Movement roles project/Movement Partners

Movement partner is a proposed Wikimedia movement affiliate model. It is not official. No such relationships exist. The idea has existed since the early development of the Wikimedia community, and was codified as a proposal during the Wikimedia movement roles project.

A "movement partner" is an organization which is a partner of the Wikimedia movement, but which is not based in the Wikimedia community like the other models of affiliation. One of the motivations for being a Wikimedia affiliate is to enjoy a set of benefits, including permission to use trademarks the the Wikipedia name and logo. There are organizations outside the Wikimedia community, like research institutes, medical organizations, GLAM organizations, universities, and software companies which contribute greatly to the Wikimedia movement and in some way they need a way to describe their affiliation and the nature of those contributions. Giving such organizations a path to become "movement partners" might clarify the relationship between an organization and the Wikimedia community, or set boundaries about how each should related to the other. This would be to the benefit of both parties in the partnership.

Proposed defining characteristics

This page is still in draft mode. Movement Partner candidates currently can apply by posting their interest on the talk page. A final process isn't expected to happen immidiately, but discussions about potential partners can inform that process.

Please help improve these draft parameters through edits or suggestions on the talk page.

• Name: Wikimedia Movement Partners
• Mission: Variable; like minded organizations which are supporting the Wikimedia movement's work
• Territorial range: Variable: global, regional, national
• Incorporation: Any; external to the wikimedia movement
• Minimum rights:

1. Recognition as supporters of the wikimedia movement
2. Relevant trademark use
3. Simplified access to grants

• Minimum duties:

1. Visible support of wikimedia and its projects

• Trademark use: Limited use of the marks on websites and promotional material, via agreement with the WMF.
• Origin of funds: Any; external to the Wikimedia movement. They may have access to Wikimedia grants as per minimum rights
• Relationship with overlapping entities: Cooperation with Wikimedia entities in region
• Board and membership: Any
• Transparency and communication: Full info about organizers
• Recognition from: WMF or Chapters
• Minimum requirements for recognition: An outside group supporting the movement; and supported by us. Simple recognition process, reviewed yearly. Intended for scores of affiliates, or hundreds if it grows to encompass local affiliates.
• Recognition document: Public listing on meta; email to contact person
• Reporting requirements: Their partner/liaisons within the Wikimedia movement should maintain a wiki page about their related work, and any collaborations with Wikimedia groups.
• Mentoring and support: This may be needed, to help them effectively share our message, and to support collaborations.
• Change of status possible: Needs discussion. Some partners could become thematic organizations.
• Withdrawal of recognition: Needs discussion; by or with recommendations by AffCom

Examples

Note that this is not an official status like any of the others. These organizations have a special relationship which is not well-defined, but which is worth mentioning as special and close.

• PediaPress – in 2007 the Wikimedia Foundation established what was called a long-term partnership with PediaPress to supply print-on-demand paper copies of Wikimedia content.
• Centre for Internet and Society – for one or two years, the Wikimedia Foundation had a second office in India. Instead of maintaining it there, a partnership was established with CIS to support the Wikimedia Community in India.
• Wiki Education Foundation – this spin-off of the Wikipedia Education Program manages Wikimedia outreach only in the United States and Canada. It is a separate entity from the Wikimedia Foundation but has assumed the responsibilities formerly held by the Wikimedia Foundation in its region of coverage.
• Potential other movement partners: Mozilla, Creative Commons, WikiEducator, OpenStreetMap

At the 2016 Wikimedia Conference CIS and Wiki Ed were invited to discuss movement partner roles.

• Wikimedia_Conference_2016/Participants'_List#Movement_Partners

Becoming a partner

There is no current official process for any organization to gain affiliation with the Wikimedia Foundation, or to have access to the benefits of affiliation in the manner that the "Wikimedia affiliates" do.

However, there is a precedent of organizations having affiliations with Wikimedia affiliates. For example, a library in a city may have an affiliation with the regional Wikimedia chapter in their country, and together, they might present Wikimedia events.

At "memorandum of understanding" there is a presentation of documents which can be exchanged to establish these kinds of relationships.

See also

• Wikimedia movement roles project