[Foundation-l] Fundraising and site notice

[Anthere]

Gerard Meijssen wrote:
> Oldak Quill schreef:
> 
>>On 07/01/07, Florence Devouard <anthere at anthere.org> wrote:
>>  
>>
>>>Hello everyone.
>>>
>>>Just for a head up (or down)
>>>
>>>First, I wanted to announce to all that there will be no more matching
>>>donors in that fundraiser.
>>>This is due to a variety of reasons, including, but not limited to, the
>>>reaction of some members in the community.
>>>    
>>
>>Regardless of whether I agreed with the Virgin notice or not, this is
>>an excellent move on behalf of the Foundation. It demonstrates the
>>Foundation's responsiveness to Wikimedians and that there is no
>>bureaucratic disconnect (which is always a worry when a project like
>>ours begins to organise into formalised institutions and structures).
>>
>>Thanks Florence and the rest of the team. You're doing an excellent job.
>>
>>  
> 
> Hoi,
> I am afraid you did not read the whole of Florence her e-mail, or you 
> only read what you want to read.. "Fourth, we'll go on with limited 
> funds. Limited means we'll go delaying certain issues. That's life !"
> 
> This means that things that are deemed necessary will not happen or will 
> not happen in the near future for lack of funds. There have been no 
> serious proposals on how the WMF can make the money that it requires. 
> And where you see responsiveness, I fail to see how our aim is indeed 
> best served when you consider our growth and our lack of current funding.
> 
> In my opinion this is at best a Pyrrhic victory.
> 
> Thanks,
>     GerardM
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrrhic_victory

It was not clear cut.
There was responsiveness to the logo issue. Some members were greatly 
distressed at the logo, and many were not very happy with it. So, some 
board members asked if we could avoid having the logo entirely.

However, the decision to not have the firm a matching donor was more 
technical. They will not be called matching donor, but they will still 
give a hand. So there is no loss of support.

I'll add that some people wrote to Virgin United to complain about them 
being matching donors. I wonder if they will do the same with all next 
matching donators, maybe even going as far as trying to publicly shaming 
them for being matching donors. This will be certainly something to take 
into account.

There is a board meeting next week, I will tell you more about it in a 
few days. Discussion over our financial situation will be of course an 
item of the agenda. As well as what we intend to do to increase our 
revenue. Any solution aside from fundraising will require getting 
professional help in any cases.

ant