First-class travel on the gravy train

[Wer900]

The extent of the gravy train of WMUK is particularly enormous. Looking at their 2011 annual report, it appears that the line item labeled "[v]oluntary income" has a value of about £20,603, while the "[c]ost of generating voluntary income" is about £21,459. Could there be any good reason why Wikimedia UK is willing to spend more collecting charitable donations than it collects? At least in 2011, the only reason that WMUK could survive was a generouw WMF grant. They have not yet released a financial report for 2012, despite it being almost seven months since the end of that year.

[mac]

The extent of the gravy train of WMUK is particularly enormous. Looking at their 2011 annual report, it appears that the line item labeled "[v]oluntary income" has a value of about £20,603, while the "[c]ost of generating voluntary income" is about £21,459. Could there be any good reason why Wikimedia UK is willing to spend more collecting charitable donations than it collects? At least in 2011, the only reason that WMUK could survive was a generouw WMF grant. They have not yet released a financial report for 2012, despite it being almost seven months since the end of that year.

[HRIP7]

Hmm ... per page 11 of the document, the £29,851 for "charitable activities" include £3,000 for a "Jimmy Wales lecture".

Two Jimmy Wales talks are mentioned on page 3 of the document:

Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales visits Bristol Cathedral Choir School - January 2011

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales gave pupils at Bristol Cathedral Choir School a day to remember when he spoke at morning assembly in the Cathedral. [...]

Today’s invitation to Jimmy Wales was made by Steve Virgin, a Bristol businessman who is the parent of a Year 7 BCCS pupil and is on the board of Wikimedia UK.

“It is great to have Jimmy in the city today: his visit is important because he’s obviously a ‘hot ticket’ and so he’s really helping put Bristol on the map for business and hi-tech industries. I am also delighted that he agreed to come to Bristol Cathedral Choir School, making it the only British school to be sharing in Wikipedia’s tenth anniversary events.

“Wikipedia and Wikimedia are looking forward to developing a long-term relationship with the school, perhaps through the school participating in a Wikipedia Schools Project and also taking part in the £20m international Campus Ambassador Programme.”

Jimmy Wales speaks at the Victoria Rooms, Bristol - Wikipedia at 10 - Full version

Watch and comment LIVE!

Tweeters use #WP10

In association with Bristol City Council, HP Labs, University of Bristol and Wikimedia UK: a special event to mark 10 years of Wikipedia with the man behind the project.

A decade ago the idea of a constantly updated online encyclopaedia, collaboratively written by tens of thousands of people and read by hundreds of millions, was a dream. Since then, Jimmy Wales has inspired others to join him, and has formed a 100,000-strong online volunteer community, which has built Wikipedia into a worldwide force for free learning and general education, run with modest resources, engaging communities worldwide. It’s now firmly established, but where will it go next? This is a rare opportunity to hear Jimmy Wales talk about the history of this remarkable project as well as the plans for future development.

Tickets for this Festival of Ideas event are SOLD OUT, but due to the level of public interest, we will be webcasting Jimmy's speech and Q&A session live - there's also the chance for our online audience to suggest a question using our watch and comment feature. The speech is expected to begin at 12:00 GMT and last for approximately 1 hour.

Visit Wikipedia at 10 in Bristol for all the news, views and videos / webcasts from Jimmy Wales' visit

So one of these was a talk to pupils in a school, while the other event charged an entrance fee (and was sold out). If one of these events was the Jimmy Wales lecture referred to on page 11, then I can't off-hand see why either event would have to be subsidised by £3,000 of donors' money. I wonder where that money went. Any ideas?

[Wer900]

Anyway, they actually do have 2012 fiscal year financial reports. The Q4 report is quite revealing—only about 22% of the money received was actually spent for program activities, with a larger amount spent on administration (admittedly, that was due to legal fees). In addition, 913 pounds sterling were spent on "[h]otels", £417 on "[o]verseas travelling", and £1428 on "[t]ravelling", which presumably includes Gibraltar. Look inside for more examples of blatant profligacy.

More evidence, if it were needed, that permanent observer teams from the WMF are necessary in all chapters.

[Cla68]

Hmm ... per page 11 of the document, the £29,851 for "charitable activities" include £3,000 for a "Jimmy Wales lecture".
So one of these was a talk to pupils in a school, while the other event charged an entrance fee (and was sold out). If one of these events was the Jimmy Wales lecture referred to on page 11, then I can't off-hand see why either event would have to be subsidised by £3,000 of donors' money. I wonder where that money went. Any ideas?

