. That's our commitment. Donate. https://donate.wikimedia.org/* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org https://donate.wikimedia.org
Re: [Wikimedia-l] WMF Finance Fellows to develop first-ever movement-wide financial report and metrics
Liam: My apologies for the language you noted, it was not our intent to, even inadvertently, to degrade anyone. We fully appreciate the abilities of our community and I know from my meetings with members of our community how smart and engaged they are in a variety of issues impacting the Wikimedia movement. I want to clarify that these Fellows are not auditors. They will be working from data as presented by the movement entities. The project has been designed so that the fellows will be using existing data provided by movement entities and the Fellows will only be reaching out to movement entities with clarifying questions. So there should be no material increase in staff/volunteer time to provide information for this project. If this not the case, please let me know. Best regards, Garfield On Thu, Oct 30, 2014 at 11:10 AM, Liam Wyatt liamwy...@gmail.com wrote: Interesting development. Probably a very good idea for transparency and good use of the movement's money, and consistency of reporting to make things comparable is a great goal. I especially think that for smaller chapters there is lots of value in having a dedicated contact person! But I find the self-description of the Fellows as an elite group of global operatives[1] a bit degrading to the rest of us... I presume it's taken a fair while to recruit the team and scope the project too (I see one linkedin profile which says they've been working already for two months[3]). So, I wonder - did the Chapters who have been allocated to each of these new auditors[2] have any notice that this new process was being created before it was announced today - so they were able to make any other time-commitments without being surprised by a new layer of paperwork? Also, I presume that the increased amount of staff/volunteer time needed to comply with new paperwork will be offset by streamlining this with other WMF-compliance paperwork? [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Oolukoya_(WMF) [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Movement-wide_Financial_Report#Who_We_Are [3] http://www.linkedin.com/pub/seyi-olukoya/59/b09/a7 wittylama.com Peace, love metadata -- wittylama.com Peace, love metadata ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org https://donate.wikimedia.org/* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe
Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Foundation Audit - June 30, 2014
I and the investment management team that has been selected to manage the short term and long term reserves of the Foundation are open to any consensus guidance on what socially responsible investing looks like in our context. Regards, Garfield On Wed, Oct 15, 2014 at 5:24 PM, Richard Symonds richard.symo...@wikimedia.org.uk wrote: Hmm. I'm not sure that everyone will agree on all of those values you espouse, Pine - they are laudable goals but as an organisation that also aims to be neutral, moving in a left-of-centre direction might be frowned on by some. Limiting investment options would also limit the returns on those investments - which would impact our mission (might be good, might be bad) - and limiting returns on investments would also in turn impact a lot of other things, for example, the recommended figures that the WMF and Chapters hold in reserve. A complicated issue. Richard Symonds Wikimedia UK 0207 065 0992 Wikimedia UK is a Company Limited by Guarantee registered in England and Wales, Registered No. 6741827. Registered Charity No.1144513. Registered Office 4th Floor, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London EC2A 4LT. United Kingdom. Wikimedia UK is the UK chapter of a global Wikimedia movement. The Wikimedia projects are run by the Wikimedia Foundation (who operate Wikipedia, amongst other projects). *Wikimedia UK is an independent non-profit charity with no legal control over Wikipedia nor responsibility for its contents.* On 15 October 2014 15:52, Nathan nawr...@gmail.com wrote: On Wed, Oct 15, 2014 at 10:30 AM, Marc A. Pelletier m...@uberbox.org wrote: On 10/15/2014 04:52 AM, Federico Leva (Nemo) wrote: I suggest that you need a stricter definition to start with. It's also highly disputable that the Foundation would be justified in reducing the fiduciary care it must employ in its investment strategy for a set of ill-defined objectives that fall entirely outside its mission - no matter how agreeable those objectives may be to many of the volunteers. -- Marc I'm not a natural fan of divestment ethics, but I don't know that there is much dispute these days that it is possible to fulfill fiduciary duties *and* invest using values / ethics oriented strategy. Twenty years ago perhaps it was uncommon, but today ethical (or social responsibility) investment strategy is common among non-profits and there are many dedicated funds for the purpose. ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org https://donate.wikimedia.org/* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe
[Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Foundation Audit - June 30, 2014
The June 30, 2014 audit of the Wikimedia Foundation and accompanying QA have now been posted and can be found on the Wikimedia Foundation Financial reports page. https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Financial_reports Please contact me with any questions. Regards, Garfield -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org https://donate.wikimedia.org/* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe
[Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Foundation 990
The Wikimedia Foundation 990 for FY 2012 - 2013 has been posted on the Wikimedia Foundation Financial Reports page.https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Financial_reports Please contact me with any questions. -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org https://donate.wikimedia.org/* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe
[Wikimedia-l] Fwd: FDC Final Eligible Entities for Round 2 - 2013-2014
Dear Wikimedia Community: The Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) makes recommendations to the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees on how to allocate movement funds to best meet Wikimedia goals and strategic priorities. The Wikimedia Foundation has now published a list of 2013-2014 Round 2 Annual Plan Grant eligible entitieshttps://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/Eligibility_checklist/2013-2014_round2 based the eligibility criteria established in the Funds Dissemination Committee framework. Please let us know if you believe there are any corrections to be made to this list. The six organizations that submitted Letters of Intent for Round 2 2013-2014 are categorized in the 'Yes', category based the eligibility criteriahttp://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/FDC_portal/Eligibility_criteria, and are now eligible to submit proposals in this round. Organizations must continue to remain eligible throughout the FDC process in order to receive funding. All proposals created by eligible organizations for Annual Plan Grantshttps://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Information from the FDC must be submitted by *1 April 2014* through each organization's proposal hub page that was created when each organization submitted an LOI for this round. A list of hub pages for all proposals in this round may be found herehttp://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:APG/Proposals . Please note that we are using the new dates announced by Anasuya Sengupta in her email to the community. One final note: organizations that prefer not to participate in the FDC process in this round may be eligible to seek funding through the Project and Event Grants Program http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:PEG. Please don't hesitate to reach out to me and the FDC support team ( fdcsupp...@wikimedia.org) with any questions or requests for clarification. Sincerely; Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe
[Wikimedia-l] WMF Mid Year Financial Statements
The Wikimedia Foundation Mid Year Financial Statementshttps://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/2/2e/Jul-Dec%2713_Mid-year_financials.pdf and FAQ have been published in the Financial Reportshttps://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Financial_reports section of the Wikimedia Foundation website. Please contact me with any questions. Regards, Garfield -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org https://donate.wikimedia.org/* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe
[Wikimedia-l] [Wikimedia Announcements] FDC Eligibility - Round 2
Dear Wikimedia Community: As you may know, the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) makes recommendations to the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees on how to allocate movement funds to best meet Wikimedia goals and strategic priorities. [1]http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Funds_Dissemination_Committee/Framework_for_the_Creation_and_Initial_Operation_of_the_FDC The Wikimedia Foundation has now published a list of 2013-2014 Round 2 Annual Plan Grant eligible entities [2]https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Eligibility_checklist/2013-2014_round2 based the eligibility criteria [3]https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Eligibility_criteria established in the Funds Dissemination Committee framework. Please let us know if you believe there are any corrections to be made to this list. The six entities that submitted Letters of Intent for Round 2 2013-2014 are categorized in 'Yes', 'Yes, If', and 'No' categories based the eligibility criteria. Entities who are interested in applying for funds through the FDC, but are currently ineligible due to compliance issues (i.e.: those who fall into the 'Yes, If' category detailed above) should work with WMF to develop a plan to correct compliance issues. Please note that any entity in the 'Yes, If' category must post all missing documents on Meta by *15 March 2014* to be eligible to apply to the FDC for Annual Plan Grants. As we have done in the past, the WMF Finance Team and the FDC staff will work closely with all entities in the “Yes, If” category to ensure that they are aware of their current and potential gaps in eligibility. After the eligibility period closes on *15 March 2014*, WMF will post the final list of the entities eligible to apply to the FDC for funding. Please note that entities will need to remain in compliance with all Chapter Agreements and Grant Agreements until funds are sent in order to receive a grant through the FDC process, even if eligibility is confirmed as Yes on *15 March 2014*. All entities that apply for FDC funding will be required to maintain eligibility throughout the duration of the proposal review process until funds are sent (or until the decision on whether to send