--- Michael Snow <wikipedia(a)earthlink.net> wrote:
I would add that the correlation between readership
and donations is
more apparent during the periods when we are explicitly having a
fundraiser. We may be able to support the sites to a large extent that
way for now, but having fundraisers too frequently will desensitize
people to them. Getting into a position where we have to run intrusive
sitewide notices every other month would lead to a vicious cycle of
diminishing donations leading to declining performance.
Having monthly fund drives would be very bad for the reasons you give. But a
week or two each quarter should be fine. So far our fund drives have been a bit
on the long side. I'd like to maximize giving in shorter periods of time to
lessen that (a 3 week long drive is 1 to 2 weeks too long, IMO).
Mav can correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm
pretty sure routine donations
during non-fundraising periods are nowhere near enough to maintain
normal operations.
You are absolutely correct. But we can also do a few small things to help
maximize day-to-day donation rates (mostly feeback-related).
We need to do a lot more to establish ongoing revenue
streams, whether it's through this partnership or others. I've passed
along and pushed for a few ideas in that regard. It would be nice to
have more people doing that, and then we could more easily dispense with
those to which people end up raising objections.
Yep - I saw your email about the eBay thing. Just haven't had time to look it
over closely yet.
Volunteer to help Danny finding grants and preparing
applications. Get
the Wikimedia Foundation added to your employer's matching program for
charitable donations if you have one. Do some research and come up with
other ideas to produce income. Just because we're a nonprofit doesn't
mean we can disregard the importance of money.
This is all planned to happen.
-- mav
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