Engine room
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| 2013 2014 2015 |
Review of Wikimedia UK structure
Statement by D'Arcy Myers, interim chief executive:
As a part of my work as the interim chief executive of Wikimedia UK the board asked me to undertake a review of our structure and organisation. This task has been ongoing for some time and concluded with the board meeting held this past weekend.
With the board, I have concluded that some changes to the composition and structure of the staff team will position the charity to deliver best impact against our charitable objectives.
These changes may result in some redundancies, and the staff affected are being informed. This has been a challenging time and I thank the staff team for their professionalism throughout this period of review.
I look forward to continuing to lead the charity through the ongoing transition until a permanent chief executive is in post and ready to take over.
Posted on behalf of D'Arcy Myers --MichaelMaggs (talk) 16:49, 9 March 2015 (GMT)
Wikimedia UK update, 24 March 2015
Draft annual accounts for the 2014-15 financial year
Today we are releasing our draft annual accounts for the 2014-15 financial year, ending 31st January 2015. The contents of these accounts have been a matter of significant concern for the Board, and we are making this statement to provide some context and to set out the steps we have taken.
In December 2013 the board approved a budget for 2014-15 based on expected income of £623,000. Net income over the period was in line with expectations but expenditure on Wikimania and other projects was not well controlled during the latter part of last year, and we are facing a projected deficit of £192,000 as against our original budgeted deficit of £32,000.
While Wikimania 2014 was an international success, for which volunteers, the Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia UK can all take some credit, the experience was challenging for us as the local chapter. Although we were not running the conference, we were providing significant staff and logistical support, and we did so too enthusiastically given that not all of our expenses were recoverable. Overall, and after allowing for a one-off Foundation grant of £65,000 to cover our international support, we overspent by around £45,000.
Our Wikimedians in Residence programme gained real traction over the year with demand significantly outstripping available funds, resulting in an overspend of £49,000. Much of this arose from agreements made with several high-profile organisations late last year which could not have been deferred without significant reputational damage to the charity. The board had hoped that these costs could have been delayed until February, when they would have fallen into the 2015-16 financial year, but have been advised that that is not possible.
There were smaller overspends on a variety of other project areas as well.
Finally, we had an off-budget net expense of £57,000 during the year, representing the Chief Executive transition.
These disappointing overspends in 2014-15 have left us with reserves of only £165,000, which is below the £200,000 level that the board considers to be the acceptable minimum for a charity of our size.
Action to restore stability
Immediately that the charity's overspends became clear, shortly before the December 2014 board meeting, the interim CEO, supported by the board, introduced a moratorium on further non-essential expenditure until a 2015-16 budget could be prepared. In order to allow time for the interim CEO to review activity the second volunteer strategy day as well as a number of other projected programme activities were postponed.
Draft budget and plans for 2015-16
We are also today releasing our draft budget for 2015-16. This is subject to amendment, particularly on staff costs.
The funds we have available to spend on charitable programmes will be significantly lower than in 2014-15. There are three main factors:
- To ensure charity stability it is crucial that we increase our reserves to the minimum level of around £200,000. The board has set a core budget for this year which is break-even or better.
- Our grant from the Wikimedia Foundation has been reduced from £353,000 to £314,000.
- For the moment at least the board does not consider it prudent to set a budget that assumes in advance that the charity will be able to obtain significant project-based or corporate funding, nor that direct debit income can be rapidly increased.
The combined effect of these factors is that the board has to take decisive and fairly radical action to ensure that we can work effectively within our smaller core budget of £570,000 (a full £242,000 below the amount indicated as WMUK's projected budget in the FDC bid of October 2014).
To ensure greater clarity and transparency for the future, as well as better alignment with our strategic goals, our 2015-16 budget will be split into a variety of categories, of which the first three ('contracted', 'necessary' and 'should') cover limited core activities that can be supported within the resources (funds, staff, volunteers etc) we are almost certain to have available. The remaining two categories ('like to' and 'icing') cover activities that we can support only to the extent we can expand our resource base, either by specific project-based or general fundraising, or by building active volunteer engagement.
