Minutes/2012-03-21

Wikimedia Board of Trustees meeting

IRC

March 21st, 2012, 16:00 UTC-17:30UTC
 * In attendance: Phoebe Ayers, Ting Chen, Matt Halprin, Arne Halprin, Kat Walsh, Samuel Klein, Bishakha Datta, Stu West, Jimmy Wales, and Sue Gardner (WMF Executive Director).
 * Absent: Jan-Bart de Vreede.

The purpose of this meeting was to discuss the final recommendations from Sue on fundraising and funds dissemination, in advance of the Berlin in-person Board meeting.

The meeting was opened at 16:00UTC by Ting.

Sue gave a recap of her recommendations on fundraising and funds dissemination, which included recommendations that a Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) be created, and that payment processing of donations in the annual online fundraiser be handled by the Wikimedia Foundation and from 0-4 of the chapters that payment processed in the 2011 fundraiser. After the recap, Trustees then had a chance to ask questions of Sue.

The Board then held a round-robin session where each Trustee could state their own views or make a statement. Trustees then discussed the options laid out in the final recommendations. Discussion points included the role of any restricted or off-site fundraising, including endowment campaigns and major gifts; how revenue targets would be set; scheduling a review date for this decision; and the role of donor relations. Additional discussion was had about organizational independence, the role of fundraising expertise, and how best to build a structure that encourages program work.

Trustees agreed that the recommendations about the FDC and fundraising should be split into two resolutions, with the detail about the FDC's creation being moved to a separate proposal that can be further refined.

Drafting of resolutions will continue on the Board wiki, and a final vote on the recommendations will be held at the Berlin meeting.

The meeting was adjourned at 17:40UTC.