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Section 5: Charter Comparisons

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SUMMARY
CONTEXT
PURPOSE
MAPPING
PROPOSALS
BEST PRACTICES


We can also look outward to consider what governance lessons we can learn from open source communities, technology organizations, international NGOs, volunteer-led social movements, etc.

In our initial analysis of charters from other organizations, we found that it is difficult to find apt comparisons for the Wikimedia movement. The primary work for Wikimedia happens online and in public, building the Wikimedia projects. In contrast to humanitarian aid or advocacy organizations, Wikimedia is trying to serve the entire global population at once, and not a particular subset of people in need. Participation in the Wikimedia movement similarly aims to be universally accessible—anyone in the world can potentially contribute, as long as they have an Internet connection. A key aspect of Wikimedia’s work, including a large portion of the work of the Wikimedia Foundation, is developing and operating the technology that underpins the Wikimedia projects and makes them available to the world. But unlike most open source projects, the technology that Wikimedia builds is not the end in itself—our goal is to share knowledge, not just software.

Still, Wikimedia can learn from the way other NGOs and international movements are structured. While Wikimedia’s particular set of challenges, constraints, and opportunities may be unique, we are by no means the first or only movement to try to address the question of how to organize and align the work of many contributors and stakeholders from all over the world.

Here are several reference documents and charters from similar organizations that may be helpful as we look ahead:

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