* Twas the night before Christmas on Wikimedia *
(Variation on "A Visit from St. Nicholas", written in the year 1823 by
Clement Clarke Moore)
'Twas the night before Christmas, when all thro' the wikis,
Not a creature was stirring, not even a bot;
The stockings were hung by the talk pages with care,
In hopes that Jimbo soon would be there;
The students were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of barnstars danc'd in their heads;
And Mama in her 'kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter's nap —
When out at the village pump there arose such a clatter,
James Alexander sprang from bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the wiki I flew like a flash,
Opened a window, and logged in, in a dash.
What to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer,
With a little old driver, so lively and bold,
I knew in a moment it must be Jimbo.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of barnstars — and Jimbo too:
And then in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney Jimbo came with a bound:
He was dress'd all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnish'd with ashes and soot;
A bundle of barnstars was flung on his back,
And he look'd like a peddler just opening his pack.
And I laugh'd when I saw him in spite of myself;
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And fill'd all the stockings; then turn'd with a jerk,
And laying his finger aside of his nose
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose.
He sprung to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew, like the down of a thistle:
But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight —
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night."
Merry Christmas, Wikimedians. (:
Pine
*This is an Encyclopedia* <https://www.wikipedia.org/>
*One gateway to the wide garden of knowledge, where lies The deep rock of
our past, in which we must delve The well of our future,The clear water we
must leave untainted for those who come after us,The fertile earth, in
which truth may grow in bright places, tended by many hands,And the broad
fall of sunshine, warming our first steps toward knowing how much we do not
know.*
*—Catherine Munro*
Fwd: [Gendergap-l] Another Admin falls +1
From: Russavia <russ..@gma..>
Date: 2014-12-24 17:25
Juhi
Your email has really got to them.
http://wikimediagendergap.wordpress.com/2014/12/11/gendergap-i-another-admi…
Phillipe Beaudette is also on the hook now for ignoring all the child protection policy violating links on Commons publicly posted by WP:LTA/IAC all over Wikipedia and on his talk pages which he redacted.
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=User_talk%3ASecret&diff=639316675…
== Please contact the Arbitration Committee ==
There is something we require you to explain. Please check your e-mail inbox and respond to the message sent to you by the committee before editing again. Thank you. For the Arbitration Committee, [[User:AGK|'''AGK''']] [[User talk:AGK#top|[]]] 10:25, 23 December 2014 (UTC)
Russ.
On Thu, Dec 11, 2014 at 2:04 AM, Juhi Mukherji wrote:
Russ
Sorry for the delay, was out on assignment doing a followup to the Uber radio-cab rape case as some new developments took place. So i'll just bang this off fast to update u all, and correct it later.
> >
> > On 12/10/14, Kevin Gorman wrote:
> >> Hi all -
> >>
> >> Sorry for the slow moderation lately, I've been quite ill and we're down
> >> to
> >> two mods again. Please ignore this string of messages. Russia Aviation
> >> is
> >> most likely related to a group that has had realworld consequences for
> >> ENWP
> >> editors, has no good intentions, and is the reason why this list is
> >> currently on moderation for new members.
> >>
> >> Best,
> >> Kevin Gorman
> --
I have resubbed to this list for this single email and will be unsubbing as
soon as this email is sent.
Please be aware that this Indian group are now spoofing my email address as
this shows....
http://pastebin.com/ZWW1G9aC
They thought by spoofing my email they could get the email through....too
bad I unsubbed some weeks ago with the sickening "Commons is broken"
nonsense.
If anyone else is receiving emails from anyone pertaining to be me, check
with me personally and I will confirm if it is me.
Thanks and happy holidays all.
Russavia
Dear community:
Below you will find the report of activities of October and November 2014
done by the volunteers of Wikimedia Mexico. Please don't hesitate to get in
touch with us if you require extra information about this activities or
only to make some suggestions.
The report is also available on Spanish and English in our wiki:
https://mx.wikimedia.org/wiki/Informes/Octubre_2014/ (October/Spanish)
https://mx.wikimedia.org/wiki/Informes/Octubre_2014/en
(October/English)
https://mx.wikimedia.org/wiki/Informes/Noviembre_2014/ (November/Spanish)
https://mx.wikimedia.org/wiki/Informes/Noviembre_2014/en
(November/English)
Happy holidays! See you next year. Greetings from the Wikimedia Mexico
community.
