The other source of income for the endowment is investment earnings. On Mon, Oct 4, 2021 at 11:03 AM Andreas Kolbe <[email protected]> wrote:
> Dear Lisa and all, > > According to Meta and the just-released WMF Advancement fourth-quarter > tuning session deck, the Endowment actually passed the $100-million mark > not this month, but three months ago – in June, before the start of this > current financial year. The Meta page e.g. says: > > The Endowment reached our initial $100 million goal in June 2021. The goal > was set as part of a ten-year plan from 2016-2026. > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikimedia_Endowment&diff=22056029&oldid=21872920 > > This means the Endowment grew by around $40 million in the 2020/2021 > financial year alone – about as much as in the three previous years > together – based on this Meta edit by Endowment Director Amy Parker, who > stated that on June 30, 2020, the Endowment stood at $62.9 million: > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikimedia_Endowment&diff=next&oldid=20308708 > > I say "around $40 million" because if the Endowment grew from $62.9 > million on June 30, 2020, to over $100 million sometime during June, 2021, > at least $37.1 million (and probably a little more) must have been added to > it in the 2020/2021 financial year. > > Now, according to the just-released WMF Advancement fourth-quarter tuning > session deck, in the 2020/2021 financial year the Foundation raised ... > > – $154 million for the Foundation (vs. an initial target of $108 million) > – $18.9 million (vs. a target of $5 million) for the Endowment > > > https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AWikimedia_Foundation_fourth_quarter_2020-2021_tuning_session_-_Advancement.pdf&page=12 > > I've been told by WMF staff that the WMF receives two kinds of moneys for > the Endowment: > > – Some are "pass-through" donations to the Endowment. These are moneys > received by the Foundation that are passed straight on. They enter the > Endowment directly and do not appear in the Foundation's Revenue, Assets or > Expenses figures. > – Some are ordinary WMF revenue, reflected in WMF Support and Revenue > totals, which is then used to make a Foundation grant to the Endowment. > Such WMF grants to the Wikimedia Endowment are included in the Foundation's > expenses total, under Awards and Grants. My understanding was that this has > been $5 million per annum (equalling the target mentioned in the above > slide), for the past six years. > > So what are the $18.9 million for the Endowment in the tuning session > deck? Does that mean that the WMF, in the last financial year, took $172.9 > million in revenue ($154M + $18.9M) and made an $18.9 million grant to the > Endowment? > > Or are these $18.9 million pass-through gifts to the Endowment, which > won't show up in the Foundation's financial statements at all, and the > annual $5 million came on top of that, out of the $154 million? > > At any rate, given that the Endowment evidently grew by at least $37.1 > million in the last financial year, the $18.9 million mentioned in the > tuning session deck are about $20 million short. Where did the other money > come from, given that it seems to have been so much more than in previous > years? > > Were there any particularly large gifts from companies or foundations? The > only major gift mentioned on the Meta page is a $1 million gift from Amazon. > > I am sorry for the many questions, and apologise in advance for any errors > or misunderstandings on my part, but I find the Endowment set-up completely > impenetrable and non-transparent. > > There is no Form 990 documentation, because the Foundation says on the > Form 990 it does not have any Endowment assets, and there are no timely > updates or audited financial statements about money going into the > Endowment or coming out of it. I wish this were different. > > I will copy these questions to the Endowment talk page as well. > > Regards, > Andreas > > On Wed, Sep 22, 2021 at 3:58 PM Lisa Gruwell <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> Dear all, >> >> Today I am very happy to announce the Wikimedia Endowment [1] has reached >> its initial $100 million goal. The Endowment was started in 2016 as a >> permanent >> fund to support the Wikimedia projects in perpetuity [2]. >> >> My deep gratitude goes out to our generous donors, the Endowment board, >> Foundation staff, and volunteers who made this possible. I am grateful >> to the future-focused community members who began considering the idea of >> an endowment years ago, to those who participated in community >> conversations on Meta [3] to help us think through initial decisions >> regarding its launch, and to all contributors whose work creating >> Wikimedia content has brought free knowledge to the world. >> >> As part of this milestone, the Wikimedia Endowment Board has also >> welcomed three new members: Phoebe Ayers, Patricio Lorente, and Doron >> Weber, bringing in important expertise of the Wikimedia movement and >> priorities as well as in nonprofit management. >> >> You can read more about this milestone, what it means for the movement, >> and what comes next for the Endowment on Diff [4] and the Endowment Meta >> page [5]. We invite you to share any questions or feedback on the Endowment >> talk page [6]. >> >> Thank you to everyone who has made this incredible achievement possible. >> >> Best regards, >> >> Lisa >> >> [1] https://wikimediaendowment.org/ >> >> [2] https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/mission/ >> <https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/mission/> >> >> [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Endowment_Essay >> >> [4] >> https://diff.wikimedia.org/2021/09/22/the-wikimedia-endowment-reaches-100-million-milestone-and-welcomes-three-new-members-to-its-board-more-on-what-these-developments-mean-for-the-projects-and-movement/ >> <https://diff.wikimedia.org/2021/09/22/the-wikimedia-endowment-reaches-100-million-milestone-and-welcomes-three-new-members-to-its-board-more-on-what-these-developments-mean-for-the-projects-and-movement/> >> >> [5] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Endowment >> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Endowment> >> [6] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikimedia_Endowment >> >> -- >> >> Lisa Seitz Gruwell >> >> Chief Advancement Officer >> >> Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia-l mailing list -- [email protected], guidelines >> at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l >> Public archives at >> https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/message/LUHSNVCRIHQCGADJM5GHXGLX6R6A7LNW/ >> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list -- [email protected], guidelines > at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > Public archives at > https://lists.wikimedia.org/hyperkitty/list/[email protected]/message/7Q5EJXGQLHRBHBPGJJBP5WWOP25S57FF/ > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] -- Lisa Seitz Gruwell Chief Advancement Officer Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
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