Are you by any chance American?
Cheers,
peter
-----Original Message-----
From: wikimedia-l-bounces(a)lists.wikimedia.org
[mailto:wikimedia-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of Chris Keating
Sent: 19 December 2014 01:47 PM
To: Wikimedia Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Fwd: Our final email
I have to say, I don't see anything remotely objectionable in that email.
Bold italicised text on a yellow background might not win any design awards but effective
fundraising often doesn't win design awards.*
I am not 100% sure how much donors care how soon our fundraiser ends (these days at
least, a few years ago they did get fed up with the perpetual Jimmy banners). However
talking about that does give a sense of urgency to the copy, which again is a key part of
fundraising that actually raises money.
It is of course a reasonable point of view that the WMF and Wikimedia movement have too
much money and shouldn't really try to raise any more. If you hold that view then I
suppose it's reasonable to ask the fundraising team to make their emails more inept.
However, I don't think that is a sensible view to take at the moment (or, probably,
ever).
Chris
*(Actually, the only fundraising industry award I've ever been involved in winning
were for things that looked very nice, but that doesn't disprove the general
principle)
On Thu, Dec 18, 2014 at 11:08 PM, Liam Wyatt <liamwyatt(a)gmail.com> wrote:
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…
U3Mzc1MDY0NjcS1&b=0&j=NTgzMzA0NDgwS0&mt=1&rt=0
.
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…
U3Mzc1MDY0NjcS1&b=0&j=NTgzMzA0NDgwS0&mt=1&rt=0
.
https://donate.wikimedia.org
<
http://links.email.donate.wikimedia.org/ctt?kn=3&ms=NDc2NDYzOTUS1&r…
U3Mzc1MDY0NjcS1&b=0&j=NTgzMzA0NDgwS0&mt=1&rt=0
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…
U3Mzc1MDY0NjcS1&b=0&j=NTgzMzA0NDgwS0&mt=1&rt=0
------------------------------
"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-vid
eo-reflects-contributions-from-people-around-the-world/
,
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?
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