On behalf our chapter.
Carmen Alcázar (User:Wotancito)
WMMX Secretary.
==Journal October==
;October 3 to 5
* Carmen Alcázar and Iván Martínez participated in the First Meeting of
Digital Activists of Indigenous Languages, organized by Global Voices of
Rising Voices, Surco, A.C., and the Research Library "Juan de Córdova".
;October 4
* Wikipedia edition workshop at Capilla del Arte, in the city of Puebla,
state of Puebla, offered by Pepe Flores.
;October 14
*Participation in the seminar France-Mexico "Learning communities and
digital resources", organized by Digital Communities for Learning in Higher
Education (Codaes), the Secretariat of Public Education (SEP), and the
Ministère de l'Éducation Nationale de l'Enseignement Supérieur et de la
Recherche, France Université Numérique.
;October 16
*Participation in ''"Diálogos para una #CiudadAbierta"'' (Talk towards an
#OpenCity) in Mexico City
;October 17
*Meeting with Ricardo Trujillo Vega, Communications Sub-Director at the
National Museum of Art (MUNAL) about GLAM projects.
*Talk about Wikipedia to undergraduate studies at the Police Academy (Calz.
Desierto de los Leones, Mexico City) by Gustavo Sandoval Kingwergs.
*Carmen Alcázar meeting with Mariel García and Indira Cornelio from
SocialTic towards the organization of a Feminism Edit-a-thon:
#EditatónFeminista
;October 20
*Virtual meeting with Salvador de Jesús Sánchez García, Promotion
Coordinator at the Ciudad Juárez Museum of Art, aboutGLAM projects.
;October 23
*Participation in the 21st National Week of Science and Technology at the
Milpa Alta Technogoly Institute. Topic of the talk was "Wikipedia and its
roots in freedom", by Iván Martínez.
*Talk in the Art University (Unarte) in the city of Puebla
;October 24
*Meeting with representatives of the Digital Humanities Network, for
consulting in Wikimania 2015's content and programme
;October 25
* Monthly Wikipedia editing workshop, by Christian Cariño, Fernanda López
and Omar Sandoval.
*Workshop at Capilla de Arte in Puebla, by Pepe Flores
;October 27
* Moebius 909 radio show: From "Dying of laughter" to Tom Waits
;October 29
* Meeting with Micaela Chávez Villa, Director and Staff of the Daniel Cosío
Villegas Library, part of El Colegio de México (Colmex) about GLAM projects.
;October 30
* Talks in the Autonomous University of Aguascalientes, within the
#EditatónAgs (Aguascalientes Edit-a-thon): "Wikipedia and its roots in
freedom" by Iván Martínez and "Wikimedia Commons and free licenses" by
Carmen Alcázar
;October 31
*Editatón Aguascalientes at the Autonomous University of Aguascalientes.
==Journal November==
;November 3
*Moebius 90.9 radio show: "From Lenin to pan de muerto (bread of the dead)".
;November 4
*Presentation of GLAM projects to Nelson Carro, head of the Department of
Film Programming at Cineteca Nacional.
*Meeting with SocialTic, Ímpetu, A.C. (impetumexico.org) and others to work
at the Projects:Gender gap reduction project in Wikipedia.
;November 6
*Participation of Iván Martínez in the meeting held at Fonoteca Nacional:
"From copyright to copyleft. Intellectual property of files".
;November 11
*Carmen Alcázar offered workshops about Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons to
four groups at Hebrew College Maguen David.
*Followup meeting with Centro Cultural Universitario Tlatelolco.
*Presentation of GLAM projects to Lidia Camacho, director of the Fonoteca
Nacional [Mexico's National Audio Library].
;November 12
*Conference offered by Iván Martínez: "El impacto de la Reforma en
Telecomunicaciones [The effects of the telecommunications reform]",
Technological Institute of Ciudad Madero.
*Conference offered by Carmen Alcázar: "Proyectos Wikimedia y Licencias
Creative Commons [Wikimedia Projects and Creative Commons Licenses]",
Technological Institute of Ciudad Madero.
;November 13
*Conference offered by Iván Martínez: "Lo libre de la Enciclopedia Libre o
de cómo Wikipedia llegó a convertirse en la referencia en Internet [What is
free in the Free Encyclopedia or how did Wikipedia became the reference in
Internet]", Technological Institute of Ciudad Madero.