Wales may have waived his speaking fee but asked that his lodging and travel expenses be reimbursed. Are those two locations far outside the London area? If not, then it looks like I will be asking him about it on his talk page.

[HRIP7]

Hmm ... per page 11 of the document, the £29,851 for "charitable activities" include £3,000 for a "Jimmy Wales lecture".
So one of these was a talk to pupils in a school, while the other event charged an entrance fee (and was sold out). If one of these events was the Jimmy Wales lecture referred to on page 11, then I can't off-hand see why either event would have to be subsidised by £3,000 of donors' money. I wonder where that money went. Any ideas?

Wales may have waived his speaking fee but asked that his lodging and travel expenses be reimbursed. Are those two locations far outside the London area? If not, then it looks like I will be asking him about it on his talk page.

I've dropped WMUK a note on the Water Cooler page to enquire about this. There may be perfectly good explanations for these apparent expenditure items, and I for one will wait to hear what they say before passing judgment.

[HRIP7]

Stevie Benton, Jon Davies and Mike Peel have left helpful responses at the water cooler. Jon Davies says,

Before my time but we will try and find out and report back here. Budget lines can appear quite complicated and sometimes misleading to the non-expert so Wer900 is right to ask the questions rather than jump to conclusions.

Re the 2012-13 accounts (another question raised in 'an other place') there was a draft statement reported by our treasurer at the AGM and the finalised SORP accounts are now completed, we await a signed copy in the snail mail this week for reporting to the next Board meeting in July. There is no exceptional delay. Just because a financial year ends it doesn't mean the accounts are ready the next day. It is a slow and meticulous process that involves a lot of professional due diligence at the best of times and something as simple as an unpaid invoice or a refund owed us by a supplier can cause weeks and weeks of delays. This time a couple of missing bank statements needed to be re-issued and that took a long time. Our accountants gave us an unqualified statement for the accounts so all is well and Wer9000 can anticipate many happy hours poring over our accounts. If S/he emails me I will priortise a hard copy in the post. Jon Davies (WMUK) (talk) 08:18, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

Mike Peel adds:

The "cost of generating voluntary income" also covers the income listed under "fundraising events", which was the annual fundraiser - I think we kept that separate to distinguish what funds were covered by the fundraiser agreement with the WMF. It was primarily paypal fees if I recall correctly.

The 'Jimmy Wales lecture' was indeed the Bristol one, but the £3k listed is an estimate of the donation made in kind - it's there both in the income and expenditure columns, but no money changed hands, and I don't think we covered any costs using money from other donors. If I recall correctly, there wasn't an entrance fee for the event, and it was also freely webstreamed. Thanks. Mike Peel (talk) 08:59, 24 June 2013 (UTC)

I'd suggest editors with further questions might as well pose them at the WMUK water cooler itself.

[Poetlister]

Are those two locations far outside the London area? If not, then it looks like I will be asking him about it on his talk page.

Bristol is maybe 1 1/2 hours from London by train; I have often been there for the day. I assume that the talk to schoolchildren was a daytime event so there is no way to justify an overnight stay. A late evening talk might just justify a hotel.

[HRIP7]

Martin Poulter adds that Jimmy Wales' talk was a free event, per this page advertising it.

[Wer900]

Are those two locations far outside the London area? If not, then it looks like I will be asking him about it on his talk page.

Bristol is maybe 1 1/2 hours from London by train; I have often been there for the day. I assume that the talk to schoolchildren was a daytime event so there is no way to justify an overnight stay. A late evening talk might just justify a hotel.

Even if there are hotel costs, what could justify an expenditure of £913 on hotels? Wat long-distance travel has there been?

On an unrelated note, fundraising expenses are still higher than funds earned as of Q4 2012.

[Silent Editor]

Martin Poulter adds that Jimmy Wales' talk was a free event, per this page advertising it.

But it was subsequently described as 'sold out', so it is reasonable to have inferred from description that it may not have been free.

[Poetlister]

Martin Poulter adds that Jimmy Wales' talk was a free event, per this page advertising it.

But it was subsequently described as 'sold out', so it is reasonable to have inferred from description that it may not have been free.

Giving him the benefit of he doubt, maybe 'sold out' is a colloquialism; it was ticket-only but all the free tickets went. Or maybe Jimbo didn't charge and someone else got the proceeds net of expenses.