Dear all, A full year has now passed since the WMF received IRS approval for its new, transparent 501(c)(3) organisation, set up to take over the Wikimedia Endowment and end almost a decade of financial non-transparency.[1]
Let us not forget – Caitlin Virtue told us over two years ago, in April 2021:[2] "We are in the process of establishing a new home for the endowment in a stand-alone 501(c)(3) public charity. *We will move the endowment in its entirety to this new entity once the new charity receives its IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter.*" Said determination letter was received[3] in late June 2022 and announced[4] in late October 2022. Today, more than a year on, the Wikimedia Endowment website still says[5] that the money – an undisclosed nine-figure sum – is with the Tides Foundation. Unlike a standalone 501(c)(3), Tides publishes no audited accounts for the Endowment and releases no figures for the Endowment fund's revenue and expenses. The WMF has been talking[6] about this move to a transparent standalone 501(c)(3) since 2017. When will the move take place? Andreas [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2023-03-09/News_and_notes and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2022-05-29/Opinion [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Wikimedia_Endowment&diff=prev&oldid=21366511 [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:IRS_Determination_Letter_dated_6-28-2022_-_Wikimedia_Endowment_(01523354-2xA3536).pdf [4] https://diff.wikimedia.org/2022/10/26/governance-updates-for-the-wikimedia-endowment/ [5] https://wikimediaendowment.org/#contact and https://archive.ph/CjcvW [6] https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk%3AWikimedia_Endowment&diff=16507295&oldid=16503857 On Thu, Mar 9, 2023 at 7:12 PM Lane Chance <zinkl...@gmail.com> wrote: > ... > > It's not causing any form of disruption to make these changes in a > deliberate and thoughtful manner. Everyone can take a deep breath. > > Risker/Anne > > The WMF has never claimed that setting out a fixed timetable that > their CEO and the Endowment "agents" can be held accountable to is > either impossible or bad. They have been talking this change up for > years, and failed to move forward for reasons that have been > obfuscated deliberately, as demonstrated by "thoughtful" tangential > and delaying responses to basic yes/no questions. Considering that the > aim here is ethical accountability, any delay is a choice for > "non-accountability". > > The facts are public, the failure to be transparent or accountable > with many millions of dollars is a public failure. The WMF has damaged > the reputation of the "Endowment Fund" within its own community of > volunteers* and employees, and now risks a loss of public trust in its > own claims to its donors and in the media for a declared value of > transparency. Let's debunk the myth, as this is now playing pass the > parcel with millions of dollars of donated charitable funds, the WMF > can no longer have any credible claim to be transparent. This does not > pass the sniff test, it wouldn't for any other not for profit or > organization that claims to have charitable values or world leading > ethics but chooses to hide millions of dollars from correct scrutiny. > > * Really, do volunteers believe the Endowment Fund is or has done the > things it was set up to do? Do we volunteers have reason to be > confident that in 10 or 30 years time, these monies will be spent on > the original objectives that were claimed for it by Jimmy Wales and > others? I no longer have reason to be confidence in these purposes or > that this very large sum of money will not be chipped away by "agents" > or the careful re-spinning of what the words in the Endowment > incorporation mean by the unelected board of trustees that are > responsible for it. > > As a polite observation on "take a deep breath", I would never say > that to any member of my staff or a customer with a complaint unless I > wanted them to walk out or put the phone down on me. > > Thanks, > Lane > _______________________________________________ > 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/M7NFIYBISPN54CF4CZ5QYKBSIONZ3PKR/ > To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-le...@lists.wikimedia.org >
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