*Basic Wikipedia edition workshop offered by Carmen Alcázar, Technological
Institute of Ciudad Madero.
;November 14
*Followup meeting with Lidia Camacho, director of the Fonoteca Nacional
[Mexico's National Audio Library], attended by [[User:Wotancito|Carmen
Alcázar]], [[User:Correogsk|Gustavo Sandoval Kingwergs]],
[[User:ProtoplasmaKid|Iván Martínez]] and [[User:Alanlzd|Alan Lazalde]].
;November 15
*Edit-a-thon about the Middle East in Puebla.
;November 17
*Moebius 90.9 radio show: "From mariachi to summer of love."
;November 21-23
*Participation of [[User:Wotancito|Carmen Alcázar]] and
[[User:ProtoplasmaKid|Iván Martínez]] at Iberoconf 2014 in Buenos Aires,
Argentina.
;November 24
*Moebius 90.9 radio show: "From La Castañeda hospital to Pink Floyd."
;November 28
*Wiki workshop at the Faculty of Philosophy and Literature (UNAM).
;November 29
*Monthly Wikipedia workshop at Telmex Hub offered by Paulina Sánchez and
Andrés Cruz y Corro.
;November 30
*Participation of Gustavo Sandoval Kingwergs in the XVIII International
Congress of Translation and Interpretarion San Jerónimo [Saint Jerome] 2014
("Translation in evolution"; Organización Mexicana de Traductores, A.C.
[Mexican Organization of Translators]-Guadalajara International Book Fair):
"Wikipedia y traducción: el izquierdo de autor y una nueva forma de trabajo
[Wikipedia and translation: copyleft and a new way of working]".
Hi Pats,
(offlist)
The English form seems to work fine. However, if I am clicking iDEAL in
Dutch, it puts the address/name as a required field - while this should not
be necessary in iDEAL. Seems like an easy bug to fix.
But also when I enter a name etc, it simply returns to the same page,
unlike in ENglish, where it takes me to the bank. Maybe reset the
translations?
Also, in English the Friesland Bank option seems to be broken. Not sure if
that is a bug on your side or at iDEAL.
Just some bugs I was able to spot without too much effort - hope you can
pass it on to the right people.
Thanks,
Lodewijk
On Fri, Dec 19, 2014 at 9:30 PM, Patricia Pena <ppena(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
>
> Hi Lodewijk,
>
> Thanks for letting us know! IDEAL has been back up in the page, but we
> recently made a few changes that ended up accidentally removing the option
> from the form. It's all fixed now :)
>
> Regarding IBAN: Finance is still working with our bank and we should be
> sending an update once we hear from them.
>
> Thanks,
> Pats
>
> On Thu, Dec 18, 2014 at 2:39 PM, Lodewijk <lodewijk(a)effeietsanders.org>
> wrote:
> >
> > Hi Pats,
> >
> > Please be aware that iDEAL is still not functional on the Dutch
> fundraiser
> > page. Also, IBAN is missing.
> >
> > Best,
> > Lodewijk
> >
> > On Mon, Nov 17, 2014 at 10:16 PM, Lodewijk <lodewijk(a)effeietsanders.org>
> > wrote:
> > >
> > > Hi Patricia,
> > >
> > > Thanks for telling that the iDEAL will be back soon. I don't quite
> > > understand from your answer why you add the increased hurdle of
> emailing
> > > the team for the IBAN though. Am I overlooking something?
> > >
> > > Best,
> > > Lodewijk
> > >
> > > On Mon, Nov 17, 2014 at 10:06 PM, Patricia Pena <ppena(a)wikimedia.org>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > >> Hi Lodewijk,
> > >>
> > >> Currently IDEAL is temporarily down on our pages (it went into
> > maintenance
> > >> mode after our annual campaign), but should be back up soon :) We
> know
> > >> the importance of this method for Dutch donors and have supported this
> > >> option since we started fundraising in the NL. We also support offline
> > >> bank
> > >> transfer (IBAN) and donors can get the account number with our Donor
> > >> Services team.
> > >>
> > >> We had an extremely successful Fundraising campaign this year, and
> there
> > >> will be some great mobile optimization coming up in the next few
> months,
> > >> which will allow mobile donors to complete their donations in a much
> > >> faster
> > >> and easier way.
> > >>
> > >> Thanks!