funds is made). We encourage you to get in touch with us if you have any questions about your entity's gaps or potential gaps. A note on the eligibility table itself: based on feedback received, we’ve attempted to clarify the eligibility process by condensing two eligibility tables into one table. It should now be easier, at a glance, to understand where there are eligibility gaps for the six entities that submitted Letters of Intent. Gaps and potential gaps are outlined up front. WMF staff will update the table as entities close their eligibility gaps. Like with last round, you’ll note there’s a column on “potential gaps” for entities to track as the FDC process continues. This change was made to allow entities, the FDC, and the FDC staff to track eligibility better and ensure that everyone is informed of potential as well as current issues that may affect eligibility. All proposals created by eligible entities for Annual Plan Grants from the FDC must be submitted by *1 April 2014* via the FDC proposal creation tool on the portal. FDC staff will reach out to eligible entities when the tool is ready for use. Please note that I am using the new dates announced by Anasuya Sengupta in her email to the Community. One final note: entities who are ineligible or who would prefer not to go through the FDC process in this round may seek funding through the Project and Event Grants Program (formerly the Wikimedia Foundation Grants Program). [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Index Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me and the FDC support team ( fdcsupp...@wikimedia.org) with any questions or requests for clarification. Sincerely; Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation [1] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Funds_Dissemination_Committee/Framework_for_the_Creation_and_Initial_Operation_of_the_FDC [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Eligibility_checklist/2013-2014_round2 [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Eligibility_criteria [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Index https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Eligibility_checklist/2013-2014_round2 -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org https://donate.wikimedia.org/* ___ Please note: all replies sent to this mailing list will be immediately directed to Wikimedia-l, the public mailing list of the Wikimedia community. For more information about Wikimedia-l: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
[Wikimedia-l] WMF Audit
The Wikimedia Foundation has published its Audit and Audit FAQ for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2013 on our Financial Reports page.http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Financial_reports Please contact me with any questions. Regards, Garfield -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe
Re: [Wikimedia-l] [Internal-l] 2013-2014 Round 1 FDC eligibility status IRC office hours
Itzik: There are no new requirements in this process, the reports requested reflect the reports needed by the chapter agreement and the FDC process. As for format of the 2012 activity report, I suggest you look at chapter reports http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Reports to see what presentation and format may work best for your chapter. As for the financial report, you always have the option of using the short form financial reporthttp://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2012_ShortFinancialReport.pdffor the FDC process as WM France did, to reduce the impact of translating a larger document. Regards, Garfield On Tue, Jul 16, 2013 at 6:12 AM, Itzik Edri it...@infra.co.il wrote: Hi Garfield, I must say I'm surprised from the new requirements. Eligible entities of last year now need to send by 15 September documents about 2012 - a year that is totally unrelated to the FDC process that started only this year? Why it been decided only now? We are not hiding a thing, but not only by 30th July we need to send FDC Q2 report, by 1st October annual plan budget for 2014, and by 31 October FDC Q3 report.. Hey, not everyone are big chapters, and we are really need time also to *work* and execute the program we asked the money for... So financial report can be translated from the financial report we sent to the Israeli authority (again, more money spends on translation as probably our employees don't have time for that and have other paper work, and this is also going to work if there is no special format and different numbers and metrics requsted by the FDC and not different from what we already have on the report we made..). But about the 2012 activity report? What format? what information need to be there? this is totally something we need to collect from start and mean more administrative work. Itzik On Tue, Jul 16, 2013 at 3:06 AM, Garfield Byrd gb...