[Foundation-l] Grants -- a proposal

Sat Jun 18 23:00:17 UTC 2005

 
Hello all, 
In this email, I would like to propose a few ideas for grants and  
money-raising, in order to get community feedback. The focus of this email will  be 
smaller grants and donations.  
In the past few months, various people have raised projects that require  
particular funding. This ranges from the large amount required to put the  
Ultimate Wiktionary project into motion by developing an appropriate database,  to 
smaller projects such as Amikeco's work in the Ossetian language and Guako's  
work promoting Wikimedia projects in  Mali. Should the  Foundation choose to go 
ahead with these projects—and in some cases, it already  has--the potential 
costs will add to our existing budget for regular  maintenance, new servers, 
transportation and communication expenses,  etc. 
That is not to say that these projects should not be pursued. In fact,  some 
people might have a particular interest in promoting one or another of  these 
projects.  
I therefore suggest that donors have the possibility of earmarking their  
donation. That is to say, they will have the ability to specify where they want  
their money to go. In that case, one donor may give specifically for servers,  
while another donor may give specifically to promote a language, print a  
particular wikibook, or whatever.  
The option will work as follows:  
    1.  People interested in promoting particular  projects will be asked to 
create a project page, and to submit a budget for  their project. The "Total 
Cost" will be the amount of money they would like to  collect for the project + 
the additional percentage charged by PayPal. + 10  percent (to be explained 
below). Budgets should be as detailed as possible to  inspire confidence in the 
project and explain exactly where the money is  going. 
    1.  Donors giving to the Foundation will have the  option of either 
giving directly to the general running costs of Wikimedia or  perusing the list of 
specific projects. They can then decide how they want  their money to be 
spent. 
    1.  IMPORTANT: In the event that people decide to  give money to a 
specific project, it will be made clear to them that 10  percent will be deducted 
automatically for "Overhead," i.e., the day-to-day  costs of running the 
Wikimedia Foundation. In other words, even if someone  decides to give $100 toward 
printing the Wiki-Roadkill-Cookbook with  scratch-and-smell recipes, $10 dollars 
will still be deducted for use by the  Foundation as the Board sees fit.
    1.  Sums collected will be charted on the project  page. Once a project 
has reached its target sum, it will be removed from the  list of projects 
available to donors. Any additional funds earned will be  given to the general 
Foundation fund.
Advantages 
I believe that this proposal has a number of important advantages.  
    1.  This allows us to focus on our goals as a  charitable organization, 
with the objective of giving to others. 
    2.  It allows for projects to grow naturally as a  reflection of the 
interests of the community and the donors.  
    3.  People involved in specific projects will  naturally assume the 
responsibility of "Project Heads" and naturally grow to  fill leadership positions 
    4.  Motivated individuals will promote their  projects, gaining them 
greater visibility. 
    5.  Public budgets for projects will foster greater  transparency of the 
financial process. People like to know where their money  is going and how it 
is being spent. 
    6.  With several projects emerging, the Foundation  will be able to 
release a "Catalogue of Giving Opportunities" for potential  donors, including 
large-gift donors.  
    7.  Budgets for these projects will be a genuine  reflection of needs, 
and benefit from being accessible to community  comment.
Disadvantages 
Though I am thoroughly biased in favor of this, I have not discussed it  with 
Mav and others involved in finances, and I want to make sure something of  
this sort is feasible, and that it does not pose too much work on people  
handling the money. 
I am very eager to hear your responses to this proposal. More proposals  
regarding larger grants will be forthcoming over the next few days. 
Danny 
Member, Wikimedia Grants Team