> > >> Pats
> > >>
> > >> On Mon, Nov 17, 2014 at 11:28 AM, Lodewijk <
> lodewijk(a)effeietsanders.org
> > >
> > >> wrote:
> > >>
> > >> > A while back now, the chapters were no longer allowed to fundraise,
> > >> because
> > >> > the Wikimedia Foundation argued they would be better able to do
> this.
> > At
> > >> > the time, this sounded somewhat reasonable. However, since then,
> there
> > >> have
> > >> > been some disturbing developments - at least for Dutch donors.
> > >> >
> > >> > No longer it is possible to pay electronically (iDEAL, one of the
> most
> > >> > common methods is no longer supported - 'electronic banking' simply
> > >> refers
> > >> > you back to the credit card page) or even via regular bank transfer
> > >> (using
> > >> > an IBAN) in the Netherlands. The donation page
> > >> > <
> > >> >
> > >>
> >
> https://donate.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:FundraiserLandingPag…
> > >> > >
> > >> > only
> > >> > allows credit card and paypal, and the 'other ways to give' simply
> > sends
> > >> > you to the helpdesk if you want to make a bank transfer payment.
> > >> >
> > >> > What is the reasoning behind this? Have bank transfers become a
> legal
> > >> > swamp? Are there statistics suggesting that this method was no
> longer
> > >> > required by donors? Did the European bank account somehow get
> > >> temporarily
> > >> > suspended?
> > >> >
> > >> > If it has become so hard to donate, maybe it makes more sense to
> send
> > >> the
> > >> > donors to the local chapter pages where they can actually donate in
> > the
> > >> > local suitable methods (in this case, Wikimedia Netherlands offers
> > both
> > >> > iDEAL and IBAN
> > >> > <http://www.wikimedia.nl/pagina/doneren-aan-wikimedia-nederland>).
> > >> >
> > >> > One of the Dutch OTRS team members asked for elaboration, but didn't
> > >> quite
> > >> > get a satisfying answer. I hope this is a temporary situation, and
> > that
> > >> > this threshold will be removed again. It would be sad if we go
> through
> > >> all
> > >> > kind of trouble to enable long tail methods like bitcoin, but skip
> > bank
> > >> > transfer...
> > >> >
> > >> > Best,
> > >> >
> > >> > Lodewijk
> > >> > _______________________________________________
> > >> > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> > >> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> > >> > Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> > >> > Unsubscribe:
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
> > ,
> > >> > <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org
> ?subject=unsubscribe>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >>
> > >> --
> > >>
> > >> Pats Pena | Sr. Manager, Global Operations
> > >> Wikimedia Foundation
> > >> office +1 (415) 839 6885 x6764
> > >> cell: +1 (415) 816 3349
> > >> fax: +1 (415) 284 9511
> > >> ppena(a)wikimedia.org
> > >>
> > >> *Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in
> > the
> > >> sum of all knowledge. That's our commitment. Donate.
> > >> <https://donate.wikimedia.org/>*
> > >> _______________________________________________
> > >> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> > >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> > >> Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> > >> <
> >
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/GuidelinesWikimedia-l@lists.w…
> > >
> > >> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
> ,
> > >> <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > _______________________________________________
> > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> > Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> > <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
> >
>
>
> --
>
> Pats Pena | Sr. Manager, Global Operations
> Wikimedia Foundation
> office +1 (415) 839 6885 x6764
> cell: +1 (415) 816 3349
> fax: +1 (415) 284 9511
> ppena(a)wikimedia.org
>
> *Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the
> sum of all knowledge. That's our commitment. Donate.
> <https://donate.wikimedia.org/>*
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at:
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
> Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
>
Hello, all.
It's coming close to time for annual appointments of community members to
serve on the Ombudsman Commission. This commission works on all Wikimedia
projects to investigate complaints about violations of the privacy policy,
especially in the use of CheckUser tools, and to mediate between the
complaining party and the individual whose work is being investigated. They
may also assist the General Counsel, the Executive Director or the Board of
Trustees in investigations of these issues. For more on their duties and
roles, please see http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Ombudsman_commission
This is call for community members interested in volunteering for
appointment to this commission.
Commissioners should be experienced Wikimedians, active on any project, who
have previously used the CheckUser tool OR who have the technical ability
to understand the CheckUser tool and the willingness to learn it. They are
expected to be able to engage neutrally in investigating these kinds of
concerns and to know when to recuse when other roles and relationships may
cause conflict. (In the past, commissioners have turned in other roles that
could cause conflict, but per-case recusal is generally sufficient at our
current levels of staffing this role.)
