On Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 09:04, Sebastian Moleski <sebmol(a)gmail.com> wrote:
Yes, I can see how the Christmas "giving
spirit" would increase the
potential donations. If that is the reason why
it's run in December, why
don't we investigate how donations to WM could be given as a present to a
friend/relative. I know a lot of charities offer "gifts" where what you
personally receive is a certificate to give as a present to your relative,
but the money is actually going to the charity for a nominated purpose. For
example:
http://www.oxfamunwrapped.com.au/Product.php?productid=94 Could
donating to WM somehow be made into a christmas present? I believe we've
previously talked about saying things like "donating $30 will run your
language's Wikipedia for 'x' minutes" - perhaps we could turn that into
a
certificate kind of thing? (so long as it was made clear that this was
nominal, rather than making a false promise that your donation would be
spent at a precise moment in time).
I think that's an excellent idea :)
So do I. I think the 10th birthday is definitely something we want to
include as a prominent topic in a "fundraising summit" to come.
Planning early is indeed of the essence, especially when we want to
take advantage of such events, which only happen once.
As for the tax-adjustment aspect, that may be the case
for the US (and
granted, that's where most of the money is
being raised currently), but
different countries have different periods - here in Australia for example
the fiscal year is July-June.
It's country-dependent. From what I know, personal income tax returns in
most European countries cover a Jan-Dec period. So the last few days of the
year are also the last chance for donations to be included in that return.
From a purely revenue-maximizing perspective, it makes sense to keep the
fundraiser in November/December.
I think we might also want to try and adjust in a country-specific way
for some languages. I know for example the Polish have their tax
return (and their biggest fundraising opportunity) around April, while
for example chapters-to-be such as India also have their fiscal year
running to April. We might want to try and take into account those
differences to plan accordingly.
Delphine
--
~notafish
NB. This gmail address is used for mailing lists. Personal emails will
get lost.
Intercultural musings: Ceci n'est pas une endive -
http://blog.notanendive.org