Proposal: Affiliated organisations

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This proposal is to establish an affiliate system for member-based non-profits, especially targeting grass-roots organisations with a similar agenda.
This proposal is to establish an affiliate system for member-based non-profits, especially targeting grass-roots organisations with a similar agenda.

Revision as of 14:59, 15 February 2011

This page is a proposal being developed by our members.  The proposal was moved by John Vandenberg. If you are not a member of the organisation, you may request an account on this wiki using special:RequestAccount, and discuss this proposal on the discussion page.


This proposal is to establish an affiliate system for member-based non-profits, especially targeting grass-roots organisations with a similar agenda.

This proposal includes university student clubs.

Organisations which don't have members, and for-profits, are beyond the scope of this proposal.

Background

The main driver for this proposal is that, as we are a non-profit, we are not able to give money to individuals, especially members, except 'as bona fide compensation for services rendered or expenses'.(Rule no. 37) This becomes more difficult when we have larger amounts of money that we need to put towards our mission. Rather than needing to run all our own projects, we want to support projects run by other organisations where they align closely with our own objectives. In doing so, we need to get to know these organisations, let them know what types of projects we are interested in supporting, and entrust them to ensure that our money is not diverted into anyones pockets.

Agreement

We will develop an agreement for affiliated organisations to sign, ensuring that they understand the free culture copyright licenses and endorse our mission. The wording will leverage the existing consensus of our 'Statement of Purpose', and be further developed on the WMAU wiki where members can help shape this agreement. Once that is in place, potential affiliates will approach the committee and we'll make a decision on whether we also support their mission.

Approval process

The approval of affiliated organisations will be a committee decision, however the committee will solicit comments from the private members list whenever the committee is unsure of the merits of the proposed affiliation. The focus will be on affiliating with organisations that have members who either could be valuable Wikimedias, or are able to provide valued content for WMF projects. e.g. student and volunteer organisations, historical societies, and academic groups. We will be taking into account the organisations existing commitment, or lack of it, to openness and information creation and sharing, their stability as an organisation, their 'reach', and their proximity to existing WMAu members.

Removal process

If we have prerequisites that an affiliate organisation defaults on, or they act in a way that is at odds with our mission, delisting of affiliated organisations will also be a committee decision. Given that strategic alliances are at stake, the committee will be attempting to revive the affiliation rather than aggressive delisting.

Requirements

In addition to being a non-profit and member organisation, Wikimedia Australia is considering other requirements, such as affiliated organisations:

  • having one of their members who is also a member of Wikimedia Australia
  • being recommended by a Wikimedia Australia member

Promotion of affiliates

Wikimedia Australia will list and promote affiliated organisations on the website.

Benefits

Wikimedia Australia is developing programs designed to be applicable to all affiliated organisations. Join our organisation to have your say, or contact the committee with suggestions.

The following are being considered.

Content creation

Affiliated organisations will be pre-allocated an amount of money per year which they can obtain by providing content about an Australian topic which the non-profit is considered an expert in.

For example, a bird watchers organisation could provide images or articles about a bird in their area.

The affiliated organisations will be paid in proportion to the size of the content provided.

  1. $5 per unique image on Wikimedia Commons + $20 if it becomes a 'valued image'.
  2. 10-20c per scanned page on Wikisource.
  3. $50 for a 'good article' on Wikipedia.

Once the affiliated organisation has been paid the pre-allocated amount, the committee will consider increasing the maximum payable to the affiliated organisation after reviewing the content provided and the financial needs of the organisation.

This will allows small organisations to pay for their basic running costs by doing what they do best.

Large grants

Affiliated organisations are given preferential treatment for larger grants from Wikimedia Australia. This recognises that organised groups of people, with their own board, are more likely to deliver on promised outcomes, and are more suitable holders of any assets which may be needed in order to deliver those outcomes.

The ability for affiliated organisations to apply for larger grants provides an attractive opportunity for the preferred type of affiliated organisations, being small organisations whose mission aligns well with our own. By coordinating our resources, both people and money, we allow our affiliations to develop into long-term relationships which are not simply symbolic. In addition, they already have a regional base, organisation structure, and reporting structures, which extends our own reach.

Transferable membership

2. affiliated organisations will be able to transfer Wikimedia Australia membership to another person appointed as their representative. This will require an amendment to rule (10)(a). This is to allow them to exercise control over who their representative member of WMAu is, if they have a WMAu member.

Membership discount

Members of affiliated organisations receive a significant discount to Wikimedia Australia membership (50%?), on top of the concession discount if applicable. Ideally this would be reciprocal, with WMAu members able to join their organisation for a discount too. The idea here is to strength ties between the organisation and grow (geographical or topical) clusters of support in our own membership.

This will allow university students to bring their annual WMAU membership down from $20 to $10 if they come together in a student club, or if they participate in an affiliated volunteer organisation. Alternatively they can put the $10 saved on membership towards the membership fee of an affiliated organisation.

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