[Foundation-l] Re: board manual and where information about the WMF should really be

Mon Dec 12 12:42:06 UTC 2005

So....

You will all find here http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_board_manual
the draft of what could be included in the manual.

First paragraph shortly explains
* why we need this manual
* who it will be adressed to
* how we could build it...

Next paragraphs should list the actual content.

I suppose it will be best that upon time we build a template as we are 
used to do on meta, to act as a table of content and keep the actual 
board manual page to a short description of why it is need and who it 
adresses to.

As some of you will notice, quite a bit of information is already 
available, others are not

3 Mission and vision statement
Basically, we have nothing except the mission statement in the bylaws.
In particular, there were many discussions recently indicating that the 
role of the board should be in most part restricted to this area (ie The 
role of the board of directors is to set the overall mission, to
give broad guidance, to give expert opinion and advice, to engage in
fidcuciary responsibilities for monitoring, etc); so I guess we really 
have to work on filling up this area

4 The board
the board bios are on Foundation
Board statement of responsibilities are nowhere

5 Historical references of the organization
Fact sheet does not exist
History of Wikimedia Foundation Inc is incomplete on meta
Articles of Incorporation do not exist
Bylaws are on foundation ...

6 Minutes from some recent board meetings
Are all on foundation

7 Policies pertaining to the board
Are not written anywhere

8 Finance and fundraising
Current annual budget is on foundation
Budget versus Actual budget is on internal
Banking resolutions do not exist
Current funder list - partners, hosts, sponsors are here and there, but 
not updated.

9 Staff
Staff listing is on meta

10 Wikimedia local chapters
is mostly on meta

11 Other informations
plenty of stuff, but is here and there

Please comment on talk page, please suggest new items, suggest to remove 
items, suggest to move items from one place to another. Just give your 
thoughts freely on all this.

-----------

Some of the stuff above may only be done by board members I guess, 
probably with help and support from officers. Other stuff may be done by 
anyone interested.

I fear a bit that the answer to my call for help to build this manual 
will be a fear, a perception that more bureaucracy will enter the 
organisation.

I plead that this is not perceived as so. I think it is necessary for 
the long-term health of the organization. We are growing very rapidly, 
our legal requirements will be tighter and tighter, our responsabilities 
are getting heavier and defining roles of each person is getting more 
and more important. We need to rely more on stability,  continuity, and 
steady development if we want to succeed.

We also need help here.

Ant

Ray Saintonge wrote:
> Anthere wrote:
> 
>> Hello everyone,
>>
>> There has been a bit of discussion recently about Non Profit 
>> Foundations and their organisation. Michael Davis has been discussing 
>> a lot in the past few days with a lawyer we are working with, and 
>> amongst various conclusions, it was recommanded that we try to 
>> anticipate the best we could our growth curve and to get a strong 
>> legal framework in place asap. Which seems to involve good functioning 
>> structure... and sticking a bit more to traditional board governance 
>> procedures, with some evolution in the way we handle agendas, minutes, 
>> bylaws, resolution, board manual, insurance and so on. 
> 
> 
> It's hard to know when an exponential growth curve will level off.  Thus 
> far we all stand in amazement at the growth.  Generally this is a step 
> in the right direction.
> 
>> We are currently working on all this very much. Each according to its 
>> own ability.
>> Some of this can only be done by board members proper, other tasks can 
>> also be supported by officers, and some can involve anyone who is 
>> serious and supportive.
>>
>> Amongst the tasks I will try to take care of in the next few weeks (or 
>> months...) is documentation, such as typically board manual. Michael 
>> has provided us with some documentation (such as 
>> http://www.boardsource.org/FullAnswer.asp?ID=98) and I gathered some 
>> more as well. Most of what is typically required on a board manual, we 
>> already have, but it is dispersed on at least 3 different wikis and 
>> poorly organised. This is unfortunate. 
> 
> 
> I would suggest beginning with a Table of Contents or site map for the 
> Manual.  This would be helpful in monitoring the development of this 
> project.
> 
>> Board governance is not something new and there is no reason for us to 
>> reinvent the wheel. When I looked at some of these pages, I recognised 
>> areas where we have indeed tried to reinvent the wheel... other areas 
>> we have never explored at all, areas where we found our own balance 
>> and areas which are still a mess :-)
>>
>> I invite you to join and help the way you can if you have such a 
>> desire. Either help to organise the structure of the future document 
>> (and more generally Foundation website), help to gather what already 
>> exist, help write what does *not* exist, help fix poor english, help 
>> translate (much later) some of the pages.
>>
>> If you are interested, please, let's talk about this on meta or by 
>> irc. I presume this will be very boring for most editors here, so it 
>> will probably rarely be mentionned on the list, but if you wish to 
>> help, please jump in any time. 
> 
> 
> I object to your saying that such a task would be boring. ;-)    Where 
> on meta?
> 
> Ec