Hi Lisa and all, Could you provide any update on what is happening with the $8.7 million in the Tides Advocacy fund? I asked about it on the Endowment talk page on Meta two weeks ago, and while many other questions there have been answered, this one has not.
I also asked on Meta how much money the WMF had contributed to the Endowment to date. Amy Parker just replied it had been $20 million,[1] but that can't be right, as in the audited 2019/2020 financial statements published last year (page no. 14), it was already $25 million ($5 million p.a. over five years).[2] A curious side-effect of the Endowment is that money the WMF pays into its own Endowment shows up as an Awards and Grants *expense* in the audited statements, reducing the revenue surplus. Money flowing into the Endowment, on the other hand, is included neither in Revenue nor Net Assets, as it is legally separate.[7] So according to the financial statements for the last five years, the WMF had a revenue surplus of over $100 million over that time period (measured as increase in net assets, from $77.8 million to $180.3 million). But over the same period, the Foundation also accumulated $100 million in Tides Foundation funds (i.e. the Endowment, reported[6] to have passed $90 million in early February, and the $8.7 million in Tides Advocacy). This means that the Foundation has actually had a revenue surplus of more than $200 million over the past five years, averaging over $40 million per annum. Could you provide an update on exactly how much many money is in the Endowment and the Tides Advocacy fund at the moment? The Endowment is not very transparent. I understand the only page showing how much money has accumulated in the Endowment is the page on Meta, and this has only sporadically been updated. In this edit,[3] for example, it jumped from $62.9 million to $90 million. Before that, the total had last been updated more than six months prior.[4] Would it be possible to provide, say, monthly updates for the Endowment on Meta? (If I have missed any other pages or documents containing such information, I would ask you to kindly provide a link.) In the discussions on Meta, Pats Peña pointed me to the FAQ[5] for the most recent financial statements. One thing I miss in these FAQs is any reference to the $100 million held by the Tides Foundation. Readers of the FAQ will remain unaware that the actual amount of investments the WMF was the beneficiary of in July 2020 substantially exceeded the figure of $170 million given in the audited financial statements the FAQ refers to – including the Tides funds, by well over $70 million when the FAQ was published. I also cannot see any reference to the fact that the expenses noted in the FAQ include $5 million that the WMF paid into its own endowment. Could this be remedied in this and future FAQs? Finally, if we were trying to provide a best estimate of the Wikimedia Foundation's current total net assets (last reported as $180 million, excluding money in the Tides Foundation), would $200 million be in the right ballpark, for a grand total of $300 million if we include the Tides Foundation money? I understand that fundraising this fiscal year already exceeded the combined year goal for the Foundation and endowment after the first six months, followed by the year goal being raised, and exceeded again before the end of the second quarter.[8] As fundraising continues (currently in Mexico, I understand), it seems certain the WMF net assets are once again likely to have risen substantially by the end of the fiscal year, especially given that once again, many physical events will have had to be cancelled owing to the pandemic. Best wishes, Andreas [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Wikimedia_Endowment&diff=21395254&oldid=21391565 [2] https://foundation.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Wikimedia_Foundation_FY2019-2020_Audit_Report.pdf&page=16 [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikimedia_Endowment&diff=21014846&oldid=21012384 [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikimedia_Endowment&diff=prev&oldid=20317968 [5] https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikimedia_Foundation_reports/Financial/Audits/2019-2020_-_frequently_asked_questions&oldid=21317632 [6] https://www.axios.com/exclusive-the-end-of-the-maher-era-at-wikipedia-c1ed1408-bab7-4308-9407-db093e24c80d.html [7] https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Wikimedia_Endowment&diff=21366511&oldid=21366424 [8] https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/15/Wikimedia_Foundation_second_quarter_2020-2021_tuning_session_-_Advancement.pdf On Mon, Dec 14, 2020 at 5:54 PM Lisa Gruwell <lgruw...