Movement Charter/Volunteers

Movement Charter

Supplementary documents

Project

Community Consultation

Drafting Committee

Ratification vote

FAQ

Volunteers

Volunteers are the human core of the Wikimedia movement, and have autonomy as individuals to contribute to the Wikimedia vision. A volunteer is a person who donates time and energy to Wikimedia activities, either online or offline, and does project editing, administrative duties, committee engagement, event organization, and other activities. Persons working in their volunteer capacity do not receive salary for these efforts, but may receive expense reimbursements, prizes, gadgets, support packages, allowance, and other forms of recognition and/or support.

Volunteers commit to individual or collective activities in the movement based on personal preferences, and should be empowered to participate whenever possible.

Responsibilities

• All volunteers must follow Wikimedia and project policies while contributing.
• All volunteers are accountable for their contributions to the Wikimedia projects and responsible for their individual actions.

Wikimedia communities

Wikimedia communities are groups of people who contribute online and offline to build and advance the Wikimedia mission. Communities are made mostly of volunteers, joined by paid staff and representatives from mission-aligned partners, and may create or be supported by committees. Wikimedia communities include different project communities, language communities, and technology/developer communities.

Wikimedia project communities have autonomy over the policies within their individual projects. These communities establish their policies within the framework of global policies, including the Terms of Use for the project websites. This autonomy provides opportunities for experimentation to develop new social and technological approaches. Communities are expected to be open about their project and its governance, so that everyone in the movement can work together as a global community to ensure that our processes are fair and unbiased. Almost all decisions made on individual Wikimedia projects are made by volunteer contributors, either individually or as interested groups.

Rights

• Wikimedia communities have full editorial control of the content in their individual Wikimedia project as established by the framework of global policies, including the Terms of Use for the Wikimedia project websites.
• Wikimedia communities are in charge of their own dispute resolution and moderation processes, as long as the communities are not in violation of global policies.

Responsibilities

• Wikimedia communities should be open to participation by the community, and in its governance. Anyone who adheres to the policies and has sufficient time and skills should be allowed, and encouraged, to participate.
• Wikimedia communities should ensure fairness and equity in governance and policy enforcement to maintain the overall health of the community.
• To allow for an open review process of the individual Wikimedia project, Wikimedia communities are responsible for providing truthful and honest information about the project’s state of governance.

Notes