Wikimedia Foundation Annual Plan 2017-18

Each year the Wikimedia Foundation, with input from the Wikimedia Communities and the Funds Dissemination Committee, formulates an Annual Plan outlining their programmatic and departmental goals, projects, outcomes (milestones and attainments), revenue and spending budgets for the Foundation’s coming fiscal year.

Purpose of the Annual Plan edit

The Wikimedia Foundation Annual Plan describes the critical support needed for the Wikimedia projects and communities:

  • How we maintain the technology that allows people to contribute and share free knowledge with the world.
  • How we provide tools and resources, both monetary and programmatic, to support the health of the Wikimedia communities.
  • How we protect the independence of the Wikimedia projects and volunteers, and raise awareness for the importance of our movement, projects, and mission in the world.

The Annual Plan reflects each Group, Department and team’s roadmap for the fiscal year, and as such, is the basis for Staff’s quarterly check-ins, communication to the Wikimedia Communities and status to the Board of Trustees. Additionally, the Annual Plan describes Foundation organizational guidelines and priorities associated with key Talent and Culture initiatives, departmental and team collaboration and overall Wikimedia Community support and involvement. The Foundation is committed to delivering its Annual Plan in draft form for community review by the FDC deadline of April 7, 2017. After the Plan has been finalized and approved by the Board of Trustees, we will add the relevant measurable goals to the strategy, and track them accordingly.

Strategic Focus for the 2016-17 and 2017-18 Annual Plans edit

During 2016, the Foundation developed an 18 to 24 month plan to provide the strategic priorities for the Foundation’s fiscal 2016-2017 and 2017-2018 Annual Plans. The strategic priorities and the resulting department annual plans serve as the basis for the fiscal year 2017-2018 annual plan(s).From the Foundation’s 2016 Strategic Plan:

  • Strategic Goals - This strategic plan is intended to direct the Foundation’s activities for the next 18-24 months (starting July 1, 2016). Measurable goals toward the strategic plan will be set through the Foundation’s Annual Planning process. These goals will be tied to specific resources, budget, and teams.
  • Strategic Statement - The Wikimedia Foundation supports the delivery of knowledge to the world, the health and growth of the Wikimedia communities, and the creation of diverse, high-quality free knowledge. In addition to these core functions, we believe the Foundation has the unique ability within our movement to support systems and programs that expand the reach of our vision, including engaging the majority of the world’s population we currently do not reach.

Our strategic approaches reflect this commitment to serve our movement, while also increasing its reach.

  1. REACH - We will better understand and respond to the needs of our global users so that more people can share in free knowledge.
  2. COMMUNITIES - We will increase volunteer retention and engagement through improved programs, experiences, and resources.
  3. KNOWLEDGE - We will increase and diversify knowledge by developing high-priority curation and creation tools for user needs.

For the complete description of the Strategic Priorities, See Link Here.

Critical Deadlines
PRE-PLANNING
Tuesday, January 31
  • Start - Finance Implementation Documents are rolled out to budget managers
DEPARTMENTAL PLANS & PROGRAMMATIC INTERDEPARTMENTAL COLLABORATION
February 22 - 24
  • Annual Plan Collab Jam is conducted
February 28
  • Fiscal Year 2016-17 Mid-Year Report to FDC
EXTERNAL COLLABORATION - COMMUNITY & FDC FEEDBACK
Friday, April 7
Friday, April 7 - Saturday, May 13
  • Community Review and Comment
  • Community Engagement Department support - monitoring comments
BOARD REVIEW, APPROVAL & SUBMISSION
Friday, June 30
  • 2017-18 Annual Plan (AP Risk Document and FAQs) are posted on META and Email Announcing 2017-18 Annual Plan is sent