Wikimedia Meta-Wiki

Board Member Support

This page is an overview on certain issues that are relevant for board members of Wikimedia affiliates and lays a basis for a community-wide board-skill-documentation. The materials presented here have been used during the annual Board training workshops.[1][2][3][4][5][6] An evaluation of these workshops was published in 2020.[7]

Board member transition

edit
Definition/General info
Course material
Examples

Bylaws and policies

edit
Definition/General info
  • „Corporate and organizational bylaws regulate only the organization to which they apply and are generally concerned with the operation of the organization, setting out the form, manner or procedure in which a company or organisation should be run. “ (w:en:By-law#Organizational_by-laws).
Course material
Examples

Communication policies

edit
Definition/General info
Course material
Examples

Conflict engagement

edit

Conflict of interest

edit
Definition / General info

„A conflict of interest (COI) exists when you have a personal or financial interest that competes with your duty to Wikimedia's mission. If you have a duty to a Wikimedia organization, that duty is your primary obligation. Another personal interest should not influence your ability to make a decision in the best interests of your Wikimedia organization.“

Course material
Examples

Funding

edit
Definition/General info
  • Fundraising ... (also known as "development") is the process of gathering voluntary contributions of money or other resources, by requesting donations from individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies (see also crowd funding). (w:en:Fundraising).
  • Besides the Wikimedia Foundation, Wikimedia Germany and Wikimedia Switzerland are able to run banners and process payments in their respective countries ("payment processing chapters"). General information on Fundraising in the movement can be found here.
  • The Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) is a group of Wikimedians who make recommendations to the WMF Board about Annual Plan Grant proposals. Annual Plan Grants (APG) are Wikimedia movement funds allocated to support an organization’s overall annual plan to achieve mission objectives. Further information can be found here.
Course material
Examples

Governance reviews

edit
Definition/General info

Links to external governance reviews of different WM-affiliates.

Course material
Examples

See Governance Review.

Handbooks

edit
Definition/General info

A board handbook is a document which exposes what it means to be on the board − expectations, posture, dos & don'ts − like a shareholders' agreement. It ensures that every current member of the board has the same vision of the governance. It's also necessary that new or prospective members of the board read and assimilate this vision. The aim is to improve the governance by defining explicitly with all stakeholders "who decides what?" and "who does what?". Thus the handbook does not have to describe the current (and maybe inadapted) functioning but it has to describe the ideal functioning. That way, each stakeholder knows what they have to do, what is expected of them and what they can expect from others.

Course material
Example

See Board Handbook

International relations

edit
Definition/General info
Course material
Examples

Participatory management

edit
Definition

Participatory management requires guessing the motivations and expectations of the stakeholdes and designing their interactions during the planning phase of most projects.

Course material
Examples

Personal effectiveness

edit
General info

The origin of the word "effective" stems from the Latin word effectīvus, which means creative, productive or effective. w:en:Effectiveness

Course material
Examples

Role of a board

edit

including board composition and diversity

Definition/General info
Course material
Examples

Role of ED / staff

edit
Definition/General info

Board-ED-relation is – if applicable – one of the most crucial relationships of the whole association (cf. Carver 2006a).

Course material
Examples
Learning pattern

Self-evaluation of the board

edit
Definition/General info
Course material
Examples

Strategy

edit
Definition / General info

«Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy. [...] Strategy has many definitions, but generally involves setting goals, determining actions to achieve the goals, and mobilizing resources to execute the actions. A strategy describes how the ends (goals) will be achieved by the means (resources).»[8]

Course material
Examples

Tasks of individual board members

edit
Definition/General info
Course material
Examples

Travel policies

edit
Definition/General info

A travel policy is a document that defines the conditions, processes, amounts and expectations surrounding travel reimbursements.

Course material
Examples

See Travel policies.

Volunteer Support

edit
Course material
  • Job Description Volunteers. This is a form that can be used to write a Job Description for volunteers. It was first presented at the Pre-conference Boards training 2018.

Wikimedia Trademarks

edit
Definition/General info

A trademark, trade mark, or trade-mark is a recognizable sign, design, or expression which identifies products or services of a particular source from those of others. The trademark owner can be an individual, business organization, or any legal entity. A trademark may be located on a package, a label, a voucher, or on the product itself.

The Wikimedia marks are trademarks of the Wikimedia Foundation. The Wikimedia trademarks may only be used in accordance with the Wikimedia trademark policy and the visual identity guidelines. Use of these trademarks with the permission of the Wikimedia Foundation does not suggest endorsement by or affiliation with the Wikimedia Foundation.

Almost all Wikimedia chapters have signed the Chapter agreement. Article 4 and 5 of the 2007 Chapter agreement template deal with the use of the Wikimedia trademarks by Wikimedia chapters.

Course material

May I use the Wikimedia marks? Q and A page

Examples

Here you can find the official Wikimedia trademarks.

References

edit
  • Carver, John (2006a): Boards That Make a Difference: A New Design for Leadership in Nonprofit and Public Organizations. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
  • Carver, John (2006b): Reinventing Your Board. A Step-by-Step Guide to Implementing Policy Governance. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.

Notes

edit
  1. ↑ Wikimedia_Summit_2019/Boards_Training
  2. ↑ Wikimedia_Conference_2018/Pre-Conference_Boards_Training
  3. ↑ Wikimedia_Conference_2017/Pre-Conference_Boards_Training
  4. ↑ Boards training workshop April 2016
  5. ↑ Boards training workshop March 2014
  6. ↑ Boards training workshop August 2014
  7. ↑ Evaluation Board Member trainings 2016 - 2020
  8. ↑ strategic planning on English Wikipedia
Retrieved from "https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Board_Member_Support&oldid=26976519"