Indeed. I'm now fully convinced that fundraising agreements are only a tactic by WMF to prevent any chapter from being operationally independent from it.
If I remember correctly, fundraising agreements, or payment processing, was originally invented when WMDE began making deals with external sponsors to secure its own funding, in a way that bypassed WMF in the negotiation process. The fundraising agreement was thus invented to make sure WMDE derives its main income from WMF projects, preventing them from becoming independent from WMF in its source of income. Now, a few years down the line, WMF is stripping first the medium-sized chapters, then WMUK, of fundraising status, this time to prevent us from being independent from WMF in fundraising and other operations. Having seen the drama of the last few years as a regular chapter volunteer and Wikimania attendee, I've had enough of this. I've lost trust in the WMF in the way they treat chapters too. It is becoming clearer and clearer to me that WMF is simply using chapters as pawns in their game of chess, rather than genuine-heartedly supporting the growth of local Wikimedian communities in their independent efforts to promote the Wikimedia mission. On 29 September 2012 16:06, James Farrar <[email protected]> wrote: > As best as I can tell, the WMF doesn't trust any chapter to raise funds, > feeling threatened by any slight sign of independence that a chapter might > exhibit. > > This is a naked power-grab by the WMF as they have taken the opportunity > to do what they've been wanting to do for months. > > And I am confident that fundraising won't be coming back. Bureaucracies > don't surrender power - ever. > On Sep 29, 2012 3:07 PM, "HJ Mitchell" <[email protected]> wrote: > >> The WMF don't trust WMUK to raise funds. >> >> Perhaps too succinct? ;) >> >> (this email is not intended to express my opinion on the issue, because >> I've yet to form one) >> >> Harry Mitchell >> http://enwp.org/User:HJ >> Phone: 024 7698 0977 >> Skype: harry_j_mitchell >> >> ------------------------------ >> *From:* Doug Weller <[email protected]> >> *To:* UK Wikimedia mailing list <[email protected]> >> *Sent:* Saturday, 29 September 2012, 14:59 >> *Subject:* Re: [Wikimediauk-l] Joint statement with the Foundation >> >> Can someone here please explain this issue succinctly? >> Thanks. >> Doug >> >> On Sat, Sep 29, 2012 at 2:42 PM, Thomas Dalton <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> > >> > On Sep 29, 2012 1:40 PM, "Neil Harris" <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> >> On 29/09/12 13:20, James Farrar wrote: >> >>> >> >>> Indeed, and for now I remain a member. >> >>> >> >>> This is subject to finding out precisely why the charity is >> voluntarily >> >>> throwing away money. >> >>> On Sep 28, 2012 11:11 PM, "Deryck Chan" <[email protected]> wrote: >> >>> >> >>> >> >> >> >> Doesn't Gift Aid depend on the recipient, not the payment processor? >> >> >> >> If so, I would have thought that donating to WMUK, even with WMF >> acting as >> >> the payment processor, would presumably be entitled to Gift Aid. >> > >> > Don't be fooled by the WMF's political choices of language. We're not >> > talking about payment processing, we're talking about who is actually >> > fundraising. >> > >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > Wikimedia UK mailing list >> > [email protected] >> > http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l >> > WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org >> > >> >> >> >> -- >> Doug Weller >> http://www.ramtops.co.uk >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia UK mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l >> WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia UK mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l >> WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org >> >> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia UK mailing list > [email protected] > http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l > WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org > >
_______________________________________________ Wikimedia UK mailing list [email protected] http://mail.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediauk-l WMUK: http://uk.wikimedia.org