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > Hi all, > > Thanks for the questions. We intend to announce the Knowledge Equity Fund > in early 2021, once we have a bit more details and specifics worked out. > However, we can share the overall intention today. > > Some background: Our fiscal year runs from July through June, which means > that the second half of last year was heavily affected by the unforeseen > effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Community events were canceled, hiring > slowed, and we put work on pause while we responded to the changing > circumstances. As a result, we ended the year with funds that were > underspent, relative to what we had planned for the budget. > > In May of last year, we were also planning for this current fiscal year > and had very little insight about how fundraising would perform in this > pandemic. People around the world were losing their sources of income, as > unemployment soared. We worked with the board to plan for different > scenarios, including if fundraising went really poorly. > > As a general matter, when the budget is underspent, any remainder goes > into the reserve. For accounting purposes, it cannot be carried over into > the budget of a new fiscal year. Because we were concerned about the > uncertainty of fundraising this year, we decided to set aside underspent > funds from the past fiscal year, so that we could keep our commitment to > our grantees even if fundraising fell short and also make progress on > knowledge equity. (Good news: Fundraising ended up going a lot better than > we expected when we were planning in the early months of this pandemic. > More to come on that.) > > With the WMF board’s approval, we set up a US$8.7 million grantmaking > fund at Tides Advocacy, which has two purposes: 1) Funding Annual Plan > Grants (APG) to the affiliates this year and 2) Funding Knowledge Equity. > We have been working with Tides since 2016 when we launched the Endowment. > The relationship has gone well and they have a lot of expertise at > administering grants internationally. > > Our first priority was to ensure that we had enough funding to support > community grants. We transferred the full amount for Annual Plan Grants > (APG) for FY20-21 over to Tides to ensure that all funding for affiliates > for this year was secured, regardless of how fundraising performed. It also > gives staff at affiliates and the Foundation more time to work together to > make thoughtful grants, instead of an end-of-year rush. All affiliates who > will be receiving funding through Tides were informed of the arrangement > last summer. All other grantmaking (Community Grants, Rapid Grants, > Project Grants) are still being funded through WMF directly, as usual. > There is a round of APG grants set to go out via Tides this week. > > As the Audit Report FAQ states,[1] the remaining funds will be used to > launch the Wikimedia Knowledge Equity Fund. This new fund is in addition to > the existing grants that are already available for the communities > (Community Grants, Rapid Grants, Project Grants, and APGs) and does not > impact the amount of funds in those grant portfolios. > > Our goal is to use this fund to invest in new opportunities that increase the > availability of free knowledge for marginalized people and counteract > structural inequalities. Knowledge equity is a key pillar of the 2030 > movement strategy, and this investment will help us to address some of the > barriers preventing people from accessing and contributing to free > knowledge. > > As of now, this is a one-time commitment of approximately $4.5 million. We > are still working on the specific initial objectives of the fund and how it > will operate. As a pilot initiative, we’ll be learning and adapting as we > go. > > We’ll share more details in early 2021 about the Knowledge Equity Fund. We > are excited to see what progress we can make for knowledge equity with this > investment. > > Thank you, > > Lisa Gruwell > > [1] > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_reports/Financial/Audits/2019-2020_-_frequently_asked_questions/id#This_year%E2%80%99s_report_says_that_the_Wikimedia_Foundation_provided_an_unconditional_grant_of_$8.723_million_to_Tides_Advocacy_for_the_Wikimedia_Knowledge_Equity_Fund._What_is_the_Wikimedia_Knowledge_Equity_Fund? > <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_reports/Financial/Audits/2019-2020_-_frequently_asked_questions/id#This_year%E2%80%99s_report_says_that_the_Wikimedia_Foundation_provided_an_unconditional_grant_of_$8.723_million_to_Tides_Advocacy_for_the_Wikimedia_Knowledge_Equity_Fund._What_is_the_Wikimedia_Knowledge_Equity_Fund?> > > > On Sun, Dec 13, 2020 at 12:35 PM Katherine Maher <kma...