Volunteer Policy

This policy was approved at the Board Meeting on 11 February 2012.

The Wikimedia movement, and Wikimedia UK as part of it, is driven by volunteers. The movement is run almost entirely by a community of volunteers—they generate the content, administer the projects, form and implement policies, speak to the press, and maintain relations with our users and the public. This is central to the way our movement, and Wikimedia UK, operates.

In particular, Wikimedia UK is led by volunteers. It has a membership of volunteers that elect a board of volunteers. The membership also exercises its will over the chapter through the AGM and through other means.

However, volunteers cannot always provide the expertise, time or reliability that is necessary to perform certain roles, and for Wikimedia UK (and our movement generally) to be as effective as it can be, certain roles must be performed by paid staff. Where necessary, therefore, we must hire staff to support the volunteers.

Wikimedia UK must meet various legal, financial and other obligations. Therefore, Wikimedia UK is committed to a course of professionalisation. In order to maintain our values and culture as a volunteer-driven movement, that professionalisation must take place within certain limits. To that extent:

• staff should only do things that volunteers either cannot do or do not want to do,
• wherever possible, volunteers should be included in all the activities of the chapter,
• the chapter should be represented to the public and the media by volunteers wherever possible,
• the chapter and its staff will, wherever possible, facilitate the work of volunteers to further our goals,
• the operations and activities of the chapter, and in particular the work of staff, should be as transparent as possible in order to enable volunteers to perform their vital role in the oversight and governance of the chapter.

Volunteers are encouraged to support the work of the chapter by:

• running and supporting initiatives to further our goals,
• proposing new initiatives for the chapter to pursue,
• representing the chapter to the public and the media,
• contributing to discussions and consultations about the work of the chapter,
• becoming a member of the company, electing the Board of Trustees, standing for the Board of Trustees and proposing and voting on other resolutions at General Meetings,
• keeping the chapter informed of their activities so that the staff and other volunteers can support those activities and ensure they are well coordinated with the other activities of the chapter
• holding the Trustees and staff to account, through public and private discussion and, ultimately, through votes at General Meetings, to ensure that the chapter acts effectively and in accordance with the values of our movement.

This policy shall be reviewed by the Board, in consultation with the Chief Executive and the community, on an annual basis. Compliance with this policy will also be assessed in staff annual appraisals. The review will examine whether the policy is being appropriately followed and whether the policy is still appropriate or if it should be amended.