Sorry but I had a very different reaction to that essay. While there are some useful kernels of truth, they were overshadowed by dreck.
I get why nonprofits prefer unrestricted grants. I get why donors prefer restricted grants. In general, my sympathy is with the donors. There may be times, hopefully many times that the donor is generally supportive of the work of the nonprofit— then an unrestricted grant is the best way to go. There are other times that a donor is seeking to accomplish some goal, casts about to locate a nonprofit who might be able to achieve that goal, and undertakes to provide a grant. In this case it would be absurd for the donor to provide an unrestricted grant. The essay started with an anecdote about onerous reporting requirements. However, my response to that anecdote is different than the authors. The grant wording just didn't pop up out of the blue, it almost certainly was known to the nonprofit before the money exchanged hands. Did someone read it to realize that there was a mismatch in line items? A relatively naïve donor may have just asked some low-level employee to dream up some sort of reporting requirements. In that case, prior to the acceptance it would've been a good time for a discussion to point out the mismatch in line items. It is very possible the donor just want some type of accounting and might be flexible and willing to accept the nonprofits line item structure. Another possibility is that the donor is experienced and the line items makes sense, in which case some introspection about one's own line item structure is warranted. The main point being that the discussion about the reporting requirements should take place before the grant is accepted not whined about after the grant is accepted. Sphilbrick On Mon, Jul 18, 2016 at 8:00 AM, <wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org> wrote: > Send Wikimedia-l mailing list submissions to > wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l > or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to > wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org > > You can reach the person managing the list at > wikimedia-l-ow...@lists.wikimedia.org > > When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific > than "Re: Contents of Wikimedia-l digest..." > > > Today's Topics: > > 1. Re: With my thanks to everyone ... (Jan-Bart de Vreede) > 2. Essay: "We need to stop treating nonprofits the way society > treats poor people" (Pine W) > 3. Re: Essay: "We need to stop treating nonprofits the way > society treats poor people" (Gerard Meijssen) > 4. 100k articles written with Content Translation tool > (Runa Bhattacharjee) > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Message: 1 > Date: Sun, 17 Jul 2016 14:09:20 +0200 > From: Jan-Bart de Vreede <jdevre...@wikimedia.org> > To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org> > Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] With my thanks to everyone ... > Message-ID: <e3088b2e-0adc-47ab-9d88-a04c2717b...@wikimedia.org> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8 > > Hi Geoff > > What can I say that others have not said earlier in this thread… > > Well… perhaps that you were a Rock(star) during my tenure as (vice-)chair > of the Foundation Board of Trustees. Relying on you to give sound advice > was one of the easiest decisions I ever made. You have shaped many of our > governance aspects, and can take credit for a lot of our growth in > professionalism and have given us great examples of how to have a > department conduct community consultations. Your enthusiasm for the mission > combined with your warm human side always made it a pleasure to work with > you. There is a reason that there is a stereotype of the typical “Lawyer”, > the reason is that you were able to clearly break through that ;) The world > is a small place and I am sure that some of us will run into you sooner or > later, if only because you simply get to enjoy Wikimania in Montreal as a > volunteer? > > Many many many thanks for everything you have contributed to the > Foundation over the past years. > > Jan-Bart > > > > > On 13 Jul 2016, at 23:25, Geoff Brigham <gbrig...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > > > > Hi all, > > > > Over the past five years, I’ve been honored to serve as the General > Counsel > > and Secretary of the Wikimedia Foundation. This job has been amazing, and > > I’m grateful to everyone who has made it so rewarding. It's now time for > my > > next step, so, in the coming days, I will be leaving the Foundation to > > pursue a new career opportunity. > > > > I depart with such love for the mission, the Foundation, the Wikimedia > > communities, and my colleagues at work. I thank my past and present > bosses > > as well as the Board for their support and guidance. I stand in awe of > the > > volunteer writers, editors, and photographers who contribute every day to > > the Wikimedia projects. And I will hold special to my heart my past and > > current teams, including legal and community advocacy. :) You have > taught, > > given, and enriched me so much. > > > > After my departure, Michelle Paulson will serve as interim head of Legal, > > and, subject to Board approval, Stephen LaPorte will serve