Our aim with this project-based approach is to encourage community involvement with decisions on what we should do and not do, based on an assessment of which potential projects are best aligned with our strategic goals. A large part of the assessment must be to decide which projects are capable of generating sufficient active volunteer support (and fundability if funds are needed), and then selecting based on those giving the greatest charitable impact for the resources required.
We will need some new community mechanisms to embed volunteer inputs into all of this, and we will be discussing widely, including further discussions at the rescheduled second volunteer strategy day on Saturday 25th July.
WMUK organisational structure
In their comments of November last year the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) said:
- “While the FDC understands that reducing Wikimedia UK’s funding might be a strain on the organization, the FDC hopes it will lead to a productive re-evaluation of priorities and direction. The ED transition should be seen as an opportunity to rethink and restructure. The governance reshuffle and adaptation has been managed well, recommendations brought about by the governance review have been implemented, and board diversity has been achieved, which will provide a strong foundation for the coming transition. At the same time, the FDC notes that it seems difficult to identify a sustainable and clear staff structure beneath the executive level.”
It is clear to the board that many of the assumptions and plans on which the current organisational structure was originally built are no longer fit for purpose. As previously announced, we are already engaged in a review of our staff structure. This is currently in a period of consultation with the staff concerned and it would be inappropriate to discuss in detail. However, the Board’s intention is to have a more streamlined organisation, better focused on our strategic goals, better able to engage with and involve volunteers of all kinds, and more appropriate to the level of resource we have.
The committee further noted:
- “The FDC urges Wikimedia UK to carefully consider its plans to hire additional fundraising staff, and to articulate a clear strategy for how that position will benefit the organization and the movement. The FDC acknowledges that there may be many untapped resources in Wikimedia UK’s context, but resources will need to be clearly identified in order to be targeted effectively.”
The board believes that the charity's existing capacity and model for fundraising is not adequate, and we cannot at present recommend a core budget that assumes significant project-based or general contributions from trusts, foundations and corporates. The board is seeking a permanent Chief Executive with significant expertise in this area, and who is capable of taking a stronger personal lead within a restructured staff team.
--MichaelMaggs (talk) 13:06, 24 March 2015 (GMT), Chair, on behalf of the board
Follow up note: On the advice of our accountant I have struck the paragraph relating to Wikimedians in Residence as it probably gives a misleading impression. In fact, direct cost spend on this programme was almost exactly as expected, and the £49,000 figure is an accounting artefact resulting from the treatment of a gift in kind plus salary costs. Our accountant advises that the two major items which contributed to the overrun of the deficit were (1) Wikimania and (2) the CEO transition expenses. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 17:13, 24 March 2015 (GMT)
Changes to timings of membership approvals
Hi all,
At the meeting of the Board of Trustees on 7th March a decision was made in lieu of a permanent Chief Executive appointment that the full board of trustees would return to considering and approving applications for memberships i.e. these will not be done under the scheme of delegation by a staff member until a permanent appointment is made and following induction.
In practical terms this means new members (whether a former lapsed member applying or a brand new member) will apply for membership as before, but it will not be approved and therefore active until the date of the next meeting of the board of Trustees.
The language on our sign up page now reads:
New member: Your application to become a member of Wikimedia U.K. is now pending approval. If you are applying following a previous membership expiring then you will need to be re-approved. Following a decision made by Trustees on 7th March 2015 memberships will be approved by the full board of Trustees pending the recruitment of a permanent Chief Executive. The dates of board meetings for the year are 20th June, 25th July (AGM), 12th September, 12th December. New memberships, including those of former members who have lapsed and are re-applying will not be approved until these dates. If you wish you application to be approved today, for example, in order to apply for a micro-grant, please contact membership@wikimedia.org.uk with your request and reasons.
I will share this on the mailing list and ask it be shared in the next 'Friends of Wikimedia' newsletter and in an email to all our trainers and leading volunteers.
