Talk:Movement roles/Flow of funds

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Ideal targets[edit]

My ideal targets to address the 'flow of funds' topic would be fourfold; listing them below. We should be able to reach some interim release for each of these. SJ talk | translate   15:43, 10 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Fundraising guide[edit]

A guide for regional groups about how they should expand from newly-minted associations with bank accounts to groups with 6-figure annual budgets.

This would be a recommendations to the community, chapters, and future associations.

Included:

  • local fundraising, finding support for local events,
  • use of the marks and geolocated messaging in promoting events,

making posters and buttons and t-shirts

  • grantraising through WMF, grantraising through other foundations and

local cities and nations

  • designing annual and multi-year plans, being fiscally transparent

and responsible

  • contributing to discussions about global priorities and allocation

of resources

  • directly receiving funds through wikimedia-site fundraisers as appropriate

Standards for direct fundraising[edit]

A standard for fundraising partners to meet, in order to participate in direct-receipt fundraising. A consolidated process for assessing whether one can be a direct-fundraising partner.

This standard could include a simple process for updates (e.g., approved by the team maintaining the fundraising channels, reviewed every fundraising summit, changes proposed and discussed on the talk page).

Requirements could include:

  • demonstration of ability to process funds
  • transparency and past financial reporting (auditing)
  • promptness in meeting related deadlines
  • demonstrated facility with donor relations
  • clarity in describing investments and their outcomes (reporting & analysis)
  • demonstrated capacity to use the amounts raised/proposed (future plans)
  • sharing the operational challenges of the fundraiser (local messaging, translation, pr, stats analysis)
  • recognition status

Movement goals for allocating resources[edit]

A standard for the movement, clarifying how we see ourselves realizing our mission.

This could including goals such as

  • redressing systemic geographic bias
  • supporting local innovation
  • supporting solid plans and measurable success

Some of this language would be suitable for the Movement roles project/charter.


Consolidated discussion about global movement structure[edit]

A strategic discussion about where we'd like to see ourselves in 20 years - how different players see us growing into an effective global movement. In this case, focusing on how to prioritize our work and allocate resources in the future, both broadly (think: how should we run the next strategic planning initiative?) and tactically (think: how should we allocate funds raised this coming year?)

This should share the diversity of opinions and interests that exists today. It should probably result in a page on the strategy wiki, and definitely link to related strategy discussions.

All of our movement groups should weigh in here.

Meta-question[edit]

I've been mulling this issue for quite a while. There is a meta-question about fundraising before we tackle some of the questions that SJ poses above. I continue to struggle with the following fundamental questions:

  1. Wikimedia is a non-geographic movement that has emerged as a truly global phenomenon - one of the few of its kind. I believe it is true of the projects and of our fundraising efforts to date, which have overwhelmingly been carried out on the basis of a unified global message and where our donors have been distributed across over 100 countries, each with a shared sense of what Wikimedia is and what they are supporting. On the other hand, we are (through the decisions of WMF and the chapters) moving toward a national model of fundraising and correspondingly vesting a greater control of funds in national entities. Do we as a movement want to divide itselves up into geographic constituencies and have its resources governed as such or should resources be governed in a manner that retains the global character of the movement?
  2. Who is responsible to donors for the stewardship of their resources? Does WMF have a special responsibility to ensure that the movement uses donor funds well, given they click on banners that are on WMF sites which WMF redirects to chapters? If so, what are the implications for how WMF conducts its fundraising work and relationships with chapters who we enter fundraising agreements with? --Bnewstead 16:22, 22 June 2011 (UTC)[reply]