On Thu, Oct 8, 2009 at 5:10 PM, phoebe ayers <phoebe.w...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > Right. What's a program expense? What *should* be a program expense? > * keeping servers online? > * Wikimania? > * producing how-to guides? > * improving mediawiki? ><snip> > > Since all the documentation is readily available, like Mike Snow said > it seems like a more valuable discussion to talk about what we are > actually spending money on and what we should be spending money on (cf > strategic planning) than to talk about what a 3rd party's rough > assessment of what we're spending money on. What should WMF money go > towards? > > -- phoebe > Exactly. "Program" expenses in the Wikimedia sense might be those that go to the generation and distribution of content; technology expenses, then, and anything the Foundation spends on events like Wikipedia Academies. By this measure, the usability initiative is a program expense but fundraising costs are not. It's clear that some level of fundraising expenses is necessary; and if the expenditures on fundraising produce reasonable returns (i.e., increased donations) then that's great. Whether or not the spending on fundraising versus technology meets some golden ratio isn't that relevant, and comparisons to other (dramatically different) organizations aren't very useful. So the question then becomes, what should be done with the money now that it's been raised? And that's a very important question that I think the Foundation is grappling with, because the answers aren't necessarily obvious and few options will have universal agreement. The strategy project is an attempt to hammer out some good ideas and a general direction for the Foundation. I'm not sure the wiki format being used is really ideal, but I suppose its the best choice among the various ways to allow engagement from the community. Either way, folks with a serious interest in how the Foundation spends its money should be contributing there. _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l