Strategy/Wikimedia Foundation/2016/Process FAQ

Does this represent movement strategy or Foundation strategy?

This represents Wikimedia Foundation strategy. In 2010, the community and Foundation collaborated to develop a Strategic Plan for the entire Wikimedia movement, which included both strategies (objectives) and tactics (the means of reaching those objectives). We believe that the goals in the 2010-15 strategy are still valid and relevant. For 2016 we are developing a strategy for the Wikimedia Foundation, focused on its role within the broader movement. Tactics for the Wikimedia Foundation strategy in 2016-2017 will be spelled out in the Annual Plan.

Where do these focus areas come from?

The three focus areas (reach, community, knowledge) originate in the Wikimedia vision statement, “Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge.”

• Reach is about making sure every human being can share in our knowledge and be a part of our movement if they wish.
• Our Communities are our core strength, and the source of the content and projects that drive our vision.
• Knowledge is what we share with the world. We strive for high quality, diversity in our coverage, and accessibility for everyone.

These three areas are consistent with the Strategic Priorities outlined in the 2010-2015 Wikimedia Strategic Plan for the Wikimedia movement and, like the potential approaches presented to each area, have been further refined by the last 15 months of consultation and iteration with staff, community, and Wikimedia supporters.

Why this process?

We want to make our strategy process more collaborative, in line with our values and practices. We also need to finalize the Foundation’s strategy quickly, so that we can meet our 2016 Annual Plan deadlines and align our team and department strategies with the overall strategy. The approaches we are presenting here represent broad thinking. While we will only be able to implement a few of them in our annual plan, we want to get an idea of which of them resonate with you and also to learn if there are other thoughts about how we should best focus on these areas. We hope that this process will give everyone an opportunity to provide input and build on the initial ideas we've gathered from those earlier consultations.

What next?

The first consultation phase of the strategy process will be open from January 18th to February 15th. The feedback we receive during the consultation will be summarized and synthesized by Wikimedia Foundation staff and our strategy consultant, and the top findings will be presented back to the community on February 26th. On March 4th, the draft strategic plan will be posted, with a comment period through March 18th. This draft will inform the Foundation's 2016 Annual Plan, which will be presented to the Funds Dissemination Committee no later than April 1st.