Given the UK support is about 10% of the total support, has there been consideration given to setting up a UK Foundation, to promote Wikimedia and raise funds in the UK?
UK law means that for donations to UK charities, either the donor can reclaim the tax they've paid on the donation, or the charity can (so if a donor gives GBP10, the charity can receive a total of GBP12.80). This is obviously more attractive to both donor and charity.
There would be practical issues to consider - of administration, legal matters for setting it up, how trustees etc would be decided, and how the donations received from this charity could be put to use for Wikimedia, but I thought it was worth raising, as I haven't seen it yet on this list.
(On a related note, has consideration been given to providing a "proper" facility for people to donate via credit or debit card (Visa, Mastercard, Diners etc)? Not everyone has Paypal, and their fees are quite high. If there's going to be this quantity of donations received on a regular basis, the investment in a WorldPay type system might pay off. [I've investigated this for a small UK charity I'm a trustee of, so the issue is fresh in my mind - apologies if this has been discussed before])
On Sat, 19 Feb 2005 01:43:46 -0800 (PST), Daniel Mayer, Wikimedia CFO wrote:
On Day 1 (Friday eastern US timezone since PayPal data are not available in UTC) we made $9,939.47 (USD equivalent) through a combination of PayPal and MoneyBookers.
PayPal breakdown: AUD 314.03 (247.27 USD) CAD 334.40 (271.58 USD) EUR 3413.75 (4464.75 USD) GBP 475.17 (899.77 USD) JPY 28340 (269 USD) USD 3424.63 Total 9576.78 (USD equivalent)
Scott Keir scottkeir@yahoo.co.uk
On Sunday, February 20, 2005 3:20 AM, Scott Keir scottkeir@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
[Snip]
has there been consideration given to setting up a UK Foundation, to promote Wikimedia and raise funds in the UK?
I had a quick look into it, and it looks do-able, but there are some issues (for example, the Wikimedia Foundation United Kingdom could not merely send collected monies overseas to the Wikimedia Foundation and expect to be granted charity status, but would have to be a proper institution in its own right, with a Plan and so on); however, it does look like it would be a not entirely insensible thing for us to do.
Obviously, long-term, WMFUK would be sub-ordinate to WMFEU (or perhaps just WMFE?) which, in turn, would function at the behest of the WMF; however, only the last of these three organisations currently exist, so... :-)
As I have said a few times before (;-)), I would be happy to help out with the establishment of a UK Foundation.
[Snip]
Yours,
I certainly think a Wiki UK foundation would be a good idea. So good luck in setting it up!
Walter van Kalken
--- Scott Keir scottkeir@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
(On a related note, has consideration been given to providing a "proper" facility for people to donate via credit or debit card (Visa, Mastercard, Diners etc)? Not everyone has Paypal, and their fees are quite high. If there's going to be this quantity of donations received on a regular basis, the investment in a WorldPay type system might pay off. [I've investigated this for a small UK charity I'm a trustee of, so the issue is fresh in my mind - apologies if this has been discussed before])
Yep - This is going to happen, likely before the next fund drive. But we will keep PayPal as alternate payment option.
-- mav
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On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 03:20:07 +0000, Scott Keir scottkeir@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
Not everyone has Paypal, and their fees are quite high.
Paypal allows you to donate with a credit card... and their fees are among the lowest I've seen. Are you sure you're referring to their current fee schedule, and not remembering what it was like two years ago?
On Sun, 20 Feb 2005 03:20:07 +0000, Scott Keir scottkeir@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
Given the UK support is about 10% of the total support, has there been consideration given to setting up a UK Foundation, to promote Wikimedia and raise funds in the UK?
Yes, there has. See http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/British_Wikimedia_chapter
There is currently an issue about exactly what area the chapter should cover. British Isles or UK or only England & Wales (since those have a separate charity law from Scotland etc)
There has been limited interest in the chapter so far. Only ten people have pledged any interest, despite 86 people being listed at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:UK_Wikipedians%27_notice_board
Angela.
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