@wikimedia.org wrote: Dear members of the Wikimedia community: Today, July 15, the Wikimedia Foundation published a list of Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) eligible entities [1] based the eligibility criteria [2] established in the FDC framework. Entities that submitted Letters of Intent [3] are categorized in 'Yes', 'Yes, If', and 'No' categories based the eligibility criteria. Please let us know if you believe there are any corrections to be made to this list. A more detailed eligibility checklist document has also been created. [4] This document outlines eligibility gaps that need to be closed by September 15, 2013. Any entity in the Yes, If category must post all missing documents on Meta by September 15 to be eligible for FDC funding. Entities in the “No” column who are currently ineligible for FDC funding or those who decide not to proceed with an FDC application are welcome to consider applying to the WMF Grants program. [5] On September 15, WMF will post the final list of the entities eligible to apply for FDC funding if they are eligible. Please note that entities will need to remain in compliance with all Chapter Agreements and Grant Agreements until funds are sent in order to receive a grant through the FDC process, even if eligibility is confirmed as Yes on 15 September. The detailed eligibility checklist has improved since the last round. You’ll now note that the final column now outlines upcoming requirements (e.g. per chapter or grant agreements or current grant requirements) to maintain FDC eligibility status. These are noted as “potential gaps,” and as those deadlines come up, entities will need to fill those gaps (for example, by posting their documents and linking to them from the Reports page on Meta) in order to maintain their eligibility status with the FDC. We hope this change allows entities, the FDC, and the FDC staff to track eligibility better and ensure that everyone is informed of potential as well as current issues that may affect eligibility. All entities that apply for FDC funding will be required to maintain eligibility throughout the duration of the proposal review process until funds are sent (or until the decision on whether to send funds is made). We encourage you to get in touch with us if you have any questions about your entity's gaps or potential gaps. http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Index http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Index As a reminder, all applications for FDC funding from eligible entities must be submitted by October 1, 2013 via the FDC portal. [6] The FDC proposal form will be posted by August 15, 2013 on the FDC portal. Please contact us if you have any questions about submitting your proposal. WMF staff will reach out to all the of the entities that submitted Letters of Intent individually to discuss their eligibility. In addition, the FDC support staff has scheduled two IRC office hours to provide more explanation about the eligibility status. [7] We
[Wikimedia-l] Fwd: 2013-2014 Round 1 FDC eligibility status IRC office hours
Dear members of the Wikimedia community: On July 15, the Wikimedia Foundation published a list of Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) eligible entities [1] based the eligibility criteria [2] established in the FDC framework. Entities that submitted Letters of Intent [3] are categorized in 'Yes', 'Yes, If', and 'No' categories based the eligibility criteria. Please let us know if you believe there are any corrections to be made to this list. A more detailed eligibility checklist document has also been created. [4] This document outlines eligibility gaps that need to be closed by September 15, 2013. Any entity in the Yes, If category must post all missing documents on Meta by September 15 to be eligible for FDC funding. Entities in the “No” column who are currently ineligible for FDC funding or those who decide not to proceed with an FDC application are welcome to consider applying to the WMF Grants program. [5] On September 15, WMF will post the final list of the entities eligible to apply for FDC funding if they are eligible. Please note that entities will need to remain in compliance with all Chapter Agreements and Grant Agreements until funds are sent in order to receive a grant through the FDC process, even if eligibility is confirmed as Yes on 15 September. The detailed eligibility checklist has improved since the last round. You’ll now note that the final column now outlines upcoming requirements (e.g. per chapter or grant agreements or current grant requirements) to maintain FDC eligibility status. These are noted as “potential gaps,” and as those deadlines come up, entities will need to fill those gaps (for example, by posting their documents and linking to them from the Reports page on Meta) in order to maintain their eligibility status with the FDC. We hope this change allows entities, the FDC, and the FDC staff to track eligibility better and ensure that everyone is informed of potential as well as current issues that may affect eligibility. All entities that apply for FDC funding will be required to maintain eligibility throughout the duration of the proposal review process until funds are sent (or until the decision on whether to send funds is made). We encourage you to get in touch with us if you have any questions about your entity's gaps or potential gaps. http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Index http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Index As a reminder, all applications for FDC funding from eligible entities must be submitted by October 1, 2013 via the FDC portal. [6] The FDC proposal form will be posted by August 15, 2013 on the FDC portal. Please contact us if you have any questions about submitting your proposal. WMF staff will reach out to all the of the entities that submitted Letters of Intent individually to discuss their eligibility. In addition, the FDC support staff has scheduled two IRC office hours to provide more explanation about the eligibility status. [7] We look forward to meeting with you on Thursday, July 18 at 0:00 UTC or at 16:00 UTC that same day. Please feel free to submit any questions in advance. Do let me know if you have any questions, clarifications or concerns about the eligibility process, or if you need clarifications. We are here to support you. Sincerely, Garfield Byrd [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Eligibility_status/2013-2014_round1 [2] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Eligibility_criteria [3] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:FDC_2013-2014_Round_1 [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Eligibility_checklist/2013-2014_round1 [5] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Index [6] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal [7] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRC_office_hours#Upcoming_office_hours -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org* -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe
Re: [Wikimedia-l] 2013/2014 budget again (m/Oppenheim on YouTube)
SJ: As we may be very close to having a Board of Trustee approved budget, I suggest we wait until we can release the full Annual Plan document on July 1, so that there is context for the Wikimedia Foundation spending plan for FY 13-14. Regards, Garfield On Fri, Jun 14, 2013 at 7:08 PM, Samuel Klein meta...@gmail.com wrote: Sue: can we share the one-page summary from the current draft? SJ On Fri, Jun 14, 2013 at 10:06 AM, Tomasz W. Kozlowski tom...@twkozlowski.net wrote: Hi, a couple of weeks ago, I noticed this interview given by Sue to m/Oppenheim Associates https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4gRqtx9-A0c. At 11:19 http://youtu.be/4gRqtx9-A0c?t=11m19s Sue mentions that in the next year (2013/2014), the WMF is going to spend US$55 million. Are there any documents that we as community members could read to see what exactly will this money be spent on? And is mentioning budget plans on YouTube now the preferred way of communication between the WMF and its donors/community members? -- Tomasz ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l -- Samuel Klein @metasj w:user:sj +1 617 529 4266 ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Foundation Report, February 2013
Mathieu: As I make progress on this issue, I will be reporting to the Wikimedia Foundation Audit Committee. Any significant changes, on this topic, will be included as part of the scheduled reports of the Wikimedia Foundation. Regards, Garfield On Wed, Mar 20, 2013 at 3:54 AM, Mathieu Stumpf psychosl...@culture-libre.org wrote: Le 2013-03-18 21:45, Garfield Byrd a écrit : Pine: Our relationship with JP Morgan Chase is that they handle part of our international banking. This is a separate division of the bank from the one that had the trading losses. I agree with you that this type of news report is not good news. I have reviewed the information I have available, and have determined that the money JP Morgan Chase is holding for the Wikimedia Foundation is not at risk. When we did a review of banks that can handle our international banking, unfortunately all of the banks we looked at were involved in some sort scandal, from risky trades to LIBOR manipulation. This is not an ideal situation for a community based movement and I am continuing to look at options for all or some parts of our international banking needs. Interesting, do you plane to make a public report on this topic? -- Association Culture-Libre http://www.culture-libre.org/ __**_ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.**org Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/**mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-lhttps://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia (Foundation) endowment
SJ: I have been asked by the Audit Committee to do a report on the Endowment Issue and present the report at their next meeting, which will take place in this summer. Regards, Garfield On Mon, Mar 18, 2013 at 10:12 AM, Samuel Klein meta...@gmail.com wrote: On Mon, Mar 18, 2013 at 12:53 PM, MZMcBride z...@mzmcbride.com wrote: Nathan wrote: To return to the endowment again as the main topic, I think there are some risks we need to consider in an endowment. In general I think having an endowment is a good idea for a charitable institution, Yes and yes. I suggested quite recently that the Board pass a resolution creating a committee to examine the points you raise and additional questions outlined here: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Endowment/Questions. I continue to think that we (as a community) are still not at a place where we can make good judgments about whether to set up an endowment. There simply isn't enough information available to make a sound decision, in my opinion. That said, the idea of creating an endowment does seem like an idea that has broad support for further consideration and exploration, which is why I think an investigative or exploratory committee would make a lot of sense here and now. Thoughts? More information is certainly needed. It is bound up in other strategic thinking, as others have noted. I think we should set up a strategy committee, with a subgroup focused on an endowment and long-term investment options. SJ ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
Re: [Wikimedia-l] Mid-Year Financial Statements
