Wikimedia Foundation fundraising is now making a misunderstanding about Wikipedia. Some mass media report that WMF and WP is now encountering financial difficulties so WMF urges public donation.[1][2][3] Well, I don't know that is what WMF intended to say, but we need to let the public know facts. If there is misunderstanding, we may need to make a press release.
---- Links (Korean) [1] - http://news.donga.com/3/all/20111121/42046137/1 [2] - http://www.wikitree.co.kr/main/news_view.php?id=50747 [3] - http://news.khan.co.kr/kh_news/khan_art_view.html?artid=201111201226491&...
On 7 December 2011 15:28, Woojin Kim kwj2772@gmail.com wrote:
Wikimedia Foundation fundraising is now making a misunderstanding about Wikipedia. Some mass media report that WMF and WP is now encountering financial difficulties so WMF urges public donation.[1][2][3] Well, I don't know that is what WMF intended to say, but we need to let the public know facts. If there is misunderstanding, we may need to make a press release.
This misunderstanding happens every year. You would think the media would realise that we have a fundraising drive every year at this time...
On 7 December 2011 17:28, Thomas Dalton thomas.dalton@gmail.com wrote:
On 7 December 2011 15:28, Woojin Kim kwj2772@gmail.com wrote:
Wikimedia Foundation fundraising is now making a misunderstanding about Wikipedia. Some mass media report that WMF and WP is now encountering financial difficulties so WMF urges public donation.[1][2][3] Well, I
don't
know that is what WMF intended to say, but we need to let the public know facts. If there is misunderstanding, we may need to make a press release.
This misunderstanding happens every year. You would think the media would realise that we have a fundraising drive every year at this time...
Well you know; at the start of the drive the foundation is short of cash. And at the end they are note.
QED?
At least for most media :)
Tom
On 7 December 2011 18:08, Thomas Morton morton.thomas@googlemail.com wrote:
Well you know; at the start of the drive the foundation is short of cash.
Not really. The Foundation has plenty of reserves. The fundraising drives aren't a desparate attempt to avoid going bankrupt. They are a routine, planned way of generating revenue. In the long-run, the Foundation couldn't keep going without fundraising, but that doesn't mean it's in any kind of financial difficulty.
On 7 December 2011 19:05, Thomas Dalton thomas.dalton@gmail.com wrote:
On 7 December 2011 18:08, Thomas Morton morton.thomas@googlemail.com wrote:
Well you know; at the start of the drive the foundation is short of cash.
Not really. The Foundation has plenty of reserves. The fundraising drives aren't a desparate attempt to avoid going bankrupt. They are a routine, planned way of generating revenue. In the long-run, the Foundation couldn't keep going without fundraising, but that doesn't mean it's in any kind of financial difficulty.
Yes I know. I was being ironic ;)
Tom
On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 7:05 PM, Thomas Dalton thomas.dalton@gmail.com wrote:
Not really. The Foundation has plenty of reserves.
I believe the figure is that they have 6 months of operating costs in reserve.
Whether you regard that as "plenty" depends on one's personality I would say.
On 9 December 2011 11:37, Bod Notbod bodnotbod@gmail.com wrote:
On Wed, Dec 7, 2011 at 7:05 PM, Thomas Dalton thomas.dalton@gmail.com wrote:
Not really. The Foundation has plenty of reserves.
I believe the figure is that they have 6 months of operating costs in reserve.
Whether you regard that as "plenty" depends on one's personality I would say.
I think it's a little more than that because they've been underspending, and that's without making any cuts. If the fundraiser were a complete flop (obviously, it hasn't been, and it was never likely that it would be), I'm sure the WMF could keep Wikipedia running for at least a year without any major problems.
We need to continue fundraising if we want to keep doing everything we have planned and if we don't want to run dangerously close to having an empty bank account, so the current fundraiser is certainly very important, but the situation is far from desperate. Everything is going as planned, and it would be extremely reckless to have planned to let things get desperate.
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