Re: [Foundation-l] Wikimedia Donation Buttons Upgrade

(As this email may enact changes that affect the total Wikimedia community, please feel free to forward or post this email on any and all applicable lists. I would like as much feedback as possible.) Wikimedians-- We have begun exploring ideas for enhancing the visibility of the donate button not only within the Wikimedia main skin but also on every page of every Wikimedia project. We hope that enhancement will enable us to better informing our public that we are dependent on their donations as we promote the free and open knowledge movement. We expect that a small change to the Wikimedia main skin will result in big returns in donations--donations we use to keep the Wikimedia movement alive and growing. I expect that in return for a bit of enhanced visibility, we will see a daily increase of up to 20% in donations. Working with the same professional designer that worked on last year's donation page (http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate/Now/en), we have culled his 30+ button ideas into 6 that represent some of the better designs. We have posted several design options for your comments and input here: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundraising_2009/Donation_buttons_upgrade I would like your input and advice in figuring out both how to make this buttons look better and how to make the language around the buttons better. In addition, we are exploring adding different language underneath the Title Bar of an article. Design is only half of this change...words are important. What are the simplest words we can use (we are aware that these changes may get translated to numerous other languages) that will convey what we want to convey? You, collectively, have proven to be amazing at using words and communicating with our users. How can we reach them? One of these designs borrows from our look and feel from our previous campaign and another resembles the look and feel of Paypal. What do you think of those? We are curious about how look and feel associated with online payments will increase the need or opportunity to make a donation. The objective here is to take the average Wikimedia user and get them to recognize we are a non-profit and that our future depends on their donations. How can we better show our users that we are a charity? Again, your time and input is appreciated. To see the designs, go here: http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundraising_2009/Donation_buttons_upgrade -Rand