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#REDIRECT [[Frequently asked questions]] |
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[[Image:Wikimedia.png|framed|right|200px|''Logo of the Wikimedia foundation, designed by Wikipedia user "Neolux"'']] |
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The '''Wikimedia Foundation Inc.''' is the parent organization of [[Wikipedia]], [[Wiktionary]], [[Wikiquote]], [[Wikibooks]], [[Wikisource]], [http://sep11.wikipedia.org/ In Memoriam 9/11] and [[Nupedia]]. It is a [[non-profit]] corporation organized under the laws of [[Florida]], [[United States|USA]]. Its existence was officially announced by former [[Bomis]] CEO and Wikipedia co-founder [[Jimbo Wales]] on [[June 20]], [[2003]]. |
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==The goals of the foundation== |
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The goals of the foundation are to maintain and develop [[open content]], [[wiki]]-based projects and to provide the full contents of those projects to the public [[gratis|free of charge]]. In addition to managing the already developed multilingual general [[encyclopedia]] ''Wikipedia'', there is a multi-language [[dictionary]] and [[thesaurus]] named Wiktionary, an encyclopedia of [[quotations]] named Wikiquote and a collection of [[e-book]] resources aimed specifically toward students (such as [[textbook]]s and annotated [[public domain]] books) named Wikibooks. The Foundation also manages a memorial collection of articles about the [[September 11, 2001 attacks|Sept. 11. attacks]] and the operations of the largely dormant Nupedia project (which is not a wiki but is open content). All projects work thanks to a wikiengine called [[MediaWiki]]. |
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The '''Wikimedia Foundation''' owns the Wikimedia servers along with the domain names and trademarks of all Wikimedia projects and MediaWiki. Contributors, however, own the content and the [[GNU FDL]] license used on these projects prevents anyone from controling the content. |
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The continued growth of each of the Wikimedia projects is dependent on [http://wikimediafoundation.org/fundraising donations]. The Wikimedia Foundation aims to increase revenue by finding alternative means of financing, including [[federal grant|grant]]s and sponsorship. |
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The name ''Wikimedia'' is a [[wikipedia:en:portmanteau|portmanteau]] of ''wiki'' and ''multimedia'', although all the Wikimedia projects so far are heavily dominated by one medium: text. |
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== Organization == |
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The bylaws of Wikimedia Foundation Inc. have been posted on the Foundation's main web site: http://www.wikimediafoundation.org/bylaws.pdf ([[Wikimedia Foundation bylaws|local meta copy]]). A Wikimedia board must exist, by law, to manage the nonprofit and supervise the disposition and solicitation of nonprofit donations. It is known as the [[Board of Trustees]]. |
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The initial trustees (article IV, sec. 2.2.) include the following individuals, three [[en:Bomis|Bomis]] partners and two (other) Wikipedians: |
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*[[User:Jimbo Wales|Jimbo Wales]], Founder of Wikipedia and designated life member |
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*[[Michael Davis]], trustee |
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*[[en:User:Tim Shell|Tim Shell]], trustee |
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*[[User:Anthere|Florence Nibart-Devouard]], trustee, contributing user representative |
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*[[User:Angela|Angela Beesley]], trustee, volunteer user representative |
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The Board of Trustees are the ultimate corporate authority in the Wikimedia Foundation Inc. (article IV, sec. 1). The Board has the power to direct the activities of the foundation. It also has the authority to set membership dues, discipline and suspend members (article III), and to amend the corporate bylaws (article VI). |
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==Financial situation== |
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===Income=== |
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As of July, 2004, Wikipedia is funded exclusively through private donations. For some time, there has been discussion of finding alternate sources of income. Some have suggested we seek grants, or sell [[WikiReader]]s. Jimbo has said that, for the time being, he wants Wikipedia to remain free of advertisement. There has also been discussion of selling a print version of Wikipedia, such as the Wikipedia 1.0 project (see below). |
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* See [[Wikimedia Fundraising page]] for current account balances |
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* See [[Making Wikipedia profitable]] for a discussion of general methods for raising funds for Wikipedia |
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** For a specific discussion of raising funds from corporations, see [[Corporate sponsorship]] |
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===Liabilities=== |
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For the details of what we have done with donations since the start of 2004, and how we plan to use our funds, see ''[[What we use the money for]]''. |
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One of the main expenses for the Foundation is '''hardware'''. |
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* Description of the hardware that powers Wikimedia : [[Wikimedia servers]] |
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* Frequently updated status of this hardware : [[Wikimedia hardware status]] |
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* Next planned order(s) : [[Q3 and Q4 2004 hardware order worksheet]] |
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'''Bandwidth''' is essentially paid by Jimbo Wales. |
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Three servers will be soon hosted in France as squids. The hosting and bandwidth will be provided for free. |
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The Foundation currently spend no money on '''salaries''' or any other type of employee / consultant / volunteer compensation. It may reimburse costs, such as travel costs, shipping costs, or phone bills in the future. |
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'''Domain registrations''' is another part of Wikimedia liabilities. We already own some of our active and secondary/tangentially-related [[domain names]], while others are still free or already owned. |
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See also [[Wikimedia budget/Sample budget]] for a detailed list of other potential expenses. |
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==Todo== |
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*Rephrase the content (perhaps make a sub page for the history) |
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*fix the links |
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*The new page should explain what the Foundation Wikimedia is about, with in particular links to "projects" supported, links to charter. |
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*Should be in several languages (go hunt for versions in other languages) |
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*Organisation of the Foundation |
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* Board |
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**#Add a page to define current board and how it was elected. Description of each trustee (transparency) |
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**Meetings |
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**Reports |
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*Legal records: bylaws, AoI, Public Record, 501(c)(3), RfS |
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**By-laws (link to non-pdf version) |
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*Members |
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*Committees |
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*Official positions |
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*Org chart |
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*links to finance, budget (which will also be available from membership and donation main pages) |
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etc... |
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Latest revision as of 11:53, 31 March 2024
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