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Wikimedia Endowment/Meetings/July 16, 2019

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Agenda

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9:00 – 9:10 am: Welcome and Introductions (Lisa)

  • Approve January meeting minutes

9:10 – 9:25 am: Fundraising Update (Kaitlin Thaney)

9:25 – 9:40 am: Planned Giving Program Update (Caitlin Virtue)

9:40 – 10:00 am: Investment and Governance Update

10:00 – 10:25 am: Foundation Update (Katherine)

10:25 – 10:30 am: Next Meeting Date & Topic Confirmation (Lisa)

  • Meeting date, time, and location previously confirmed: January 17th, 2020: 9:00-12:00 pm (PT) San Francisco

Adjourn

Minutes:

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Location: Remote

Meeting Attendees:

Endowment Advisory Board Members: Annette Campbell-White, Peter Baldwin, and Niels Christian Nielsen Regrets: Michael Kim and Jimmy Wales Wikimedia Foundation Staff: Katherine Maher, Lisa Gruwell, Kaitlin Thaney, Caitlin Virtue, Marc Brent, Jerry Kim, Megan Hernandez, and Guillaume Paumier

Summary of Action Items

1) Approved minutes from January 2019 meeting

  • Voting in Favor: Annette Campbell-White, Peter Baldwin, and Niels Christian Nielsen
  • Voting Against: None

2) Fundraising Update (Kaitlin Thaney)

  • $14.6M raised in FY18-19 (80% increase from last year)
  • FY19-20 Goal: $5M and 15+ planned gift commitments

3) Planned Giving Program Update

  • Key discussion points: Planned outreach for Q1; updating the website and donation thank you page to highlight planned giving; and a new partnership with FreeWill.com, a bequest service.

4) Investment and Governance Update (Lisa Gruwell)

  • Financial: Investment committee met over the past few months to discuss possible adjustments to the strategy. Fees at Tides are very competitive, and it doesn’t make sense at the moment to change investment managers.
  • Governance: Holding off on discussions about forming a separate 501c3 until the Wikimedia Foundation completes the hire of a General Counsel. Committee decided to focus on diversifying the funds in each asset class. We heard from our investment manager at Tides yesterday on recommendations for diversifying. We will circle back with Michael to make decisions on adjustments to the policy and funds.

5) Foundation Update (Katherine Maher)

  • Update on Foundation’s Medium Term Plan (MTP), a 3-5 year roadmap for the organization.
  • Strategic Direction: To become the essential infrastructure of free knowledge, and that anyone who shares our vision can join us. A support system for free knowledge. Twin pillars: Knowledge as a service and Knowledge Equity. Goal: 2030
  • MTP: how the WMF interprets what it can do to achieve that Strategic Direction in the next few years. Short-term goals to achieve the longer term direction. Growing participation globally and modernizing our product experience.
  • Update: WMF hired a COO (Janeen Uzell) who started in January and will be driving operational success for the organization.

6) Next Meeting Date & Topic Confirmation (Lisa Gruwell)

  • January 17th, 2020: 9:00am - 12:00 pm (PT) in San Francisco
  • Next Meeting Topic Brainstorm:
    • Wikipedia Legacy Society update
    • Corporate donors and users of Wikimedia
    • 501c3 status since we will have the new GC
    • Update on branding work
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