Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Foundation Report, September 2012
Thank you for those replies, Tony and Tilman. Pine ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Foundation Report, September 2012
Hi Pine, Please see below for answers to your questions that Tilman did not cover. Tony Le Controller On Thu, Nov 1, 2012 at 2:17 AM, Tilman Bayer wrote: > Hi Pine, > > although these questions fall outside my area of expertise, I can > provide some quick partial replies. > > On Thu, Nov 1, 2012 at 1:46 AM, ENWP Pine wrote: > > I appreciate the comprehensiveness of this report. > > > > I have a few questions about the finance section. Some are more basic > than > > others. > > > > Does WMF use the calendar year for its fiscal year? > No, the Foundation's fiscal year runs from July to June. > > > > Is the financial plan for WMF to run a YTD deficit until the annual > > fundraiser? > As I understand it, yes. It seems a very obvious decision to me. This > is no reason for concern, cf. > > https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/2012-2013_Annual_Plan_Questions_and_Answers > : "The Board of Trustees has established a rule of thumb that it would > like the WMF reserve to never drop below six months of total spending. > The 2012-13 plan therefore calls for the reserve to stay at a minimum > of six months of total spending at the low point of the year." > > > > Why were recruiting expenses higher for the July-August timeframe? I > thought > > that WMF eliminated a recruiting contractor recently, so I would have > > expected recruiting expenses to be lower rather than higher. > It is simply because of the timing of expenditures incurred via other staff recruiting methods (e.g. job posting websites, occasional utilization of job placement firms, etc.). Through September 2012, we are actually slightly underspent in this expense category as compared to the Plan . > > > > Was August an unusually expensive month? If the total YTD expenses were > > $5.2MM and August alone cost $2.6MM, I would be interested in knowing why > > August was such an expensive month. > YTD (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year-to-date ) here means the > timespan from July to August, see also the introductory remark "All > financial information presented is for the period July 1, 2012 - > August 31, 2012." > > So the answer would appear to be "no". As the report says, the > expenses for August were actually slightly (3%) under plan. > > > > > If in the July-August time period WMF "Completed our report to the > Stanton > > Foundation and received our second grant installment of $1.8 million", > why > > is there only $1.75 million of revenue shown in the table which includes > > $1.0MM from the Sloan Foundation? These numbers don't seem to add up > > correctly. I would have expected the revenue total to be at least $2.8MM > > when including both of the grants. > The financial data is through August while other metrics and activities are represented through September. The $1.8M from Stanton was received as planned in September and will be reflected in our financial data through Sept. > > > > Thanks, > > > > Your finance and metrics enthusiast, > > > > Pine > > > Don't forget that today you will have the opportunity to watch our > Garfield, our Chief Financial Officer, explain the new (September) > numbers live in the Foundation's monthly metrics and activities > meeting. > > -- > Tilman Bayer > Senior Operations Analyst (Movement Communications) > Wikimedia Foundation > IRC (Freenode): HaeB > > ___ > Wikimedia-l mailing list > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l > -- Tony Le Controller Wikimedia Foundation Ph: 415-839-6885 ext 6749 Fax: 415-882-0495 t...@wikimedia.org This message is confidential and may be legally privileged or otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient, please telephone or email the sender and delete this message and any attachment from your system; you must not copy or disclose the contents of this message or any attachment to any other person. ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Foundation Report, September 2012
Hi Pine, although these questions fall outside my area of expertise, I can provide some quick partial replies. On Thu, Nov 1, 2012 at 1:46 AM, ENWP Pine wrote: > I appreciate the comprehensiveness of this report. > > I have a few questions about the finance section. Some are more basic than > others. > > Does WMF use the calendar year for its fiscal year? No, the Foundation's fiscal year runs from July to June. > > Is the financial plan for WMF to run a YTD deficit until the annual > fundraiser? As I understand it, yes. It seems a very obvious decision to me. This is no reason for concern, cf. https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/2012-2013_Annual_Plan_Questions_and_Answers : "The Board of Trustees has established a rule of thumb that it would like the WMF reserve to never drop below six months of total spending. The 2012-13 plan therefore calls for the reserve to stay at a minimum of six months of total spending at the low point of the year." > > Why were recruiting expenses higher for the July-August timeframe? I thought > that WMF eliminated a recruiting contractor recently, so I would have > expected recruiting expenses to be lower rather than higher. > > Was August an unusually expensive month? If the total YTD expenses were > $5.2MM and August alone cost $2.6MM, I would be interested in knowing why > August was such an expensive month. YTD (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year-to-date ) here means the timespan from July to August, see also the introductory remark "All financial information presented is for the period July 1, 2012 - August 31, 2012." So the answer would appear to be "no". As the report says, the expenses for August were actually slightly (3%) under plan. > > If in the July-August time period WMF "Completed our report to the Stanton > Foundation and received our second grant installment of $1.8 million", why > is there only $1.75 million of revenue shown in the table which includes > $1.0MM from the Sloan Foundation? These numbers don't seem to add up > correctly. I would have expected the revenue total to be at least $2.8MM > when including both of the grants. > > Thanks, > > Your finance and metrics enthusiast, > > Pine > Don't forget that today you will have the opportunity to watch our Garfield, our Chief Financial Officer, explain the new (September) numbers live in the Foundation's monthly metrics and activities meeting. -- Tilman Bayer Senior Operations Analyst (Movement Communications) Wikimedia Foundation IRC (Freenode): HaeB ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Foundation Report, September 2012
I appreciate the comprehensiveness of this report. I have a few questions about the finance section. Some are more basic than others. Does WMF use the calendar year for its fiscal year? Is the financial plan for WMF to run a YTD deficit until the annual fundraiser? Why were recruiting expenses higher for the July-August timeframe? I thought that WMF eliminated a recruiting contractor recently, so I would have expected recruiting expenses to be lower rather than higher. Was August an unusually expensive month? If the total YTD expenses were $5.2MM and August alone cost $2.6MM, I would be interested in knowing why August was such an expensive month. If in the July-August time period WMF "Completed our report to the Stanton Foundation and received our second grant installment of $1.8 million", why is there only $1.75 million of revenue shown in the table which includes $1.0MM from the Sloan Foundation? These numbers don't seem to add up correctly. I would have expected the revenue total to be at least $2.8MM when including both of the grants. Thanks, Your finance and metrics enthusiast, Pine ___ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