Commissioners are required to identify to the Wikimedia Foundation and must
be willing to comply with the appropriate board policies, such as the
access to non-public data policy and the privacy policy. This is a position
that requires a high degree of discretion and trust.
If you are interested in serving on this commission, please drop me a note
detailing your experience on the projects, your thoughts on the commission,
and what you hope to bring to the role. Operating proficiency in English is
necessary; other languages are a plus, although not required - the OC is
international in scope. The commission is deliberately quite small, so
slots are limited, but all applications are appreciated. The deadline for
applications is January 1. Any timezone. :)
Please pass this invitation along to any users who you think may be
interested.
Thank you!
Maggie
--
Maggie Dennis
Senior Community Advocate
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.
Two weeks ago I emailed the fundraising team with the following note, quietly and discretely pointing out an error in their messaging. Sadly I haven't had a reply and I think that in the UK they are still using the £3 buys a coffee for a programmer line:
> Aside from the incidental nature of the appeal, £3 and $3 are very different sums of money. When I saw $3 I thought that was an expensive way to buy coffees and that the WMF should invest in a kettle and some mugs. But £3 for a coffee, now that just looks wasteful, even to someone living in an expensive part of London. I dread to think what it looks like to someone living in other parts of England, let alone cheaper parts of the world. "£3 gets coffee and biscuits for a potential wikipedian coming to a training session", that I could defend.
>
> There's also the honesty/credibility factor. I doubt I am the only person seeing different versions of these ads including different currencies, if the sums are this far apart the suspicion has to be that none of the figures are to be trusted. Not a great help to our program of improving Wikipedia quality and getting such details right in our articles.
Regards
Jonathan Cardy
>
> 3.
>>
>>
>> To protect our independence, we'll never run ads. We receive no government
>> funds. We survive on donations from our readers. If all our past donors
>> simply gave again today, we could end the fundraiser. Please help us forget
>> fundraising and get back to improving Wikipedia.
>>
>> We are deeply grateful for your past support. This year, please consider
>> making another donation to protect and sustain Wikipedia
>> <http://links.email.donate.wikimedia.org/ctt?kn=3&ms=NDc2NDYzOTUS1&r=NzU3Mzc…>
>> .
>>
>> https://donate.wikimedia.org
>> <http://links.email.donate.wikimedia.org/ctt?kn=3&ms=NDc2NDYzOTUS1&r=NzU3Mzc…>
>>
>> Thank you,
>> Jimmy Wales
>> Wikipedia Founder
>>
>> PS: Less than 1% of our readers donate enough to keep Wikipedia running.
>> Your contribution counts!
>> *DONATE NOW »*
>> <http://links.email.donate.wikimedia.org/ctt?kn=3&ms=NDc2NDYzOTUS1&r=NzU3Mzc…>
>> ------------------------------
>>
>>
>> "our final email"?
>> This is the last email reminder you'll receive"?
>> Surely that should be qualified with "... this year."??
>> If that weren't embarrassing, what about...
>>
>> - Using *bold* AND *italics *AND yellow backgroud colouring all at the
>> same time in the heading.
>> - Sending an email on the 18th of December saying that if "ALL past
>> donors simply gave AGAIN today" [my emphasis] then you wouldn't need to do
>> any more fundraising "for the rest of the year", i.e. for 2 weeks!!
>> - On the one had it says "we'll never run ads" but in the sentence
>> immediately beforehand pleads help to us stay "ad-free another year".
>> - Does the phrase "Less than 1% of our readers donate enough to keep
>> Wikipedia running" mean a) that less than 1% of readers donate, which is
>> enough to keep us running, or b) that less than 1% of readers who have
>> donated, donated enough to keep us running (implying that the other 99% of
>> donors didn't donate enough)?
>> - Finally, this email is addressed from Jimmy, but when you receive a
>> "thank you for donating" email, it's addressed from Lila. [I should note
>> that the thank you for donating email IS very positive and
>> mission-oriented].
>>
>>
>> *Effectiveness != Efficiency*
>> One of the official WMF Fundraising principles
>> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundraising_principles> is "*minimal
>> disruption*...aim to raise money from donors *effectively*" [emphasis is
>> original].
>> I believe that this wording has been interpreted by the fundraising team to
>> mean *"*do the fundraising as quickly as possible". However, I contest that
>> "less disruption" and "more effective" is not the same as "shorter
>> fundraiser". i.e.: Effectiveness != Efficiency.
