Slow down a bit. Let's start with the basics. For various technical reasons, a fundraiser should not start at the beginning of the month. Befpre deciding that the fopcus shoudl not be servers, decide what the real needs are. If servers happen to be the primary cost, then that should be the focus. I am wary of turning this into an OLPC/Wikimedia fundraiser, even if just by tying the two organizations together. It may also run counter to our 501 c 3 status, but of this I am not sure. Will the money go to chapters or to the Foundation? Can the chapters transfer money to the foundation if needed? How will funds donated be processed? Who will process them? How will we recognize donors, both by what is required by law and by what is simply a nice way to recognize them? This is an enormous amount of work. Just some thoughts. Danny In a message dated 10/10/2006 3:27:27 PM Eastern Daylight Time, erik(a)wikimedia.org writes: On 10/9/06, Anthere <Anthere9(a)yahoo.com> wrote: Yes, it seems absolutely essential to me that the communication strategy is carefully planned _before_ we ask for money. What have the Foundation and the Chapters accomplished so far? What is the status of our work to bring Wikimedia to developing countries? What have our expenses been? (Get audited financial reports out.) What expenses do we foresee? What strategic projects are around the corner? What is the state of the projects besides Wikipedia, the small languages? The last thing I want is another "WE NEED MORE SERVERS" fundraiser. So, in order to do this properly: Brad - can we assume that the financial statements will be published before Nov 1? Can you work on outlining some expenses over the next 6 months you see as critical, in broad terms (staff, hardware, etc.)? Tim - when are the static dumps going to be ready? Samuel - can you pass on some promotional materials re: the OLPC partnership to the Fundraising Committee? Delphine - can you compile a report on chapter activity (max 10K, pictures would be nice)? What projects were completed, what chapters were set up? Jimmy, Florence - shall we prepare a detailed vision statement on Board Wiki? I volunteer to take a first stab at the structure. Sabine - could you write a little report regarding translation projects, and future activities you can envision in this area? I would suggest early November as a launch of the fundraising drive. I would like to see some new functionality implemented for this fundraising drive as well, e.g. the ability to donate directly from any Wikimedia project page, as well as a more prominent display of donor comments above a certain amount. Most importantly, however, I want us to start working very soon on a decent appeal for support and report of activity so far. I understand that donor attention is limited, so we need to have a very short general appeal, but those who care should be able to find detailed information about what we are doing and why we need support. Ideally, the information we compile here should be useful to approach organizations and wealthy individuals, beyond just a general appeal to the masses. Does that sound reasonable? :-) -- Peace & Love, Erik Member, Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees DISCLAIMER: Unless otherwise stated, all views or opinions expressed in this message are solely my own and do not represent an official position of the Wikimedia Foundation or its Board of Trustees. _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l(a)wikimedia.org http://mail.wikipedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l(a)wikimedia.org http://mail.wikipedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l