[Foundation-l] Fundraising idea

[Anthony]

On 11/8/06, James Forrester <james at jdforrester.org> wrote:
> One particularly powerful way in which we can increase funds is to see
> if we can get "matching donation" - that is for every x units,
> so-and-so promises to donate y, up to a limit. [snip]
>
> I am aware that this may get derided as advertising, but I really
> don't think it's true - this is merely an extended press release, as
> it were. I think that a line (in the site notice), saying something
> like "Foo have pledged to match up to US$200,000 in our [[current
> fund-raising drive]]" instead of the current text ("Your [[continued
> donations]] keep Wikipedia running!") would be appropriate and
> understated (believe me, I'm British, "understated" is what we /do/).
>
Sounds like a great idea, if you can get someone to donate the
$200,000.  It could also be arranged as a "challenge" ("if X people
donate $Y in $Z minutes, whoever has pledged to match it").  I find it
significant though that you didn't hyperlink "Foo".

Is it advertising?  I'd say not at all.  In fact, under IRS
regulations it would probably be considered a "qualified sponsorship
payment", and not an advertisement.  But other than the tax
implications, and as long as there was an easy way to turn it off, I
wouldn't care even it *were* advertising.

Anthony

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