>>
>> I am sure that these desperate fundraising emails/banners are *efficient *at
>> getting the most amount of money as fast as possible (they have been honed
>> with excellent A/B testing), but, they achieve this by sacrificing the core
>> WMF fundraising principle of being *minimally disruptive. *In fact, they
>> actually appear to be following a principle of being "as *maximally *disruptive
>> as they can get away with, for as short a time as required".
>>
>> Can the WMF to say how "minimal disruption" and "effective fundraising" is
>> defined in practice, and how they are measured?
>>
>> *Shareable vs Desperate*
>> On the same day that the WMF communications team release this inspiring and
>> positive "year in review" video
>> <https://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/12/17/wikipedias-first-ever-annual-video-re…>,
>> this fundraising email sounds negative and desperate. It is all about not
>> advertising and staying online for another year.
>>
>> Couldn't the "year in review" video have been used in the fundraising email
>> to tell a positive story about all we have achieved this year? That's the
>> kind of thing Wikimedians will want to share and feel proud about, not
>> something that almost bullies you to donate out of a sense of
>> moral-obligation.
>>
>> *Fundraising "operating principles"*
>> I would like to reiterate my call to see us develop some practical
>> "operating principles" for fundraising that would give some real-world
>> guidelines for website-banners and emails. Board of Trustees member Phoebe
>> has done an excellent job of summarising the fundraising conversations on
>> this list from the last few weeks here:
>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Fundraising_principles
>> I would like the Board to ask the Fundraising team (once this fundraiser is
>> finished) to develop these operating principles in a collaborative process
>> with interested community members. This is in the hope that in the future,
>> the community can help spread the word and feel empowered to join
>> the fundraising campaign for our movement, rather than simply hoping it
>> will go away as quickly as possible.
>>
>> After all, the final official WMF fundraising principle is:
>> "Maximal participation: Consistent with the principles of empowerment
>> underlying Wikimedia’s success, we should empower individuals and groups
>> world-wide to constructively contribute to direct messaging, public
>> outreach, and other activities that drive the success of Wikimedia’s
>> fundraising efforts"
>>
>> -Liam
>> p.s. by the way, has anyone from the WMF talked the Russian community yet
>> about why they aren't allowed to donate?
>> _______________________________________________
>> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines
>> Wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org
>> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-request@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 4
> Date: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 19:12:41 -0500
> From: MZMcBride <z(a)mzmcbride.com>
> To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
> Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Fwd: Our final email
> Message-ID: <D0B8D003.463EC%z(a)mzmcbride.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> Liam Wyatt wrote:
>> *Effectiveness != Efficiency*
>> One of the official WMF Fundraising principles
>> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundraising_principles> is "*minimal
>> disruption*...aim to raise money from donors *effectively*" [emphasis is
>> original].
>> I believe that this wording has been interpreted by the fundraising team
>> to mean *"*do the fundraising as quickly as possible". However, I contest
>> that "less disruption" and "more effective" is not the same as "shorter
>> fundraiser". i.e.: Effectiveness != Efficiency.
>
> Thanks for this e-mail. I agree with you that these donation solicitation
> e-mails are terrible and unbecoming.
>
> In my opinion, the fundraising principles are simply too weak. They seem
> to have been designed with maximum flexibility, which for guiding
> principles would typically be fine, but the fundraising team needs much
> stricter boundaries. Harder rules, backed by a Wikimedia Foundation Board
> of Trustees resolution, are required. Repeated and repeated misbehavior on
> the fundraising team's part makes it clear that the current guidelines
> aren't enough. New rules would specifically address, for example, how
> big and obnoxious in-page donation advertising can be, with hard maximums.
>
> The fundraising rules also need to make explicit that lying is flatly
> unacceptable. Having the first rule be "don't lie" might be the easiest
> solution here, though it's shocking that this needs to be written down.
> The fundraising teams, past and present, regularly lie to our readers in
> an effort to extract donations. Specific examples of lying include calling
> Sue Gardner the "Wikipedia Executive Director", calling Brandon Harris a
> "Wikipedia programmer", and repeatedly making manipulative and misleading
> suggestions that continued donations keep the projects online.
