Gnangarra, Surprisingly enough, Covid-19 had little discernible effect on WMF spending outside the US, which reached its highest ever level in 2020/2021.
Below are the non-US expense totals for the last five fiscal years, per the Form 990 (Schedule F, usually starts around p. 30) for each[1]: 2016/2017: $11,636,258 2017/2018: $15,191,106 2018/2019: $16,639,727 2019/2020: $19,387,650 2020/2021: $20,076,181 Spending in the global south in 2020/2021 was also the highest it's ever been, at $3.8 million (based on adding the totals for Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, Middle East and North Africa, South America, and Central America and the Caribbean), with the 2019/2020 total the second highest at $3.0 million. Andreas [1] https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/financial-reports/ On Mon, Jun 20, 2022 at 2:01 PM Gnangarra <gnanga...@gmail.com> wrote: > Kaya > > "Global South" a term we had discontinued to emphasise as a way to divide > the community did apply to more than just India. > > I really dont think looking at 2020/2021 figures is really fair either by > yourself or by the fundraising people if that's what they used. That > period had a significant downturn in everyone's capacity to do anything. > Everything the WMF does would be in some way to support volunteers either > directly or indirectly; whether that is keeping the servers running and > updating software, providing community support through funding initiatives, > raising awareness, or simply managing the whole circus. I'm not supportive > of playing mind games nor word games with statistics and dollar signs by > anyone, especially where it pits the value of volunteers against the value > of staff. We are as a community better than that. > > Getting good messaging out there is necessary, we should be moving away > from those early messages and evolving new messages that reflect where we > are as a movement now and where we want to be in 10 years. What we don't > need is messaging that confuses people. After 20 years we need any > promotion of the movement to reflect the community as a valuable long term > respectable, trustworthy, reliable, and neutral partner organisation. > > > Boodarwun > Gnangarra > > > On Mon, 20 Jun 2022 at 20:06, Andreas Kolbe <jayen...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> Hi Gnangarra and all, >> >> I only mentioned how little money went to India in 2020/2021 because of >> the WMF's recent claim in the Indian Express that "a lot" of the money >> raised is flowing into the Global South.[1] >> >> You raise the messaging used to request donations. Here are six key >> phrases from the India emails (as linked on Meta[2]) that caught my eye (my >> emphases): >> >> Phrase 1: We *choose not to charge a subscription fee*, but that doesn't >> mean we don't need support from our readers >> Phrase 2: kindly consider giving again, or even increasing your gift, *to >> keep Wikipedia free* and independent. >> >> Should the option of charging a subscription fee for "The Free >> Encyclopedia" even be hinted at in a fundraising email? Bear in mind that >> the WMF Mission is "to make and keep useful information from its projects >> available on the internet *free of charge, in perpetuity*." It is only >> because of this commitment that volunteers are prepared to work for free. >> >> Also, isn't there something of a logical contradiction in begging people >> – especially people in developing countries – for money "to keep Wikipedia >> free"? >> >> Phrase 3: About a year ago, you donated Rs. 313 to *keep Wikipedia >> online for yourself and millions of people around the world*. Each year, >> fewer than 2% of Wikipedia readers choose to support our work. >> Phrase 4: please renew your gift to ensure that Wikipedia *remains >> independent, ad-free, and growing* for years to come >> Phrase 5: can we count on you to renew your solidarity with a small >> donation? It will *keep Wikipedia online, ad-free, and growing* for >> years to come >> >> Wikipedia's independence (also used as a hook on the Wikipedia banners) >> is safer than ever, if it's to be measured by the WMF's money reserves, >> which at an estimated $400 million are now greater than they've ever been. >> >> Wouldn't we like to see the WMF saying more about what it actually does >> with the money, rather than falling back on these old stock phrases from >> yesteryear, about keeping Wikipedia online, or keeping it free? They might >> have been appropriate fifteen or twenty years ago, when the Foundation was >> finding its feet financially, but seem very out of step with the current >> financial realities. >> >> Phrase 6: 31% of your gift will be used to *support the volunteers* who >> share their knowledge with you for free every day. >> >> 31% of 2020/2021 donations revenue would have been about $50 million. >> I've been told the 31% figure comes from the Annual Report[3] (where it is >> called "*Direct support to communities*" and refers to 31% of spending, >> which is much less than 31% of revenue). But even so, it is unclear to me >> what specifically this amount refers to. It is certainly an order of >> magnitude more than the WMF's grants to the community in 2020/2021. >> >> Andreas >> >> [1] >> https://indianexpress.com/article/technology/tech-news-technology/raju-narisetti-interview-wikipedia-trust-transparency-7940621/ >> [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Fundraising#Indian_email_texts >> [3] >> https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/annualreport/2020-2021-annual-report/financials/ >> >> >> On Sun, Jun 19, 2022 at 10:55 AM Gnangarra <gnanga...