Hi Andreas, I will support the underlying questions of this type (it's helpful to have conversations about our organizational structure, and how it works - clarifications are great!) but I would really hope that you could leave aside insinuations of the type "If it isn't, and the money is still with Tides, wasn't the answer given to Rai last November substantially misleading?". They are unnecessary and don't actually add any information. Could we possibly keep it a bit more constructive?
Thanks! Lodewijk On Thu, Jan 19, 2023 at 5:02 AM Andreas Kolbe <jayen...@gmail.com> wrote: > Dear all, > > The WMF appears to have made contradictory statements about the Wikimedia > Endowment. Earlier this week, Rai 3, a channel of the Italian national > broadcaster, aired a program about Wikimedia and Wikipedia.[1] On their > website, they also link to responses the WMF gave to various questions the > programme makers asked.[2] > > One of these questions concerned the Endowment. I quote: > > *Q: The Endowment has reached $33 million and passed them reaching $100 > million today. Why the Wikimedia Foundation didn’t move it to a separate > 501e3 entity? Being entrusted into the Tides Foundation is not available to > the public any financial report about Wikipedia Endowment. Don't you think > there is a lack of information and transparency about a fund that is > created through worldwide donations? * > > *A: Your information is incorrect. The Wikimedia Endowment was established > as a separate entity and received its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status in 2022 > following a 2021 board resolution. * > > This answer was given to Rai in November 2022. Now I do recall an October > 2022 blog post from the WMF reporting that the WMF's application for a > 501(c)(3) non-profit had received approval and that the WMF was "in the > process of setting up the Endowment's strategic and operational policies > and systems".[3] > > Has the money actually been moved from the Tides Foundation to this new > 501(c)(3)? > > At the time of writing, the Endowment website continues to tell its > readers that the funds are held and administered by the Tides > Foundation.[4] > > Is the information on the Endowment website obsolete?[5] If it isn't, and > the money is still with Tides, wasn't the answer given to Rai last November > substantially misleading? > > Andreas > > [1] > https://www.rai.it/programmi/report/inchieste/La-community-8bb003fb-d8cd-42bb-bef0-0063a0e1b1fb.html > [2] > http://www.rai.it/dl/doc/2023/01/16/1673895524547_RISPOSTE%20WIKI%20MAIL%2024%20NOVEMBRE%202022_EN.pdf > and > http://www.rai.it/dl/doc/2023/01/16/1673895525034_TRADUZIONE%20RISPOSTE%20WIKI%20MAIL%2010%20GENNAIO%202023_ITA.pdf > > [3] > https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2022-10-31/News_from_the_WMF > [4] https://archive.ph/S8iI0#selection-2949.0-2949.1007 > [5] > https://diff.wikimedia.org/2023/01/11/adding-expertise-to-the-wikimedia-endowment-board/ > refers to the "fact that we met – and even surpassed – our expected > timeline for the Endowment’s maturation into a 501(c)(3)." > _______________________________________________ > 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/7XYR2NTQQGCP5W5YBEA75JIXT6GOZRPF/ > 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/IC32GRFZPR5JRJ43S2GPETUTNZP3JWQW/ To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-le...@lists.wikimedia.org