>
> The Wikimedia Foundation recently raised $20 million. Assuming a generous
> $3 million to keep the projects online per year, that's over six _years_
> that the projects could continue operating before needing to ask for money
> again. Contrast with e-mails and in-site donation advertising that
> suggest that the lights will go off soon if readers don't donate today.
>
> MZMcBride
>
>
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 5
> Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 00:21:31 +0000
> From: David Gerard <dgerard(a)gmail.com>
> To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
> Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Fwd: Our final email
> Message-ID:
> <CAJ0tu1GosObr6texiO5U+GpB2kZsxqQ1N8ykkmsA1aLPOF2mww(a)mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
>> On 19 December 2014 at 00:12, MZMcBride <z(a)mzmcbride.com> wrote:
>>
>> The fundraising rules also need to make explicit that lying is flatly
>> unacceptable. Having the first rule be "don't lie" might be the easiest
>> solution here, though it's shocking that this needs to be written down.
>
>
> +1
>
> And we're not talking about semantic arguments, we're seeing blatant falsehoods.
>
>
> - d.
>
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 6
> Date: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 10:59:50 +1000
> From: Craig Franklin <cfranklin(a)halonetwork.net>
> To: Wikimedia Mailing List <wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
> Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Fwd: Our final email
> Message-ID:
> <CAHF+k3-6xezDZ+Q5O45-KNeEfd7O-92aeUzd83AHun30LdS4Kw(a)mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8
>
>> On 19 December 2014 at 10:12, MZMcBride <z(a)mzmcbride.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>> The fundraising rules also need to make explicit that lying is flatly
>> unacceptable. Having the first rule be "don't lie" might be the easiest
>> solution here, though it's shocking that this needs to be written down.
>> The fundraising teams, past and present, regularly lie to our readers in
>> an effort to extract donations. Specific examples of lying include calling
>> Sue Gardner the "Wikipedia Executive Director", calling Brandon Harris a
>> "Wikipedia programmer", and repeatedly making manipulative and misleading
>> suggestions that continued donations keep the projects online.
>>
>> The Wikimedia Foundation recently raised $20 million. Assuming a generous
>> $3 million to keep the projects online per year, that's over six _years_
>> that the projects could continue operating before needing to ask for money
>> again. Contrast with e-mails and in-site donation advertising that
>> suggest that the lights will go off soon if readers don't donate today.
> Please add my name to the list of people who are troubled by what's been
> said and done in the latest round of fundraising.
>
> I think that most of us, even if we feel some distaste for begging for
> money, realise the importance and necessity of engaging in fundraising.
> The fact that we're asking for money is not the problem. The problem is
> that in order to maximise the amount of revenue gained, the Fundraising
> team has engaged in a misleading scare campaign. In the short term, that
> means that a few more dollars will flow into the Foundation's coffers, but
> in the long term it just damages the brand and the entire movement.
>
> It is very disappointing that the responses from the WMF to these entirely
> reasonable concerns so far have been either:
>
> a) Silence
> b) Completely ignoring the point ("The fundraiser has been very successful
> because we've received more money, and those who are not aware that they've
> been mislead are not upset!")
> c) Semantic word games ("Well, in a technical sense what we've said is not
> a lie, depending on how you look at it")
>
> The solution that I'd like to see for next time is less focus on A/B
> testing that has its sole purpose of maximising the amount of revenue
> raised, and more of a view to alternative ways to raise money. Imagine a
> world in which we gave our readers a positive message that we already had
> enough money to keep the lights on thanks very much, but needed more to
> build cool new tools, improve the quality of the project content, and
> implement more innovative projects to meet our movement's goals.
>
> Regards,
> Craig Franklin
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
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>
> End of Wikimedia-l Digest, Vol 129, Issue 85
> ********************************************
This email was sent by WMF fundraising today.
I'm embarrassed. Read the email first, then I'll tell you why, below.
*Da:* "Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia" <donate(a)wikimedia.org>
*Data:* 17 December 2014 10:15:56 pm GMT+1
*A: [email address removed]*
*Oggetto:* *Our final email*
*Rispondi a:* donate(a)wikimedia.org
*If all our past donors simply gave again today, we wouldn't have to worry
about fundraising for the rest of the year.*
Dear [name removed],
This is the last email reminder you'll receive. We hope the response to
today's email will let us end the fundraiser. Please take one minute to
keep Wikipedia online and ad-free another year
<http://links.email.donate.wikimedia.org/ctt?kn=3&ms=NDc2NDYzOTUS1&r=NzU3Mzc…>
.
