Hi All, We’ve answered this question on the Endowment’s meta talk page. [1] Regards, Julia
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Endowment#Is_the_money_still_with_Tides ? On Sat, Jan 21, 2023 at 3:32 AM Andreas Kolbe <jayen...@gmail.com> wrote: > Dear Sam, > > Money cannot be in two places at the same time. Either it has been moved, > or it has not been moved. > > The Rai journalists specifically asked *"Why the Wikimedia Foundation > didn't move it to a separate 501e3 entity?" * > > Here is the complete question again: > > Q: *The Wikimedia Endowment is today still entrusted to the Tides > Foundation. According to SignPost > (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2022-05-29/Opinion > <https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2022-05-29/Opinion>) > on March 2017 Lisa Seitz-Gruwell said: “The WMF board has already given us > the direction to move it into a separate 501c3 once the endowment reaches > $33 million. [...] WMF's Executive Director is supportive of moving it to a > new 501c3 once it reaches $33 million." 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? * > > If the picture you paint in your post describes the actual state of > affairs – i.e., the 501c3 has been set up, but it takes time to get the org > ready, so for now the money is still with Tides – then the answer should, I > feel, have looked something like this: > > A: *We were planning to move the Endowment to a separate 501c3 entity > when it reached $33 million, but then our board decided to postpone that > move > <https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Resolution:Wikimedia_Endowment_Structure,_2021>. > We have now revived the plan to move the funds. We have established a new > organisation for that purpose, which received its 501c3 status in 2022. We > are currently getting that organisation ready to manage the Endowment and > expect to move the funds from Tides to the new org in (month/year).* > > Instead, Nadee said Rai had it wrong, and made it sound like the money had > already been moved. And that is what the programme communicated to the > Italian audience – that the WMF said the Endowment had been transferred to > a dedicated new entity a few months ago in 2022. > > This is contradicted today both by the Endowment website and the Endowment > page on Meta-Wiki, which says that the Endowment is "currently managed by > the Tides Foundation as a Collective Action Fund". > > There are really two issues here: > > 1. Where is the money? There are now contradictory messages about this in > the public domain. > 2. How comfortable are we with how the WMF is communicating? > > As regards the second point, Nadee also told Rai: > > A: *The Wikimedia Endowment was founded on and upholds principles of > transparency common to our movement. Our financials are available for > public review and we ensure our community and benefactors stay informed on > developments related to the endowment by publishing regular information > such as the list of donors, announcements about Endowment Board members on > the Endowment Website. We also publish current updates and new policy > updates on Wikimedia Meta and regular updates on our Diff blog, as well as > on the Wikimedia Foundation website. * > > I disagree with that statement. The most recent info we have had on the > Endowment reflects January 2022 status – figures describing where things > stood a full year ago. And even then, nobody added the updated info to the > Endowment page on Meta. I added it, sourced to board meeting minutes.[1] > > And as I have mentioned before, we have not seen a single audited > financial statement for the Endowment showing revenue and expenses etc. in > all the seven years it has existed. To me this falls short of the > "principles of transparency common to our movement" (a point that, > incidentally, was also made in the Italian programme). > > I (and others) also asked questions about Tides Advocacy several weeks ago > on Meta.[2] There has been no reply from the WMF to date. > > As you may recall, in 2019/2020, Tides Advocacy were given $4.223 million > that were to be used for Annual Plan Grants to Wikimedia affiliates in the > July 2020 – June 2021 financial year.[3] I have looked through the Form 990 > disclosures Tides Advocacy has filed for the 2020 and 2021 calendar years > (their 2021 Form 990 only became available a few weeks ago), hoping to find > US and non-US expenditure items corresponding to that 2020/2021 APG amount > over Tides Advocacy's 2020 and 2021 calendar years. I have not been > successful. My sums fall about $400,000 short of the $4.223 million total. > > Absent a clarification from the WMF, would you (and anyone else reading in > who feels so inclined) be able to have a look through the forms as well, to > see whether you come to a different result? The forms are linked in the > discussion.[2] It is always possible that you with your WMF board > experience might see an error I made or an item I have missed that happily > resolves the apparent discrepancy. > > Regards, > Andreas > > [1] > https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikimedia_Endowment&diff=prev&oldid=23639117 > [2] > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Knowledge_Equity_Fund#Tides_Agreement > > [3] > https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org/message/XI5A4FKDJUK3VWOQWZIPIZXMWAMIX5IW/ > > > On Fri, Jan 20, 2023 at 10:36 PM Samuel Klein <meta...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> The statements are not mutually exclusive. They are likely both true, and >> what one might expect from governance decisions to date. >> >> WME got its 501c3 status last year, expanded its Board, and is working on >> its structure. It will start emitting 501c3 reports this year. It will >> need staff to take over any of the investment management Tides currently >> provides; I would expect the current endowment fund (the collective action >> fund) to remain there until an alternative is in place. >> >> The sorts of regular reports we care about (reflections on >> organizational structure, timelines, goals and budgeting, coordination with >> WMF, practicalities of how an endowment functions) are only partly related >> to the mandatory reports of a charity. Lodewijk, agreed that those sorts >> of clarifications are great, and relevant to how we all plan for the >> future; perhaps we can catalyze a public conversation about such things. >> >> Warmly, SJ >> (still hoping for part of our movement to put out a series of plans for >> maximizing project functionality on a minimal budget) >> >> Dan S writes: >> > Since the answers express mutually exclusive propositions... >> _______________________________________________ >> 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/2JBV2WWRWVS5FOXRG4NZYKAOJK6X3XCX/ >> 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/IZOLY5P445B5VZ5L2CCBTAXMKXZ36SBE/ > To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-le...@lists.wikimedia.org
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