Anthere wrote:
The proposal is available at http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Membership_fees.
This proposal was set based on discussions with many editors, on meta, on irc, by email. Though it is probably not perfect, I believe it is a fair proposal trying to take into consideration all comments made.
I haven't followed most of the discussions, so this is just a first impression, but a fee of $60 seemed a little bit steep, so it surprised me when I first saw it. I'm not sure it's actually a bad idea, but it was a bit surprising. I'm not 100% sure, but I think it's more common to have a somewhat lower minimum membership fee, and then have higher levels with additional mini-benefits for those who can afford them. Of course, part of that is my personal budgeting: I can see myself buying a $20-$30 membership right now without too much thought, but a $60 one would require a bit more consideration, and I might end up just not joining at all if there's no intermediate $30 option. If that's something that a lot of other people would also do, that could be a problem. (Of course, it might also be balanced by some people who maybe would've only given $30 but are now encouraged to give $60, so I'm not sure which one results in the foundation raising more money overall.)
-Mark