On Wed, Jan 6, 2010 at 5:03 AM, Michael Snow <wikipedia(a)verizon.net> wrote: That's interesting. I had always thought that it was done at this time of year to coincide with "Wikipedia Day" on Jan.15 but that we just reached our goal early. To that end, Wikipedia Day in 2011 will be our "10th Birthday" and potentially there is a lot of fundraising/media potential around that date. Yes, I can see how the Christmas "giving spirit" would increase the potential donations. If that is the reason why it's run in December, why don't we investigate how donations to WM could be given as a present to a friend/relative. I know a lot of charities offer "gifts" where what you personally receive is a certificate to give as a present to your relative, but the money is actually going to the charity for a nominated purpose. For example: http://www.oxfamunwrapped.com.au/Product.php?productid=94 Could donating to WM somehow be made into a christmas present? I believe we've previously talked about saying things like "donating $30 will run your language's Wikipedia for 'x' minutes" - perhaps we could turn that into a certificate kind of thing? (so long as it was made clear that this was nominal, rather than making a false promise that your donation would be spent at a precise moment in time). As for the tax-adjustment aspect, that may be the case for the US (and granted, that's where most of the money is being raised currently), but different countries have different periods - here in Australia for example the fiscal year is July-June. -Liam [[witty lama]]

On Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 09:04, Sebastian Moleski <sebmol(a)gmail.com> wrote: So do I. I think the 10th birthday is definitely something we want to include as a prominent topic in a "fundraising summit" to come. Planning early is indeed of the essence, especially when we want to take advantage of such events, which only happen once. I think we might also want to try and adjust in a country-specific way for some languages. I know for example the Polish have their tax return (and their biggest fundraising opportunity) around April, while for example chapters-to-be such as India also have their fiscal year running to April. We might want to try and take into account those differences to plan accordingly. Delphine -- ~notafish NB. This gmail address is used for mailing lists. Personal emails will get lost. Intercultural musings: Ceci n'est pas une endive - http://blog.notanendive.org