Please do continue to encourage supporters and event attendees to consider applying for membership, only make them aware that there will be a wait for approval unless there is an urgent need to consider sooner based on project support (Grant application/Equipment loan)
If you have questions or concerns you can ping here, email membership@wikimedia.org.uk, reply to the mailing list email. Katherine Bavage (WMUK) (talk) 12:03, 30 March 2015 (BST)
Address changes - UX improvements possible
As I've just moved house, I've spent time contact various organisations to update them on my change of address, including Wikimedia UK. The processes and experiences differ quite a lot, but there are a couple of things that would improve the experience for WMUK members using the link at the bottom of the newsletter (the method I used for the first time today):
- When you arrive at the page to enter your new details, there is no header or anything to confirm it is your details that you are changing (determined from my being logged in or following a unique link) or whether the record to be changed is determined from the fields entered. Something as simple as adding "Changing address details for $name" (or something similar) to the top of the page would be reassuring.
- When you've completed the address change, you are taken straight to the homepage. I wanted a confirmation screen to confirm that my details had been updated and/or received for manual processing. Such a confirmation screen would indicate success (or failure) and ask what I'd like to do next:
- Go to the home page
- Contact WMUK about another matter
- Make a donation
- I don't know how many people will choose the last option, but suggesting it to them and giving them a quick way to give can't harm the charity's finances.
I don't have a feel for how easy these changes will be to make (I suspect it'll require some dealing with civi-crm), and they are not of top importance. Thryduulf (talk: local | en.wp | en.wikt) 18:48, 9 April 2015 (BST)
- Hi Thryduulf, adding something like a header to confirm you've arrived at the right page is a a good idea, and I think it may be one for our developers rather than database implementers. Could you explain the issue at bugzilla.wikimedia.org.uk? This will help our developers keep track of the issue. The same probably applies to redirecting the user to a screen offering the options you suggest, and including a confirmation screen (all good suggestions IMO). Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 13:31, 13 April 2015 (BST)
- @Thryduulf Did you file a bug in the end? Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 12:21, 10 June 2015 (BST)
- No, it completely slipped my mind! I'll do it this afternoon. Thryduulf (talk: local | en.wp | en.wikt) 13:03, 10 June 2015 (BST)
- Now done, see bugzilla:380 and bugzilla:381. Thryduulf (talk: local | en.wp | en.wikt) 16:12, 10 June 2015 (BST)
- No, it completely slipped my mind! I'll do it this afternoon. Thryduulf (talk: local | en.wp | en.wikt) 13:03, 10 June 2015 (BST)
2014–15 impact report
Wikimedia UK's impact report to the FDC covering the period from 1 February 2014 to 31 January 2015 is available on meta. Thank you to all the volunteers who made the work possible throughout the year. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 11:03, 14 April 2015 (BST)
CEO appointment progress
Having concluded a few weeks ago that we did not wish to appoint any of the candidates that we initially interviewed for CEO, the board has restarted the search with a new agency. A fresh appointment brief is just being completed, and the executive search will start next week. The position will also be re-advertised. The expected timeline is as follows and I'm happy to be able to say that D'Arcy Myers has kindly agreed to extend his tenure as interim CEO to see us through the process.
- 3 June: Deadline for applicants
Done --MichaelMaggs (talk) 17:20, 17 June 2015 (BST) - 8-18 June: long listing interviews Done --MichaelMaggs (talk) 17:20, 17 June 2015 (BST)
- week of 22 June: shortlist agreed Done --MichaelMaggs (talk) 19:01, 1 July 2015 (BST)
- week of 29 June: first interviews Done --MichaelMaggs (talk) 19:01, 1 July 2015 (BST)
- week of 29 June: second interviews, presentation and informal meetings Done --MichaelMaggs (talk) 19:01, 1 July 2015 (BST)
- Early July: decision and offer Done See #Welcoming Lucy Crompton-Reid as CEO. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 19:20, 13 July 2015 (BST)
- October: start date.
--MichaelMaggs (talk) 11:31, 1 May 2015 (BST)
Restructure and CEO appointment update
Statement by D'Arcy Myers, interim chief executive:
Following on from my statement on 9th March, in which I explained that the board had asked me to undertake a review of the charity's structure, I am now able to give you an update.
