James Certainly. When the probability of last year's fundraising effort generating more income than had been expected emerged, there was a discussion here about how that "surplus" might be used. There were some suggestions for using it to directly assist the members of the volunteer community in their work of contributing content -- such as funding books, on- and off-line library subscriptions, for the content contributors -- or improving the contributing environment -- such as hiring more devs for community tech projects -- or building the community -- such as extra funding for community events. That money, once gone, would be gone forever, and there is the risk that further donations would not be forthcoming at the same rate. The alternative, which was adopted, was to give it to the Endowment to generate a permanent income which might be used to fund such acitivities in the future. That money once in the Endowment is, presumably, always in the Endowment, and the income can be relied on to a reasonable extent.
The Board has chosen to favour long-term stability over short-term content contribution. That is clearly their prerogative, but it is a choice, and a choice that affects the community her and now. It seems reasonable to ask the Board to explain to the community, who provide the content, and whose work sustains the entire mission, and which ultimately motivates people to make such generous donations, why, given that opportunity, they did not see it as so important to give them more in the way of direct help in contributing that content and building that community. Rod On Tue, Aug 22, 2017 at 11:31 PM, Joseph Seddon <jsed...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > Rogol I don't understanding how you have interpreted this as a choice > between community and stability. > > Could you explain? > > Seddon > > On Tue, Aug 22, 2017 at 9:08 PM, Rogol Domedonfors <domedonf...@gmail.com> > wrote: > > > Lisa > > > > Thanks anyway. Perhaps one of the members of the Board will comment, in > > the interests of transparency. > > > > Ronald > > > > On Tue, Aug 22, 2017 at 8:57 PM, Lisa Gruwell <lgruw...@wikimedia.org> > > wrote: > > > > > Sorry, I wasn't at the meeting, so I can't speak to that. > > > > > > On Tue, Aug 22, 2017 at 12:09 PM, Rogol Domedonfors < > > domedonf...@gmail.com > > > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > Lisa > > > > > > > > Thanks for that explanation. If it had already been decided to > > > contribute > > > > the $5M to the Endowment before the offer of matching funds, then > there > > > > would be no appearance of the offer influencing the Board's decision. > > > Can > > > > you confirm that was the case? But the main point of my question to > > the > > > > Board is to ask why they decided that placing this large sum into the > > > > Endowment was more important than using it to support the work of the > > > > volunteer community (whether or not the offer of matching funds was > > part > > > of > > > > that decision) directly. Can you throw any light on their reasons? > > > > > > > > Rudyard > > > > > > > > On Tue, Aug 22, 2017 at 6:38 PM, Lisa Gruwell < > lgruw...@wikimedia.org> > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > Just jumping in with a few points of information regarding the > > > Endowment: > > > > > > > > > > 1) I met with Lukas at Wikimania regarding SRI and the endowment. > As > > > > James > > > > > indicated, the endowment is invested through the Tides Foundation > and > > > > this > > > > > is one of the areas of expertise. We have been looking at > > > environmental, > > > > > social, and governance (ESG) ratings as well as how funds perform > > > against > > > > > the benchmarks financially. We are going to be publishing more > > > > information > > > > > about this soon. > > > > > > > > > > 2) Regarding the matching grant, this funder has made large grants > to > > > the > > > > > Wikimedia Foundation for general support for our annual work for > > > almost a > > > > > decade. They have also now provided major support to the > endowment. > > > > They > > > > > have provided generous support for our present work and our future > > > work. > > > > > It is positive thing that this grant was positioned as a matching > > > grant. > > > > > It doubles the impact of a portion of the contributions that our > > online > > > > > donors made this year. It is a great story that we are sharing > with > > > > other > > > > > potential endowment donors. We are hoping to find another major > > donor > > > > (or > > > > > donors) that will match the $5 million for the endowment that is in > > the > > > > FY > > > > > 2017-18 annual plan as well. > > > > > > > > > > Best, > > > > > Lisa > > > > > > > > > > On Tue, Aug 22, 2017 at 9:15 AM, James Heilman <jmh...@gmail.com> > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > I have been send further details. As expected Tides (who runs our > > > > > > endowment) has a strong philosophy around social justice. > > > > > > > > > > > > https://www.tides.org/ > > > > > > > > > > > > James > > > > > > > > > > > > On Tue, Aug 22, 2017 at 11:01 AM, Cristian Consonni < > > > > crist...@balist.es> > > > > > > wrote: > > > > > > > > > > > > > On 22/08/2017 17:03, James Heilman wrote: > > > > > > > > Andrea I agree completely that movement monies should be > > invested > > > > > > inline > > > > > > > > with our values. We should not be invested in stuff that > > promotes > > > > war > > > > > > or > > > > > > > > surveillance for example. I would image this is currently the > > > case > > > > > but > > > > > > > > would have to verify. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > I wholeheartedly agree with Andrea. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > C > > > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > > > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > > > > > > > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > > > > > > > wiki/Wikimedia-l > > > > > > > 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> > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > > > > James Heilman > > > > > > MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian > > > > > > > > > > > > The Wikipedia Open Textbook of Medicine > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > > > > > > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > > > > > > wiki/Wikimedia-l > > > > > > 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> > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > > > > > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > > > > > wiki/Wikimedia-l > > > > > 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> > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > > > > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > > > > wiki/Wikimedia-l > > > > 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> > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > > > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > > > wiki/Wikimedia-l > > > 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> > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > > wiki/Wikimedia-l > > 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> > > > > > > -- > Seddon > > *Advancement Associate (Community Engagement)* > *Wikimedia Foundation* > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > wiki/Wikimedia-l > 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> > _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l 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>
