Talk:2011-12 Fundraising and Funds Dissemination process/How it currently works

Recurring donations

'Recurring donations' (vs. single donations) would be a useful column to include in the future, although I'm not sure how significant it is right now (for WMUK, it's currently very small - circa £100 or so - but this is growing very rapidly right now since we've been able to start accepting donations via direct debit). Mike Peel 21:40, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Using the same period + currency

I'm following up here on comments on the internal-l mailing list regarding using a common period and currency in this table. On the former - it would be rather difficult and time-consuming to assess the WMUK funds on a different timescale to our financial year, since we don't currently have the manpower to assess the amounts on a monthly basis and hence we only hold it on a yearly basis as confirmed by our auditors. As long as we're including the same annual fundraiser within the year, then I don't think this matters too much (since donations via other methods should be approximately month-independent). On the latter - the currency is a moving scale, since the conversion rates are constantly changing, so it's probably better to record the numbers here on a local currency basis. If we really need to convert to a common currency, then let's do that for a specific date (e.g. 1 November 2011, after most chapters have provided the information). (This is currently an issue with Wikimedia chapters/Plans 2011-2012, where the accuracy and dates of the conversion rates really isn't clear.) I'm particularly interested in seeing the percentages of funds raised by different methods here, though, which doesn't depend on which currency the numbers are provided in. Mike Peel 21:51, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Internal grants

I've modified 'WMF' to 'Wikimedia' on the external vs. internal grants, since it's not just the WMF that provides or receives those grants. E.g. WMUK has given a large grant (circa $500k) to WMF for its UK-charitable activities, and has also provided grants to other Wikimedia chapters, which should also be taken into account here. Mike Peel 21:56, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Yep, that makes sense to me. We just want to be sure to keep all internal transfers segregated from external flow into the movement, as I noted on the related footnotes, just now. Thanks Mike. Sue Gardner 22:06, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Questions for the UK chapter

Hi Mike (or whoever wants to respond). Thanks for filling in the UK numbers: this is super-useful and I thank you for being so fast :-)

A couple of follow-up questions:

1. What does the 20K pounds in "other small donors" represent? Is that just normal small donations trickling in during non-fundraising-campaign months?
2. You've listed a restricted grant for £3,230. What's it for, and who did it come from?

Neither of these questions is very important -- I am just curious, and aiming to get a handle on the total picture. Thanks. Sue Gardner 21:59, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Hi Sue. Your email about this caught me at a good time, hence why I was able to provide the numbers so quickly (plus, our auditors provided the final numbers for that financial year earlier today - yay. :-) ). In answer to your questions:

1. Yes, I believe that this is donations during non-fundraising months, although I'm not 100% sure on this. I'll double-check this with our Treasurer (Andrew).
2. The restricted grant was from the Hearst Foundation, and was given to support the annual Open Knowledge Conferences - in 2010 we held our AGM during that conference, and we also organised a Wikimedia session - which featured Jan-Bart, Charles Matthews and a few other speakers. We've also been able to support it this year too, thanks to this grant. The kudos for making this happen lies with Kul, who put us in contact with the right people at the right time. There's a bit more info on this in our accounts if you're interested (and lots more info on our wiki, albeit somewhat hidden away in meeting minutes).

Hope that helps - let us know if you have any other questions. :-) Mike Peel 22:18, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

On (1) - Andrew's confirmed that this is indeed donations received outside of the annual fundraiser. Thanks. Mike Peel 22:25, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Yes Mike that's right - it's income outside the Annual Fundraiser. Much of it comes in when people join the chapter and add a donation on top of their membership fee. We have also in there "donations in kind" where organisations donate professional services, meeting rooms etc or pay for certain expenses. AndrewRT 22:26, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Ah - okay, thank you both. I hadn't been planning on including in-kind donations to the Wikimedia Foundation in this table, but maybe it's better if I do. I will figure out how to include it somewhere, and once I do I will change the WMF total, and the footnote that excludes it from the WMF total. Thanks. Sue Gardner 22:32, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Questions for the German chapter

Similarly -- thanks, Sebastian, for filling out the section for the German chapter so quickly -- I appreciate it :-)

Couple of questions:

1. I'm assuming your 350K euros for "other small donors" is just small donations trickling into your accounts in non-fundraiser months -- am I right? Is that recurring giving, or just unsolicited?
2. I had no idea the German chapter was bringing in over a million euros in restricted grants -- congratulations! Can you, or someone, break that down a little? I am curious to know what kind of grants they are, who they come from, what size -- that type of thing.
3. What's the 40K in earned income? Is that trademark deals, merchandise sales, or something else?
4. What's the 75K in other?

Thanks :-) Sue Gardner

1. That's correct. Those are donations received outside of the annual campaign. Some of that is recurring, some of that is solicited (e.g. plea letters, events).
2. Now that the separation is no longer Foundation vs. Outside but rather Wikimedia vs. Outside, the number went just below a million. Most of that is for Wikidata (€870,000), which is funded by outside organizations (albeit found mostly by the Foundation with the assistance of WMDE). The remainder are EU-funded research projects and a grant for editing awards.
3. It's interest income and licensing (one old deal that still exists), no merchandise.
4. Sponsoring. I didn't know if you wanted to include that in earned income or not. If so, please be bold to move the number.

sebmol ^? 22:38, 24 October 2011 (UTC)

Tax refunds

One of the justifications for chapters registering as charities in their own countries and doing their own fund raising is so they can claim tax back. It would be worthwhile to list here the amount of tax they are claiming back so we can see if it is enough to justify the hassle. --Filceolaire 11:42, 8 January 2012 (UTC)

Could you please explain better? It might be a matter of terminology or different legal systems, but I don't understand what you mean: as far as I know, the tax deductibility always benefits the donor (which deducts from his income), while the non-profit has tax-exemption on donations (which are not considered income). Nemo 07:36, 10 January 2012 (UTC)