The period since March has been one of active review, though out of respect for individual staff and to ensure an objective and fair process we have not been providing a public narrative. I can however now announce that the staff discussions, review, appeal periods and subsequent restructure have just been concluded.
In order to ensure that the charity is best resourced to deliver impactful projects we have made a number of staff role changes, and the total staff headcount has been reduced from 14 to 9. Initially, 8 positions were proposed, but following full discussions with the staff it has been decided that we do actually require 9. The new organogram can be seen on the right. The staff page will be updated to reflect the new staffing over the next two weeks.
It is always regrettable to have to restructure in a way that loses staff who have contributed much to the charity. We thank the departing staff and wish them all the best. If anyone would like to make personal contact, please note that staff emails and accounts on the UK wiki will continue to be active until month end.
I am confident that with the new structure we can be more responsive to new ideas, bringing volunteering into the heart of our projects, and I would encourage you to get involved.
Another change in the staffing of the charity is the quest to find our new CEO. We are looking for an ambitious CEO who will provide strategic leadership and supportive management to volunteers and staff alike. They will be working to increase our profile and impact with our partners, engage with the volunteer community and develop our programme activity. A major part of this leadership will be the development of new income streams. We have retained the charity recruiters Prospectus to manage the recruitment process. You can view the recruitment pack at http://prospect-us.co.uk/jobs/details/hq00156774
We expect to make an appointment in early July, and until such time as the new CEO is in post and ready to take over I am honoured to be leading the charity.
D'Arcy Myers, interim CEO
Posted on behalf of D'Arcy Myers. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 13:26, 12 May 2015 (BST)
- And so we say a fond farewell, with best wishes for the future and thanks for their years of hard work, to... ? The existing "We thank the departing staff and wish them all the best." is oddly general/impersonal. MartinPoulter (talk) 18:16, 13 May 2015 (BST)
Project Coordinator
As you may have seen from the circulated organogram, the programme team has been reshaped. In the new Project Coordinators roles, we are linking various topical project areas (such as GLAM) and volunteer engagement, so that more connected support is given to this work. We are aiming to direct more energy into working in partnerships with external organisations, linking several activities into these bigger projects.
One of the Project Coordinator posts will continue to be focused on the programme in Wales. We have been able to recruit for the second Coordinator internally from the staff team. Now, we are looking to fill the third Project Coordinator position - the post is open for applications and details can be found here. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 12:33, 13 May 2015 (BST)
Volunteering: a call to action
See Volunteer strategy consultation 2015
Wikimedia UK needs your help. We want to transform the way we work so that we can bring volunteering right into the heart of the charity.
We plan to:
- Establish a new volunteer engagement panel or steering group, focusing specifically on volunteering and volunteer engagement
- Embed members into our day-to-day decision making via a new evaluation panel
- Encourage the setting up of volunteer special-interest working groups to replace the existing non-board committees
- Set up cultural/GLAM and educational outreach expert advisory boards to advise the WMUK main board on high-level strategy
- Change our Articles of Association to allow volunteers to be appointed full members of board committees
- Provide more effective support for volunteers via the new project coordinator staff roles
- Move toward project-based working practices to improve efficiency and to enable better self-evaluation of our work
These draft plans follow on from the excellent feedback we received from our last Volunteer Strategy Gathering. They deliberately don't attempt to answer all possible questions about implementation, as we think it best that both further questions and the answers to those questions should come out of collaborative discussions. The plans are not set in stone, and with the community's help they can be improved, strengthened and fleshed out.
We would like your feedback, either online or in person at our next Volunteer Strategy Gathering on Saturday 25th July 2015, in London. For more information, see the links on the consultation page.
Feedback, comments and discussion are more than welcome on the discussion page, or you can email chair
wikimedia.org.uk if you have feedback you would prefer not to make public.
