On Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 12:52 AM, Liam Wyatt <liamwyatt(a)gmail.com> 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.
I agree. WMDE has already put aside a portion of its budget to plan for
Wikipedia's 10th birthday in 2011. There's definitely a lot of potential
here, not just from a fundraising perspective.
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).
I think that's an excellent idea :)
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.
It's country-dependent. From what I know, personal income tax returns in
most European countries cover a Jan-Dec period. So the last few days of the
year are also the last chance for donations to be included in that return.
From a purely revenue-maximizing perspective, it makes
sense to keep the
fundraiser in November/December.
Best regards,
Sebastian