To protect our independence, we'll never run ads. We receive no government
funds. We survive on donations from our readers. If all our past donors
simply gave again today, we could end the fundraiser. Please help us forget
fundraising and get back to improving Wikipedia.
We are deeply grateful for your past support. This year, please consider
making another donation to protect and sustain Wikipedia
<http://links.email.donate.wikimedia.org/ctt?kn=3&ms=NDc2NDYzOTUS1&r=NzU3Mzc…>
.
https://donate.wikimedia.org
<http://links.email.donate.wikimedia.org/ctt?kn=3&ms=NDc2NDYzOTUS1&r=NzU3Mzc…>
Thank you,
Jimmy Wales
Wikipedia Founder
PS: Less than 1% of our readers donate enough to keep Wikipedia running.
Your contribution counts!
*DONATE NOW »*
<http://links.email.donate.wikimedia.org/ctt?kn=3&ms=NDc2NDYzOTUS1&r=NzU3Mzc…>
------------------------------
"our final email"?
This is the last email reminder you'll receive"?
Surely that should be qualified with "... this year."??
If that weren't embarrassing, what about...
- Using *bold* AND *italics *AND yellow backgroud colouring all at the
same time in the heading.
- Sending an email on the 18th of December saying that if "ALL past
donors simply gave AGAIN today" [my emphasis] then you wouldn't need to do
any more fundraising "for the rest of the year", i.e. for 2 weeks!!
- On the one had it says "we'll never run ads" but in the sentence
immediately beforehand pleads help to us stay "ad-free another year".
- Does the phrase "Less than 1% of our readers donate enough to keep
Wikipedia running" mean a) that less than 1% of readers donate, which is
enough to keep us running, or b) that less than 1% of readers who have
donated, donated enough to keep us running (implying that the other 99% of
donors didn't donate enough)?
- Finally, this email is addressed from Jimmy, but when you receive a
"thank you for donating" email, it's addressed from Lila. [I should note
that the thank you for donating email IS very positive and
mission-oriented].
*Effectiveness != Efficiency*
One of the official WMF Fundraising principles
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundraising_principles> is "*minimal
disruption*...aim to raise money from donors *effectively*" [emphasis is
original].
I believe that this wording has been interpreted by the fundraising team to
mean *"*do the fundraising as quickly as possible". However, I contest that
"less disruption" and "more effective" is not the same as "shorter
fundraiser". i.e.: Effectiveness != Efficiency.
I am sure that these desperate fundraising emails/banners are *efficient *at
getting the most amount of money as fast as possible (they have been honed
with excellent A/B testing), but, they achieve this by sacrificing the core
WMF fundraising principle of being *minimally disruptive. *In fact, they
actually appear to be following a principle of being "as *maximally *disruptive
as they can get away with, for as short a time as required".
Can the WMF to say how "minimal disruption" and "effective fundraising" is
defined in practice, and how they are measured?
*Shareable vs Desperate*
On the same day that the WMF communications team release this inspiring and
positive "year in review" video
<https://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/12/17/wikipedias-first-ever-annual-video-re…>,
this fundraising email sounds negative and desperate. It is all about not
advertising and staying online for another year.
Couldn't the "year in review" video have been used in the fundraising email
to tell a positive story about all we have achieved this year? That's the
kind of thing Wikimedians will want to share and feel proud about, not
something that almost bullies you to donate out of a sense of
moral-obligation.
*Fundraising "operating principles"*
I would like to reiterate my call to see us develop some practical
"operating principles" for fundraising that would give some real-world
guidelines for website-banners and emails. Board of Trustees member Phoebe
has done an excellent job of summarising the fundraising conversations on
this list from the last few weeks here:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Fundraising_principles
I would like the Board to ask the Fundraising team (once this fundraiser is
finished) to develop these operating principles in a collaborative process
with interested community members. This is in the hope that in the future,
the community can help spread the word and feel empowered to join
the fundraising campaign for our movement, rather than simply hoping it
will go away as quickly as possible.
After all, the final official WMF fundraising principle is:
"Maximal participation: Consistent with the principles of empowerment
underlying Wikimedia’s success, we should empower individuals and groups
world-wide to constructively contribute to direct messaging, public
outreach, and other activities that drive the success of Wikimedia’s
fundraising efforts"
-Liam
p.s. by the way, has anyone from the WMF talked the Russian community yet
about why they aren't allowed to donate?