On 3 September 2010 23:56, Ryan Kaldari <rkaldari(a)wikimedia.org> wrote:
*. The Foundation is trying to move away from any type
of strings
attached to donations (including grants) so that resources can be
managed optimally and flexibly
For any charity, earmarked donations are a COMPLETE PAIN IN THE ARSE,
and frequently not worth the effort. There are all sorts of reasons
for this. For one, the earmarked money can't be used for all the
day-to-day infrastructure needed to support the earmark project unless
it sets up its own parallel infrastructure. I refer the honourable
gentleman to the Usability Project for the effects and side-effects of
isolating a development effort.
I do think, however, that such an earmarking system
would make donating
more attractive to some people, so it's worth discussing at least.
Unless the donation is really quite substantial, this may not be
entirely worth the effort.
(Disclaimer: I speak only from personal experience with volunteer
organisations in general, not with WMF in particular. I may be dead
wrong. YMMV. etc.)
- d.