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by Qub3d
1657 days ago
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You seem to be speaking with the authority of a WMF insider. If so, can you speak to the concerns Wikipedians have raised about the endowment responsibility? Currently, there is nothing preventing WMF from drawing down the endowment arbitrarily, effectively making it a checking account, not an endowment. This is less a complaint about fundraising (we get it, nonprofits need money) but accountability. Its one thing to ask for donations. Its another to use loaded language (ironically in violation of the Wikipedia Manual of Style) that implies the site will go dead in a year unless you contribute money to the dark pool of cash with almost no oversight. "We should make spending transparent, publish a detailed account of what the money is being spent on and answer any reasonable questions asking for more details. We should limit spending increases to no more than inflation plus some percentage (adjusted for any increases in page views), build up our endowment, and structure the endowment so that the WMF cannot legally dip into the principal when times get bad." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Guy_Macon/Wikipedia_has_C... |
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https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/wikimedia-l@list...
'According to the recent Independent Auditors' Report of the WMF [1], at some point prior to the end of June 2020, an entity called the "Wikimedia Knowledge Equity Fund" was established, and $8.723 million was transferred to it by the WMF, in the form of an unconditional grant. The Fund is "managed and controlled by Tides Advocacy" (a 501(c)(4) advocacy nonprofit previously led by the WMF's current General Counsel/Board Secretary, who served as CEO, Board Secretary, and Treasurer there). Given that a Google search for "Wikimedia Knowledge Equity Fund" yields zero results prior to the release of the report, it is clear that the WMF kept this significant move completely secret for over five months, perhaps over a year. The Report FAQ additionally emphasizes that the WMF "has no right of return to the grant funds provided, with the exception of unexpended funds."
'The WMF unilaterally and secretly transferred nearly $9 million of movement funds to an outside organization not recognized by the Affiliations Committee. No mention of the grant was made in any Board resolutions or minutes from the relevant time period. The amount was not mentioned in the public annual plan, which set out rather less than this amount for the entire grantmaking budget for the year. No application was made through any of the various Wikimedia grants processes. No further information has been provided on the administration of this new Fund, or on the text of the grant agreement.
'I am appalled.
'-- Yair Rand'
[1] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/f/f7/Wikim...
Part of this money eventually turned up here:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_Equity_Fund
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Knowledge_Equity_Fund
Where were donors told that $4.5 million of the money they gave would be used to fund causes that not only have nothing to do with Wikipedia, but also have nothing to do with any other Wikimedia project? Where was the oversight on who would be awarded these grants?