Michael Maggs, Chair --MichaelMaggs (talk) 16:21, 5 June 2015 (BST)
Notice of 2015 AGM
Hi all. Just to let you know that formal notice of the 2015 Annual General Meeting been emailed to members today. If you are a member and have not received your notice, please check that it has not ended up in your spam folder. If you think you should have received a notice but did not, please contract the office now. If you would like to vote at the AGM and you are not currently a member (perhaps because your membership has lapsed) you can apply here (it's only £5!) The board will be approving membership applications at its board meeting this Saturday, 4 July, so please apply before then if you can. It should be possible for applications received after that date but before the AGM on 25th July to be considered by the board, but probably not before the day itself. --MichaelMaggs (talk) 18:59, 1 July 2015 (BST)
Administration and Programme Assistant
We have recently undergone a process of refocusing of our activities, we are now entering an exciting new phase where we want to build on large scale partnerships with external organisations. Strong reporting and administration will be a key element of that. We are looking for a permanent Administration and Programme Assistant to join our staff team. The role will involve providing core administrative and financial support for Wikimedia UK activities, with focus on its programmes and reporting. You will also be the first port of contact for the organisation and supporting the whole of the team in the administrative work of the charity, making it a key role for Wikimedia UK.
Further details can be found here and the deadline for applications is 5pm BST on 20 July. Richard Nevell (WMUK) (talk) 14:29, 3 July 2015 (BST)
Welcoming Lucy Crompton-Reid as CEO
From our chair, Michael Maggs:
I am very pleased to be able to announce today that we have been fortunate enough to secure as our new CEO Lucy Crompton-Reid, currently Director of the national live literature charity Apples and Snakes. Lucy brings extensive experience in volunteer engagement, organisational development, working with strategic partners, media, education, and securing external fundraising from trusts and foundations.
Over the course of her career Lucy has worked in both the charitable and public sectors, including most recently Head of Outreach at the House of Lords where she was strategic and operational lead for education and outreach activities. Before that, she worked at Arts Council England, initially developing strategic partnerships before setting up a new area office with local government and schools partnerships. As Refugee Week National Co-ordinator for the British Refugee Council, Lucy chaired the UK steering group of NGOs and charities, led on media activities, and facilitated hundreds of volunteer cultural events each year. Lucy is passionate about education and learning and is deeply committed to ensuring open access to knowledge and information.
Lucy will be joining us in early October. In the meantime, our interim CEO, D'Arcy Myers, will remain in post and will be working with Lucy to ensure a smooth handover. Please join me in offering Lucy a very warm welcome.
Michael Maggs
From our CEO-elect, Lucy Crompton-Reid:
I’m delighted to be joining Wikimedia UK this October as the charity’s new Chief Executive, and look forward to working with the staff team, board and volunteer community – as well as national and international partners – to develop the work of the organisation. This is a significant time for Wikimedia and for the open knowledge sector more broadly, with the potential to create unparalleled access to educational content, coupled with threats to limit public access to information and knowledge. With nearly 18 years' experience in the arts, charitable and public sectors, I'm passionate about participation, and excited about the opportunity to facilitate greater public engagement with online content and information through Wikipedia and its sister projects, and other Wikimedia UK initiatives.
Lucy Crompton-Reid
--MichaelMaggs (talk) 18:30, 13 July 2015 (BST)
- May I give my congratulations to Lucy and I wish her well in her new role. CT Cooper · talk 21:40, 16 July 2015 (BST)
Membership management improvements
I just thought it might be useful to have a bit of a discussion before the AGM about what people think might be a better way to manage membership. What I would like is access to a secure page where I can review my membership and update my personal details, see a record of my volunteering, check when my next membership renewal is due etc. Something which could be considered is a printable volunteering record, perhaps in summary form, which could help people when applying for jobs, or proving volunteering activity if unemployed. I am sure this can be done in a way which means that once set up it would not require much staff time to keep running effectively. Leutha (talk) 08:46, 14 July 2015 (BST)
Volunteer strategy gathering registration
The registration asks you whether you would like to become a member of WMUK for £5. The only options for the answer to this are "yes" and "no" - there is no provision for "I am already a member". I answered "no" as I don't need to renew my membership at the moment, but it does meant that the metrics you get from the answers to this question are going to be unreliable. Thryduulf (talk: local | en.wp | en.wikt) 17:49, 14 July 2015 (BST)