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> It doesn't matter where the money goes, everyone benefits and there was >>> a period where the WMF was doing a lot of work in India without fundraising >>> there. Its all relative Australia was contributing over 2m per year(highest >>> per capita of anywhere at the time) yet there was nothing being spent in >>> Australia. >>> >>> The issue is the messaging requesting donations should be honest. At >>> least two of those statements are very much questionable, and at the same >>> time we shouldn't be sending multiple requests close enough to each other >>> that people are complaining which means many others are just sending emails >>> to spam which become permanent filters. >>> >>> On Sat, 18 Jun 2022 at 23:33, Andreas Kolbe <jayen...@gmail.com> wrote: >>> >>>> Dan, >>>> >>>> I am happy to give you the TL;DR version: >>>> >>>> As best I can make out, the WMF's average salary cost per employee is >>>> now about $200,000. >>>> >>>> More could be said, of course: >>>> >>>> – The WMF had already exceeded its revenue goals for the 2021/2022 >>>> fiscal year by the end of March, bringing in over $150 million in the first >>>> three quarters[1] (total expenses last year were $107 million). >>>> >>>> – Including the endowment, I estimate the WMF now has about $400 >>>> million in assets (almost all in cash and investments). >>>> >>>> – In India, past donors are reporting being inundated with daily WMF >>>> emails telling them money is needed to keep Wikipedia online, independent, >>>> ad-free and thriving.[1] >>>> >>>> – Internet hosting costs are $2.4 million per year, and Erik Möller >>>> thought in 2013 the Wikimedia mission was sustainable on $10M+/year. >>>> >>>> – Very little of Wikimedia's money actually goes to India (0.64 million >>>> in 2020 for all of South Asia, per Form 990).[3] >>>> >>>> Andreas >>>> >>>> >>>> [1] >>>> https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wikimedia_Foundation_Tuning_Session_FY21-22_Q3_Advancement.pdf&page=9 >>>> [2] https://www.facebook.com/deemopahan/posts/10159230509968878 >>>> [3] >>>> https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/e/e4/Wikimedia_Foundation_2020_Form_990.pdf#page=29 >>>> >>>> On Sat, Jun 18, 2022 at 3:46 PM Dan Garry (Deskana) <djgw...@gmail.com> >>>> wrote: >>>> >>>>> On Fri, 17 Jun 2022 at 23:25, Andreas Kolbe <jayen...@gmail.com> >>>>> wrote: >>>>> >>>>>> If you've spotted an error in my reasoning or think you can provide a >>>>>> better estimate, please do so and share your working. Many eyes make all >>>>>> bugs shallow. >>>>>> >>>>> >>>>> My feedback is that you've put so many walls of text and numbers on >>>>> this mailing list, that whatever point you're attempting to make is buried >>>>> underneath it. >>>>> >>>>> Dan >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, >>>>> guidelines at: >>>>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and >>>>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >>>>> Public archives at >>>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/message/ASE3NXY474JRM4J57AWAT5JQ6FXS6S4O/ >>>>> To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-le...@lists.wikimedia.org >>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, >>>> guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines >>>> and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >>>> Public archives at >>>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/message/2DAPOURP64GR6SJAHHCACIR6FMRJBM2J/ >>>> To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-le...@lists.wikimedia.org >>> >>> >>> >>> -- >>> GN. >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines >>> at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and >>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >>> Public archives at >>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/message/XWIKK5Z25G4APUOKZZW263P3HG5GQOHA/ >>> To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-le...@lists.wikimedia.org >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines >> at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >> Public archives at >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/message/PDDINBROSKOO4DB2MCHV7ZWEEJZFCGEJ/ >> To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-le...@lists.wikimedia.org > > > > -- > GN. > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines > at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > Public archives at > https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/message/5NDAK5TZHIVNG4ABQH4VCH54E4WQSVTD/ > To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-le...@lists.wikimedia.org
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