ARC minutes 2025-02-27

ARC meeting minutes | Thursday 27th February 2025, 5 pm - 7 pm [online]

Welcome and Apologies

Present: Adrian Beidas (AB), Alex Ashby (AA), Lucy Crompton-Reid (LCR), Sharon Mitcheson (SM), (Observer), Belvin Tawuya (BT), Chuks Ogbonna (CO) Minuting

Apologies: Daria Cybulska (DC), Martin Christy (MCH), Mark Cruickshank (MC).

Approval of previous minutes

The minutes were approved as read.

Update on actions arising at the last meeting

SM gave an update; all was taken as presented.

Financials (SM)

QFMR Q4 2024 - 25:

SM talked through members our financial position at the end of Q4 2024/25, as detailed in the Finance commentary.

• AB asked about how SM feels about the heavy cash that we have, and she reported that we are in the process of moving an additional £85k onto the Insignis platform for investment.
• AB asked for clarification about the GiKs, and SM clarified that the amounts are the actual salaries (and on costs) for Wikimedians in Residence where we have a formal partnership agreement with the host institution. LCR also noted that we have regular (monthly) reports from all residents.
• AA asked for clarity on the Wikimania spend. SM said she would reword it on the paper to make it clear that the planned spend for 25/26 was coming out of 24/25 due to the high surplus.

Fundraising & Development Report (BT):

BT reported that we submitted four applications in the last quarter, but not all of them were successful. We received feedback for two applications, which indicated that the lack of success was due to overwhelming demand. However, we did not receive feedback for the other two applications.

Currently, there are four applications in the pipeline, each targeting different donors and at various stages of the process.

BT also requested the board's support for a landscape workshop aimed at shaping WMUK’s ethical strategy. He will be sending invitations to trustees soon and hopes for a positive response. Additionally, he emphasized the importance of the upcoming corporate fundraising event.

• AA asked for more context to the applications that have been submitted to be added to the report to provide some context to the committee.
• AB asked about the Trusts and Foundations and how it has evolved over the past 10 years. LCR answered that over the years, she had taken the responsibility to do the applications but that it’s become a bit easier with more resources on the team. She stressed that we need to be realistic and also selective with the Funds that we go for. AB said that clearly there have to be Trusts and Foundations that align with our goals. He also asked for the number of applications we have made in the past.
• AB asked about the Income for the WMF and if their number are expected to reduce over the years. LCR answered that there is no indication of that yet but that we cannot say for sure.
• AB mentioned the possibility of using AI for things like note-taking for board meetings and helping us with the applications to the Trusts and Foundations. BT responded that that is something that will be considered and if we think it is necessary we will take the actions on it.
• SM asked AA about implications on our environment and sustainability impact with using AI and would we need to consider what platform we used?  AA responded that we would need to review this in line with the policy but he didn’t see a problem with a log of the AI resources out there.  SM will investigate further. .  

ACTION: Collect the number of Applications Made to the Trusts and Foundations.

ACTION: Share a draft funding application with ARC

Risks Register (LCR):

LCR reported that she has updated the register to include a potential damage to WMF's profile as a charity and the possible loss of its non-profit status. This situation could also have an impact on WMUK. Additionally, LCR reported success regarding the categorization of the impacts of the OSB.

• AB agreed that the possible damaged reputation of the WMF profile is a possible risk. He also asked about the possibility of the WMF having less money because of the emergence of AI and the public having less need to use Wikipedia. He suggested we make the first risk even broader to include that.
• AA also talked about the possibility of bank failure (Unity Trust Bank) while we had a huge amount of money.  SM will reword the entry in the Risk Register.

ACTION: LCR to reword risk number one.

Any Other Business

None

Meeting closed at 18:16