Thomas: Our plans for the reserve are included in the WMF Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for the 2010-11 Audited Financial Statements: *The cash balance has increased from $12 million to over $21 million. What is the * *Wikimedia Foundation's view on its increasing cash reserve?* * * *The Wikimedia Foundation wants to have an appropriate amount of cash in reserve. * *This is important for stability and the overall financial health of the organization. * *A nonprofit wants to ensure it has a sufficient amount of cash available to it, so that it doesn't * *face a crisis in the event that unforeseen costs arise, or that an external or internal event hurts its ability to fund-raise.* *Different non-profits have different levels of reserves: it is common for young or very * *small non-profits to have as little as a few months' spending available in their reserve * *fund and while others may have as much as three years' spending in theirs. There is no * *generally accepted consensus on what size of reserve is appropriate but the Wikimedia * *Foundation has been able to grow its reserve over time. The current reserve represents * *less than one year of funding, at our current spending level. We believe that's * *appropriate for a growing non-profit of our size and age, with our goal to have one year * *of operating funding available over time.* Each of our annual plans, including the Wikimedia Foundation Annual Plan for 2012 - 2013http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/4/4f/2012-13_Wikimedia_Foundation_Plan_FINAL_FOR_WEBSITE.pdf on page 54, show that the reserves of the Wikimedia Foundation are built up intentionally consistent with the above statement. Any surplus from operations are in addition to the planned growth in the reserves of the Wikimedia Foundation. Regards, Garfield On Mon, Mar 18, 2013 at 2:55 PM, Thomas Dalton thomas.dal...@gmail.comwrote: On 18 March 2013 20:00, Garfield Byrd gb...@wikimedia.org wrote: Thomas: The Wikimedia Foundation is looking at its capacity to hire and is reviewing how many positions we can hire next fiscal year. We are working overall to have a good annual plan that matches our outcomes, but with a dynamic movement like this one, variance from plan is a part of the process as we want to make sure we are spending money prudently and not just to meet plan. In statistics we don't call it variance if it is always in the same direction - we call it bias. A high variance is often unavoidable, but bias is generally a bad thing. You'll note, my question wasn't about changing the spending, it was about changing the planning process. You shouldn't spend money just to meet your plan, certainly, but you should plan as accurately as possible. Prudence should be explicitly allowed for in reserves or a contingencies budget, it shouldn't appear accidentally due to biased planning. In addition, since unspent money goes into the Wikimedia Foundation reserves, which we are still in process of building, we have some time to calibrate the the annual planning process to the needs of the Wikimedia Movement and the Wikimedia Foundation. Can you elaborate on your plans for the reserves? When I search for reserves policy on the foundation wiki, it doesn't find anything. That is extremely worrying... Reserves should be built up intentionally, not as a result of accidental underspends. Either you need the reserves, in which case you should plan to save the money, or you don't, in which case you should either spend the money or not raise it in the first place. ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Foundation Report, February 2013
Pine: Our relationship with JP Morgan Chase is that they handle part of our international banking. This is a separate division of the bank from the one that had the trading losses. I agree with you that this type of news report is not good news. I have reviewed the information I have available, and have determined that the money JP Morgan Chase is holding for the Wikimedia Foundation is not at risk. When we did a review of banks that can handle our international banking, unfortunately all of the banks we looked at were involved in some sort scandal, from risky trades to LIBOR manipulation. This is not an ideal situation for a community based movement and I am continuing to look at options for all or some parts of our international banking needs. Regards, Garfield On Fri, Mar 15, 2013 at 9:55 PM, ENWP Pine deyntest...@hotmail.com wrote: I'm curious, what is the nature of WMF's relationship with JP Morgan Chase? Given the stories that I'm reading in the news such as this one, http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2013/03/15/jpmorgan-executives-face-withering-questions-at-senate-hearing/?hpw, I'm uncomfortable with the idea that WMF has a business relationship with JP Morgan. Pine ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
[Wikimedia-l] Mid-Year Financial Statements
Hello: The mid-year financial statements of the Wikimedia Foundation are available at the Wikimedia Foundation - Financial Reports page.http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Financial_reports This report is for the period from July 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012. Please contact me with any questions. Regards, Garfield Byrd -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
[Wikimedia-l] Annual Audit of the Wikimedia Foundation
Hello: The annual audit of the Wikimedia Foundation, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2012 and the corresponding FAQ have been posted on the financial reports http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Financial_reports page of the Wikimedia Foundation web site. Please contact me with any questions. Garfield -- Garfield Byrd Chief of Finance and Administration Wikimedia Foundation 415.839.6885 ext 6787 415.882.0495 (fax) www.wikimediafoundation.org Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! *https://donate.wikimedia.org* ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