@wikimedia.org> > wrote: > >> Hi folks, >> >> Happy Sunday from San Francisco -- we've seen the questions on this list, >> and we'll reply tomorrow when folks are back at work. Thanks for your >> understanding! >> >> Hope everyone is staying well and safe, >> >> Katherine >> >> On Sun, Dec 13, 2020 at 5:36 AM Isaac Olatunde <reachout2is...@gmail.com> >> wrote: >> >>> I agree with Dan. A question about this should have been directed to the >>> WMF and allow them to respond prior to raising it here (if that's even >>> necessary in the first place.) >>> >>> Regards >>> >>> Isaac >>> >>> >>> On Sun, 13 Dec 2020, 14:30 Dan Garry (Deskana), <djgw...@gmail.com> >>> wrote: >>> >>>> It seems disingenous to describe it as "secret" given that it was >>>> willingly acknowledged in the the FAQ of the annual financial audit >>>> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_reports/Financial/Audits/2019-2020_-_frequently_asked_questions/id#This_year%E2%80%99s_report_says_that_the_Wikimedia_Foundation_provided_an_unconditional_grant_of_$8.723_million_to_Tides_Advocacy_for_the_Wikimedia_Knowledge_Equity_Fund._What_is_the_Wikimedia_Knowledge_Equity_Fund?>. >>>> The information provided in the FAQ is somewhat lacking, but these are not >>>> the actions of people trying to sweep it under the rug. >>>> >>>> Let us politely ask for more information without being unnecessarily >>>> alarmist. >>>> >>>> Dan >>>> >>>> On Sun, 13 Dec 2020 at 08:54, Yair Rand <yyairr...@gmail.com> wrote: >>>> >>>>> According to the recent Independent Auditors' Report of the WMF [1], >>>>> at some point prior to the end of June 2020, an entity called the >>>>> "Wikimedia Knowledge Equity Fund" was established, and $8.723 million was >>>>> transferred to it by the WMF, in the form of an unconditional grant. The >>>>> Fund is "managed and controlled by Tides Advocacy" (a 501(c)(4) advocacy >>>>> nonprofit previously led by the WMF's current General Counsel/Board >>>>> Secretary, who served as CEO, Board Secretary, and Treasurer there). >>>>> Given that a Google search for "Wikimedia Knowledge Equity Fund" yields >>>>> zero results prior to the release of the report, it is clear that the WMF >>>>> kept this significant move completely secret for over five months, perhaps >>>>> over a year. The Report FAQ additionally emphasizes that the WMF "has no >>>>> right of return to the grant funds provided, with the exception of >>>>> unexpended funds." >>>>> >>>>> The WMF unilaterally and secretly transferred nearly $9 million of >>>>> movement funds to an outside organization not recognized by the >>>>> Affiliations Committee. No mention of the grant was made in any Board >>>>> resolutions or minutes from the relevant time period. The amount was not >>>>> mentioned in the public annual plan, which set out rather less than this >>>>> amount for the entire grantmaking budget for the year. No application was >>>>> made through any of the various Wikimedia grants processes. No further >>>>> information has been provided on the administration of this new Fund, or >>>>> on >>>>> the text of the grant agreement. >>>>> >>>>> I am appalled. >>>>> >>>>> -- Yair Rand >>>>> >>>>> [1] >>>>> https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/f/f7/Wikimedia_Foundation_FY2019-2020_Audit_Report.pdf >>>>> _______________________________________________ >>>>> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: >>>>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and >>>>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >>>>> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org >>>>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, >>>>> <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> >>>>> >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: >>>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and >>>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >>>> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org >>>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, >>>> <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> >>>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: >>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and >>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >>> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org >>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, >>> <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> >>> >> >> >> -- >> >> Katherine Maher (she/her) >> >> CEO >> >> Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org >> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, >> <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> >> > > > -- > > Lisa Seitz Gruwell > > Chief Advancement Officer > > Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/> > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> >
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