Requirements for future chapters
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lists.wikimedia.orgBelow are the minimal requirements that an organization must fulfill in order to apply to become a Wikimedia Chapter. These requirements must be met by all entities requesting the status of Wikimedia Chapters.
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Mission [edit]
The mission of the organisation must be in line with the mission of the Wikimedia Foundation.
Whichever form an organisation wishing to be a chapter takes, it must have goals that echo those of the Wikimedia Foundation, and its activities should not stray from these tenets.
For more information on this see vision and mission statement.
Geographical base [edit]
The chapter is geographically based/anchored in a legal jurisdiction.
Unlike projects, which are language based, chapters are entities which need a legal base. This implies that they must be anchored in a country/jurisdiction which offers them the base for their legal structure. This base should be in the region in which they wish to serve.
Structure [edit]
The chapter must have a legal structure/corporation that is legally independent from the Wikimedia Foundation.
Chapters are meant to give a real-life structure to projects that might arise from contributors or external parties in line with the goals of the Wikimedia Foundation. However, chapters are not meant to operate the Wikimedia projects nor to be legally responsible for the content of the projects. In order to achieve that, it is necessary that the legal structure chosen for the creation of a chapter is clearly independent from the Wikimedia Foundation.
Contributor involvement [edit]
The chapter must involve contributors to the Wikimedia projects.
While chapters should welcome the input of people who are not active contributors to the Wikimedia projects, they should not stay too far from the community. The active involvement of contributors to the Wikimedia projects is necessary for a chapter to be able to bring real-life initiatives tied to the Wikimedia projects to life.
For more information on contributor involvement see Guidelines for future chapters
Critical mass [edit]
The chapter must involve a critical mass of participants.
A chapter is usually a group of users getting together. For a chapter to be taken seriously, it needs a critical mass of people ready to involve themselves. One or two persons is definitely not enough. Ten to twenty active participants is more like it.
