Movement Charter/Glossary
 | These supplementary documents are provided by the Movement Charter Drafting Committee for information purposes, and to provide further context on the Wikimedia Movement Charter’s content. They are not part of the Charter, and therefore are not included in the ratification vote, but they have been developed during the course of the MCDC’s research and consultation process. They include several types of documents:
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Glossary[edit]
Backbone support[edit]
Support that is provided by an independent entity or structure that advances key functions for the sustained operation of the movement. Types of support include but are not limited to meeting and event coordination and facilitation, accounting services, assistance in staff recruitment, merchandising, and other behind-the-scenes work.
Care Responsibility[edit]
The “care responsibility” formalizes and describes the relationship between organizations and the communities they serve. It includes, but is not limited to: providing an inclusive and diverse working environment for community members; supporting activities in online Wikimedia projects; conducting work to further free knowledge initiatives together with communities; and, serving as an intermediary between the communities and the general public.
Content[edit]
Any material added, removed, altered, revised, edited, deleted, or otherwise modified by a registered or unregistered user using any user interface that creates a change to any aspect of a Wikimedia project.
Contributors[edit]
A contributor is anyone who participates in the creation or management of content, or to the technical support for content creation, of a Wikimedia project.
External Partners[edit]
Entities outside of the Wikimedia Movement that align with our values and mission, and who collaborate with one or more stakeholders from within the movement.
Fiscal Sponsor[edit]
A fiscal sponsor is an organization that administers a grant on behalf of a grantee. Fiscal sponsors do not need to be Wikimedia affiliates. Fiscal sponsors must be incorporated organizations registered as a charity or nonprofit within their country, and need to meet some basic eligibility requirements. These basic eligibility requirements include, but are not limited to, being an organization:
- registered as an organization within their country (not a program or project with no formal organizational structure),
- financially sound and satisfyingly legally compliant,
- that engages primarily in charitable or nonprofit purposes, with documentation for its overall activities, mission, and purpose that reflect this,
- that does not engage in any amount of activity involving the election of public officials in any amount, and
- that has a documented plan for what happens with the organization’s assets upon its dissolution.
For US organizations, an IRS registration with a 501(c)(3) status, a good standing, and a current listing at GuideStar are required.
Formal groups[edit]
Formal groups operate under defined mandates and procedures. They have accountability for the role which they assume (e.g. Wikimedia affiliates, Arbitration Committees).
Informal groups do not have strict accountability and do not have a specific mandate (e.g., WikiProjects).
Free knowledge[edit]
Free knowledge, open knowledge, and free and open knowledge is free of charge and openly licensed knowledge that can be used, reused, and redistributed without monetary, social or technological restriction.
Fundraising[edit]
Fundraising is the act of seeking and acquiring donations. The term “fundraising” is used to describe the process of seeking monetary donations from independent organizations and individual donors. Fundraising here includes grants provided by third parties, often to support specific objectives.
For other means of raising money, see revenue generation.
Revenue generation[edit]
Revenue generation is the process of obtaining funds to support one or more aspects of the movement. Some examples of revenue generation are:
- fundraising,
- Including grants provided by third parties (unrestricted or to support specific objectives), major gifts, or fundraising events,
- membership fees for affiliates
Related to revenue generation is “donation-in-kind,” when an organization or individual provides services and/or physical items without charge, or by charging a discounted fee. Examples can include:
- meeting rooms or office space,
- internet access, and
- free access to archival material.
Resources[edit]
Resources are a stock or supply of money, materials, staff, knowledge, and other assets that can be drawn on by a person or organization in order to function effectively.
In the case of the Wikimedia movement, resources include:
- monetary assets obtained by revenue generation,
- people (including their time, effort, and capacity; the very large number of volunteers who drive the movement; and, the small number of paid staff who support the volunteers),
- the reputation of the Wikimedia movement and its projects and activities as a source of knowledge made available to the world freely and openly,
- the content of the Wikimedia projects as developed and managed by volunteers,
- the physical storage that contains the software and the content of the Wikimedia projects, and
- the educational and informational documentation to support the projects and other movement activities.
Stakeholders[edit]
Any individual or group, whether volunteer or not, having invested human, financial or other capital in an organization, who can affect the realization of organizational objectives or is affected by the realization of those objectives.
In this Charter, “stakeholders” are individuals or groups who have a stake in fulfilling the movement’s vision. More precisely, the term includes online and offline communities, organized groups like affiliates, the Wikimedia Foundation, and members from the wider online information ecosystem, like partners and allies.
Subsidiarity[edit]
Subsidiarity is the principle that decisions should be made at the lowest level possible, with other stakeholders located at higher levels stepping in only when necessary.
Wikimedia Movement[edit]
The “Wikimedia Movement” refers to the totality of people, groups, and organizations who support and participate in Wikimedia websites and projects. It includes all of those who operate within the policies, principles, and values of the movement.[1]
Wikimedia projects[edit]
Wikimedia has a series of knowledge projects (e.g., Wikipedia, Wiktionary, Wikiversity, and others). Local or individual Wikimedia projects are primarily language versions of a knowledge project (e.g., English Wikipedia, Turkish Wiktionary). Certain Wikimedia projects are cross-language and do not have specific language versions (Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons). There are also projects that act as infrastructure for the Wikimedia community, such as Meta wiki and the MediaWiki wiki.
Notes[edit]
- ↑ Della Porta & Diani (2006) observe that social movements share three criteria: (a) are networks of informal interactions between a plurality of individuals, groups, and/or organizations; (b) are engaged in political or cultural conflicts/change; and (c) exist on the basis of shared collective identity. Movements do not have hard boundaries, since different movements tend to fit one inside the other.