Wikimedia Foundation Service Provider Travel Guidance
 | This policy or procedure is maintained by the Wikimedia Foundation. Please note that in the event of any differences in meaning or interpretation between the original English version of this content and a translation, the original English version takes precedence. |
I. Purpose
This Service Provider Travel Guidance ("Guidance") is intended for Service Providers who have agreed to the terms of a Wikimedia Foundation Master Services Agreement (MSA). The Wikimedia Foundation ("Wikimedia" or "WMF") believes that traveling in the name of its mission can be a critical part of raising the visibility of Wikimedia projects. Wikimedia may use and contract with Service Providers to help further its mission.
The purpose of this Guidance is to ensure that Service Providers who must travel to fulfill their Scope of Work (SOW) with Wikimedia and request reimbursement for travel are treated equally and fairly.
Wikimedia's guiding travel principles for Service Providers:
- Wikimedia encourages its Service Providers to use Wikimedia funds responsibly. If travel is required Wikimedia encourages Service Providers to travel in an economical and sustainable manner.
- Wikimedia Service Providers are expected to include travel and related expenses in their MSA SOW.
- If unexpected travel necessary for the delivery of contracted services arises, the Service Provider must obtain written pre-approval from their WMF Contact for that travel. The Service Providers may be reimbursed for actual legitimate, reasonable and necessary travel expenses incurred while on Wikimedia business based on the established allowances as set forth in this Guidance and the MSA.
II. Scope
This Guidance applies to all Service Providers' travel and related business expenses incurred while traveling in order to fulfill their SOW with Wikimedia.
III. Guidance
This Guidance is intended to assist Wikimedia's Service Providers with their travel plans by establishing principles and requirements for travel-related reimbursements.
Wikimedia is entrusted with responsibly stewarding resources for the Wikimedia movement.
As noted above, Service Providers should include expected travel in their contract fees and SOW. If unexpected travel in relation to the Wikimedia SOW arises, the Service Provider should obtain written pre-approval from the primary WMF Contact so that reasonable and necessary travel expenses incurred while delivering on the SOW may be reimbursed.
As a result, Wikimedia recommends that Service Providers, in order to receive reimbursements for their reasonable and necessary travel expenses, are aware:
- Proper documentation must be provided for reimbursement of expenses.
- Wikimedia suggests the lowest available airfares should be sought when making bookings.
- Wikimedia suggests the standard for rail travel is economy class.
- Service Providers shall be reimbursed actual and reasonable expenses in accordance with the MSA.
- Travel-related expenses should be directly related to the services provided to Wikimedia under the MSA and approved as legitimate, necessary and reasonable by Wikimedia in order to be reimbursed.
- Under the MSA, the Service Provider needs written pre-approval by the WMF Contact for expense reports. Items that are not reimbursable should be brought to the attention of the Service Provider prior to being submitted for reimbursement.
- Service Providers must submit travel expense reports, with all required information, to Wikimedia within 30 days of incurring the expenses, unless a longer delay is approved by their WMF Contact. Wherever possible, requests for reimbursement shall be included in invoices for payment submitted by Service Provider subject to the payment terms.
- When invoicing for reimbursement, the Service Provider should itemize the approved travel expenses aside from the rendered service/goods and submitted as required in the MSA and SOW.
- While this Guidance is intended to be comprehensive, it is impossible to anticipate every situation that a Service Provider may face. Wikimedia expects travel-related expenses to be legitimate, reasonable and necessary and the Service Provider is expected to apply this Guidance prudently. Any legitimate, reasonable, and necessary business-related travel expenses that are not covered by this Guidance should be proposed to and approved in advance by the WMF Contact.
- Wikimedia may deny reimbursement for an expense that is not legitimate, reasonable and necessary under this Guidance.
IV. Definitions
Service Provider - A service provider, vendor or consultant that has agreed to a Wikimedia MSA and SOW.
WMF Contact - The Wikimedia staff member who will review and get approval for business travel expenses before they are submitted by the Service Provider for reimbursement of payment.
V. Document version history
| Version | Date | Author | Change description |
| 1.1 | 2023-01-26 | Legal | Draft specifically for Service Providers from Travel Policy |