Axel Boldt wrote:
I hope we have the nonprofit setup soon, and if we can't get it setup, we should start raising donations without an organization. Kuro5hin raised 35000 dollars in a few days -- I'm not sure if we can get that high, but we should certainly try.
I don't think asking for donations is the way to go once a non-profit is in place. The US is full of foundations that are happy to throw money at half-baked proposals vaguely related to education. Pretty much every billionaire sets up a foundation like that. You just write a grant proposal and wait for the money to come in. Lots of people in academia make their living that way. And we are talking at least an order of magnitude higher than your figure above.
I don't think that the Foundation should generally reject donations except when they come with strings attached. Being able to make a modest donation within one's means can give a sense of belonging.
Two cautions come to mind right away: 1. We need to avoid any perception that a person's value to the Wikipedia community depends on the amount of donation. The amounts may need to be kept secret. 2. There needs to be a refund mechanism for banned people who somehow believe that their donation gives them a protection against banning.
Eclecticology