as interim > > Secretary to the Board. I can happily report that they have the > experience > > and expertise to ensure a smooth and professional transition. > > > > The future of the Foundation under Katherine's leadership is exciting. > > Having had the pleasure of working for her, I know Katherine will take > the > > Foundation to its next level in promoting and defending the outstanding > > mission and values of the Wikimedia movement. Although I'm delighted > about > > my next opportunity, I will miss this new chapter in the Foundation's > > story. > > > > My last day at the Foundation will be July 18th. After that, I will take > a > > month off to recharge my batteries, and then I start my new gig at > YouTube > > in the Bay Area. There, I will serve as Director of YouTube Trust & > Safety, > > managing global teams for policy, legal, and anti-abuse operations. As > with > > Wikimedia, I look forward to learning from those teams and tackling > > together a new set of exciting, novel challenges. > > > > For those who want to stay in touch, please do! My personal email is: > > geoffrey.r.brig...@gmail.com. > > > > With respect, admiration, and gratitude, > > > > Geoff > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 2 > Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2016 00:50:02 -0700 > From: Pine W <wiki.p...@gmail.com> > To: Wikimedia Mailing List <Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org>, > Wikimedia Movement Affiliates discussion list > <affilia...@lists.wikimedia.org> > Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Essay: "We need to stop treating nonprofits the > way society treats poor people" > Message-ID: > <CAF= > dyjj34p_ocgsdztjmhizh3bwqpkssen4gzt74k96u0my...@mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > This essay just landed in my inbox. It's good food for thought about how we > (WMF and affiliates) manage our grant allocations, our relationships with > major donors, and our reporting systems. > > > http://nonprofitwithballs.com/2016/07/we-need-to-stop-treating-nonprofits-the-way-society-treats-poor-people/ > > Pine > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 3 > Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2016 11:14:44 +0200 > From: Gerard Meijssen <gerard.meijs...@gmail.com> > To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org> > Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Essay: "We need to stop treating nonprofits > the way society treats poor people" > Message-ID: > <CAO53wxUuq= > honckpr5jpnvwuh0t2scdqhy3fapzcp-nvumg...@mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > Hoi, > It resonates powerfully. I had a grant for a very specific deliverable. The > money was earmarked for this and in stead of payment of delivery, I had to > jump through all kinds of hoops. > > It may be that all the effort to give money to do things is well > intentioned however, have we ever looked in the effectiveness, did we ever > consider the cost of the effort of the financial reporting. What we pay for > is executing a project and we require a financial report. It is > demotivating. > Thanks, > GerardM > > On 18 July 2016 at 09:50, Pine W <wiki.p...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > This essay just landed in my inbox. It's good food for thought about how > we > > (WMF and affiliates) manage our grant allocations, our relationships with > > major donors, and our reporting systems. > > > > > > > http://nonprofitwithballs.com/2016/07/we-need-to-stop-treating-nonprofits-the-way-society-treats-poor-people/ > > > > Pine > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > > ------------------------------ > > Message: 4 > Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2016 16:45:37 +0530 > From: Runa Bhattacharjee <rbhattachar...@wikimedia.org> > To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org> > Subject: [Wikimedia-l] 100k articles written with Content Translation > tool > Message-ID: > <CAE7QTsQTOym= > nac3ze60gj+rnkp4bdome_qnbcqrwc+k5g8...@mail.gmail.com> > Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8 > > Hello everyone, > > Our barely 1-year old Content Translation Tool just passed 100,000 > translations < > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:ContentTranslationStats>. > We've made a video to celebrate the achievement: > Wikimedia Commons: > > https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Wikipedia_Content_Translation_Tool_reaches_100,000_translations_(no_subtitles).webm > Facebook: > https://www.facebook.com/wikipedia/ > Twitter: > https://twitter.com/Wikipedia/status/754377307377197060 > YouTube: > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3btQ5fpn4sA > Vimeo: > https://vimeo.com/174526242 > > You can read more about it on the blog: > https://blog.wikimedia.org/2016/07/16/content-translation-milestone/ > > Thanks > Runa > > -- > Language Engineering Manager > Outreach and QA Coordinator > Wikimedia Foundation > > > ------------------------------ > > Subject: Digest Footer > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l > > > ------------------------------ > > End of Wikimedia-l Digest, Vol 148, Issue 29 > ******************************************** > _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
