Finance report/Archives 2005

2005 Q3 report
By Daniel Mayer - September 2005 The third quarter 2005 fund drive was held from Friday 19 August to Friday 9 September 2005 (2005.08.19 – 2005.09.09). The primary goal was to raise US$200,000 (Yahoo! Currency Converter) to meet income requirements in the third quarter 2005 budget. The drive was a success with over $240,000 USD raised.

Mid year report
By Daniel Mayer - July 2005


 * Notes
 * PayPal fees are in fact a fundraising expense and have therefore been added to that area. They were not considered as such when the Q1 and Q2 budgets were drafted (see Budget/2005). The travel item was larger than expected mostly due to Wikimania 2005. We simply should have budgeted more for travel that quarter. Our accountant calculated depreciation costs on our fixed assets (mostly computer equipment) and foreign exchange gain. Depreciation expenses do not affect cash flow and are thus not budgeted for. Their only purpose is to show a decrease in the value of our fixed assets.

Announcements
Fundraising drive begins

The Wikimedia Foundation and all its projects are growing at a rate faster than we ever dreamed. To meet our needs for this quarter alone, the Wikimedia Foundation needs your help to raise $200,000 in our first fundraising drive in six months. See Fund drives/2005/Q3 for feedback. (Angela Beesley)

Budget for the third quarter of 2005 released for public scrutiny Daniel Mayer published the last approved budget on 14th of august. The total amount of the budget is $198,000.00, 63% of this amount being dedicated to hardware. The next main expenditures are planned for hosting costs (8%), and a financial reserve (10%). The Chief Technical Officer will now be employed full time, and the board is looking for a Hardware assistant as well as an Executive assistant. (Anthere)

General report
By Daniel Mayer - April 2005 The first fund drive of 2005 was held from Friday, February 18, 2005, to Tuesday, March 1, 2005.

Our goal was to raise 75,000 USD to meet the immediate expenses in our 2005 budget. Originally, the fund drive was planned to run for three full weeks; however, we soon exceeded the original goal, and cut the fund drive short by 9 days. When all sources of donations were counted, we had surpassed the goal by 26%, raising the equivalent of 94,648.70 USD. A full breakdown of contributions by source is available; a quick overview:
 * 76.44% (72,352.01 USD) from PayPal
 * 21.18% (15,254.66 Euros | 20,046.15 USD) from Wikimedia Deutschland.
 * 1.22% (1,155.00 USD) from snail mail/post
 * 1.16% (1,095.54 USD) from MoneyBookers

Last December, the Lounsbery Foundation granted the Foundation 40,000 USD for hardware expenses in the first quarter of 2005. This grant, added to the money generated in the drive, allowed the foundation to purchase up to 75,000 USD worth of hardware.

20,000 USD were set aside for additional hardware and/or to pay for development projects. This is also the first quarter where the full cost of hosting is being charged to the foundation; 16,000 USD was allocated for this. The extra 20,000 USD over the fundraiser goal was put into a reserve fund.

The foundation now has two employees: a part-time hardware assistant and one full-time developer under contract. The 8,000 USD for the developer is being provided by official mirror contracts. The 1,500 USD for the hardware assistant has been allocated from the budget.

Other budgeted items: 5,000 USD for travel, 500 USD for domain names, 2,500 USD for office expenses, 500 USD for fundraising and promotion, and 1,000 USD for miscellaneous expenses.

Wikimedia Deutschland was the only chapter with its own financial report to issue; for details, see Chapters, page 5.

501(c)(3) status granted to Wikimedia Foundation
After many months of waiting, the Wikimedia Foundation has been officially classified as a public charity and granted 501(c)(3) (tax exempt) status by the IRS. Donations to the Foundation are now tax deductible in the United States. The Foundation is now qualified to receive tax deductible bequests, devises, transfers, or gifts. The effective date of the exemption is June 20, 2003 (the date on which the Foundation was created), and the status is fully retroactive. If you have donated to the Foundation in the past, those donations may be claimed as tax deductions.