> On the general topic, the restricted grants received by the WMF have a > beneficial effect that we could wish extended throughout its operations: > because it is responsible to the grantor for producing the results demanded > under the terms of the grant, the outcomes are much more likely to be > visible, measurable and significant. The WMF has for over a decade spent > tens of millions of dollars with little to show for it, but the sources of > restricted grants require that those funds be the exception.
I'm glad that you brought this up. My understanding is that during Sue's time, the decision was made by Sue and the Board that WMF didn't want to be financially dependent on one or more large donors who could then exert a conflict-of-interest influence on the WMF. That rationale makes sense. On the other hand, as Nathan notes, large granting organizations (such as WMF itself, relative to the affiliates) can demand intrusive oversight of how grant money is spent (compare the demands that WMF makes of affiliates for reporting and transparency, to WMF's reporting and transparency). Given the current situation with WMF's board I think that outside involvement in WMF governance from a mission-aligned and well-governed grantmaker could be a very good thing. In a way I am glad that the conversation seems to be heading in the direction of speculating that the online fundraiser may be nearing the limits of its effectiveness (I hope that we'll hear more from Fundraising about their analysis of this issue) because diminishing or reduced returns from the online fundraiser would force more fiscal discipline at WMF and/or provide them a significant incentive to improve their governance so that they are more likely to be viewed favorably by large grantmaking organizations. 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>
