Once again, I call upon the WMF to give the donors an accounting of what the latest Wikimania cost and what the money was spent on. I hear a lot of reasons why the WMF cannot be financially transparent in various areas, and some of those justifications seem reasonable, but I have never seen a good argument for not revealing a detailed budget for any Wikimania. How much is this costing us? Someone is keeping track as the bills come in and verifying that they are legit. Just redact any personal information and publish the accounting. --Guy Macon (talk) 13:12, 11 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

The 2026 events should be the largest conference and celebratory weekends in WMF history. This will be the 25th anniversary of Wikipedia's gift to the world. At least 300 or more scholarships should be given to both the Paris and Edmonton events, an easily met goal if the board of directors just say "Yes, of course!". If money is a concern, and it really shouldn't be given that all monies coming into WMF are basically earned by Wikipedians and earmarked-without-being-earmarked to Wikipedia by contributors, targeted major donors asked and encouraged to fund these 25th anniversary scholarships and events can be easily gotten on-board, probably even by an hour or two of phone calls by Jimbo Wales. Reaching 25 years is a "big deal". Recognizing and honoring this fact, and what Wikipedia, its sister projects, and its volunteer base means to the world, should be fully acknowledged and applauded in 2026 in Paris, in Edmonton, and in society writ large! Randy Kryn (talk) 13:50, 11 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Please note that I did not mention anything about how much money will be spent or whether would be money well spent. That's a conversation for another place and time. All I am saying is "Stop keeping how much you spend and what you spend it on a secret from the people who donated the money you are spending". Can we at least agree on that? --Guy Macon (talk) 16:01, 11 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Easier as something like "Disclose more about where the money is going." Jim.henderson (talk) 16:11, 11 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Well, this is also a conversation about past and upcoming conferences, their funding, and how much things will cost (as much as needed and then some is my opinion). Of course the WMF should report on the cost of the conferences, not seeing any reason why not, maybe in a simple-to-read chart that shows the expenditures over the years including scholarship numbers and funding. As for spending donated money, that's why WMF should do a targeted funding campaign specifically to fund conferences. Phone calls or meetings with several deep-pocket donors who would be happy to participate in giving a bit back to the volunteer editor corps would likely interest people with non-profit money to contribute. Randy Kryn (talk) 16:18, 11 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I am just asking that they tell us what one Wikimania costs. I don't care where the WMF gets donations, other than noting that they have enough money already to keep Wikipedia running for a hundred years without ever again asking for donations. Again, the questions of how much they spend, what they spend it on, and where they get the money are separate issues from the simple request for a single Wikimania to have financial transparency. Every time I ask for this, most of the responses are about how much is spent, on what, and where the money comes from. This is invariably followed by a huge back and forth discussion on those unrelated issues, and my original request for the WMF to knock it off with the secret Wikimania budgets gets ignored as the thread gets hijacked. Happens every time. --Guy Macon (talk) 14:40, 12 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Please note that the comments agree with you, Wikimania costs should be released, why WMF wouldn't seems odd and causes concerns like yours. Not just for one event, but for all worldwide and continental conferences, so we can see the progression. But building on your reasonable request is allowed, not a hijacking ("I'm taking this page to Cuba!"), and requesting a much larger expenditure for the 25th anniversary seems a related topic. Randy Kryn (talk) 14:50, 12 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Hello Rosiestep, maybe you can address Guy's concern. Thanks. Randy Kryn (talk) 15:50, 12 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for the ping, Randy Kryn, but honestly, I'm clueless. Non-staff, e.g. volunteers, who might be better able to respond are the members of the Wikimania Committee (currently: Angie, Andrew, Butch, Eric, Florence, Gnangarra, Ivan, Lodewijk, Phoebe, and Wojciech). --Rosiestep (talk) 18:36, 12 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

You can ask, but I seriously doubt that how much gets spent and what gets spent on is ever revealed to them. Looking at [1], it looks like their role is requesting things and making plans -- nothing about approving or reviewing a budget, making sure that if we pay for catering that the caterers actually show up, etc.

Note that [2] clearly states "Role of Wikimedia Foundation staff: ...Monitor budgets, ensure invoices are processed and help finalize payment where WMF input is required".

This isn't the first time I have asked for an accounting of a single Wikimania. All past attempts have been met with a stonewall of silence from anyone who is in a position to actually know how much we are spending. --Guy Macon (talk) 14:35, 13 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]

I challenge anyone reading this to try to get an answer from anyone who actually works for the WMF or who has access to the financials for any Wikimania to respond, even if the response is "Bugger off, Guy. We don't give information to lowlife scum like you". Anything -- anything at all -- other than staying completely silent and hoping the questions will go away. --Guy Macon (talk) 02:25, 30 November 2025 (UTC)[reply]