Movement roles project/Peer organizations/Models/Mozilla
 | This page is kept for historical interest. Any policies mentioned may be obsolete. Related to now concluded Wikimedia movement roles project. |
Description
[edit]Mozilla Foundation is a web-based, volunteer-driven NGO network
- About 50k active volunteers (bugzilla accounts)
- Builds local support mainly through informal activities
- Avoiding a chapter structure or “entities without goals for effective contribution to the global movement”
- Most legal entities are in the USA
- Entities outside the USA (one in France and one in Japan) do not have independent boards
Three reasons why users like this model
[edit]- Responsive and flexible: can operate and decide globally with minimum of fuss
- Inclusive: can invite volunteers to participate anywhere on their own terms without formal membership
- Efficient: low overhead
Three concerns of users about this model
[edit]- Centralized
- North American
- Need to drive participation around the world
Other examples
[edit]Another web-based volunteer organization similar to Mozilla is Creative Commons
- outside USA partners with existing organizations
- Has pulled back from creating chapters
- More focused on building participation
- Board is co-opted with active recruitment for non-US member(s)
A number of older NGOs with global reach have also maintained a relatively centralized global organization through a number of cycles of growth while nurturing local roots, such as African Medical and Research Foundation, BRAC, The Nature Conservancy, Human Rights Watch, or Americares.