Task force/Movement Roles/Wikimedia roles
< Task force | Movement Roles
This is a collection of tasks, roles and responsibilities which are needed within the Wikimedia universe. Please feel free to add or comment.
Foundation's roles
(from here)
- Maintaining the technical platform. This is done by a mix of paid staff and volunteers
- Software development, including the usability project and the Commons multimedia development projects. This is done by a mix of paid staff and volunteers
- Leading the Foundation, including strategic planning, financial planning, programmatic activity planning
- Public outreach: primarily developing best practices and resources materials and working with volunteers. The Foundation doesn't do any public outreach "by itself": it is always working in collaboration with volunteers
- Various forms of volunteer coordination: working with OTRS, supporting committees, staging workshops for the all-chapters meeting, supporting Wikimania, speaking at volunteer outreach events, supporting chapter development, etc.
- Business development: making mission-friendly deals, normally ones aimed at increasing reach (e.g., Orange, WikiReader, PediaPress)
- Media and PR and issues management: The Foundation speaks with the media on behalf of the Foundation, works with volunteers to give them background and information so they can develop and disseminate their own positions, and creates a variety of media/branding outputs e.g., the annual report, signage, etc.
- Finance and administration and compliance: Most of this work is related to the Foundation itself (e.g., doing the audit, creating the Form 990 for the IRS, handling payroll, etc.), although it does also manage small grants to chapters and individual volunteers, handle travel arrangements for Wikimania scholarship attendees, etc.
- Legal defense of the projects, including a very small amount of advocacy work on behalf of the Wikimedia movement
- Fundraising. The Wikimedia Foundation fundraises primarily for the Wikimedia Foundation, although it also does some coaching and supporting of chapters that participate in the annual campaign
- Supporting the Wikimedia Board of Trustees and the Advisory Board. Drafting statements/positions/policies, creating plans and reports, plus the administrative work (booking travel, taking board meeting minutes, etc.)