[Foundation-l] Jimmy Wales donation appeal

[Pharos]

On Tue, Dec 23, 2008 at 8:59 PM, Erik Moeller <erik at wikimedia.org> wrote:
> 2008/12/23 effe iets anders <effeietsanders at gmail.com>:
>> Up to now, I kinda liked the fundraiser. Although they are very shouty for
>> what I'm used to (I dislike the red button for instance and the somewhat
>> agressive tone), I think this last change in message could use a *little*
>> step back. Please use a slightly smaller font, an slightly less shouty text.
>> To me it really reads like " wow, now we're really desperate, PLEASE COME
>> READ THIS ** APPEAL". I would really appreciate it if this last banner would
>> be done a little less in a way that comes to me (justified or not) as
>> "typical American"...
>
> Within the last 24 hours, we've raised a total of $283,859. That's
> more than 10 times as much as we made during a typical weekday in the
> last few days of the fundraiser, and the single highest day on record
> for community gifts. We don't know yet how steep the inevitable
> drop-off will be, but it's obvious that the appeal is working beyond
> everyone's expectations.
>
> I think it's worth noting that this tenfold increase has been possible
> without the use of additional pixel real estate, without scrolling
> marquees,  interstitials, or other serious interruptions of the
> Wikipedia reader/editor experience. All it took were less than 60
> characters of text on each page in a highly visible font, linking to a
> personal appeal that makes our case in more detail.
>
> We should ask ourselves why it is that based on the previous
> sitenotices, 9 in 10 people who would be clearly willing to give to
> us, did not do so. There seem to be at least three principal reasons
> for that:
>
> * The previous messages were below the visibility threshold for most
> people: They considered them to be an unimportant part of the page
> that should be ignored.
>
> * The previous messages did not, clearly enough, make a case for
> giving. They appealed to people who instantly "get" the non-profit
> donation model, but not to those for whom Wikipedia is essentially the
> same as any other website. The appeal directly addresses this
> distinction, to the satisfaction of a great number of people.
>
> * Because it's a personal appeal, rather than an impersonal donation
> message, the letter seems more likely to resonate with people.

This is really important.  Even the fact there was a picture is
helpful.  It humanizes the process, and makes it much less anonymous.

When this letter has reached its audience and we need a new donation
banner, I would strongly suggest another personal appeal of this type,
from a new person (maybe an educator).

Thanks,
Pharos

> Regardless of how the numbers will hold up, it's clear that these are
> important lessons to take away: The appeal, compared to some of our
> other site-notices, was trivial to implement. It's more important to
> communicate clearly and in a personal manner what we're trying to do
> than to focus on widgets & designs.
>
> Yes, more so than before, this appeal communicates a sense of urgency.
> As it should: We still have a revenue gap of $1.75M to just cover our
> expenses for the fiscal year (let alone increase our reserve). We're
> in the middle of the worst financial crisis in our lifetime; companies
> are failing or laying off staff around us. If people's reaction is "I
> don't want Wikipedia to go away - I better donate", that's not a bad
> thing.
>
> Obviously we should try to work out any remaining display glitches.
> And I'm sure over time we'll find a "happy medium" when it comes to
> aspects like font size, color, etc. But more importantly, we should
> try to translate this appeal into as many languages as possible, as
> it's currently just running in the English language wikis.
> --
> Erik Möller
> Deputy Director, Wikimedia Foundation
>
> Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate
>
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