[Foundation-l] [Fwd: Annual Fundraiser starts November 10th, UTC]

[Robert Rohde]

Not bad.  I don't think all of it is good, but generally not bad.
(I'd especially question some of the esoteric stuff in phase one,
which gives no indication that this is a fundraiser, and simply
assaults the visitor with platitudes in large font.  I would suggest
that the marketing instinct to build mind-share around slogans and the
like is actually counter-productive during a fundraiser for a project
that is already a household name.)

Altogether I think the organized state of things seems like movement
in the right direction.  I'll be especially pleased if people monitor
the reactions in near real time and are prepared to pull or change
messages that perform poorly after a few days because there certainly
will be some poor performers if my instincts are right.

It is easy to forget that most potential donors don't really
understand Wikipedia despite using it regularly, so it is good to
remind them of the mission and our volunteer nature.  Some of the
messages do that, which is good.

I would also hope we remember the biggest lesson of 2008.  The
personal appeal, http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate/Letter/en
, worked REALLY, REALLY well.  Like a similar effort in 2005, and
contrary to some conventional wisdom, a somewhat longer form appeal
can be really effective at telling Wikimedia's story and connecting
with potential donors.  The two most successful fundraising campaigns
in Wikimedia's history (in a dollars raised per visitor sense) both
used that general format, and I hope we aim to replicate that again
this year.

-Robert Rohde


On Wed, Nov 4, 2009 at 9:22 AM, Cary Bass <cary at wikimedia.org> wrote:
> Trying one more time.  Seems to have disconnected from my previous message.
>
> -------- Original Message --------
> Subject:        Annual Fundraiser starts November 10th, UTC
> Date:   Wed, 04 Nov 2009 08:42:00 -0800
> From:   Rand Montoya <rmontoya at wikimedia.org>
> To:     foundation-l at lists.wikimedia.org
>
>
>
> Wikimedians--
>
> As some of you know, the 2009 Annual Fundraiser has a projected start
> date of November 10th, 2009 UTC.   You can find a general time line here
> (http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundraising_2009/Timeline).
>
> This fundraiser has messaging and tone that is part of an overarching
> public relations plan that was approved by the Board and WMF management,
> and was developed with a reputable non-profit/cause-focused marketing
> and PR firm, Fenton Communications. You can read more about the
> partnership with Fenton here:
> http://www.fenton.com/intelligence-report/2009/08/wikimedia-selects-fenton-for-two-pronged-marketing-task.html.
>
> You can see some of the designs for this year's fundraiser at the
> following:
>
> http://dev.donate.wikimedia.org/index.php/2009/Donate
> http://dev.donate.wikimedia.org/index.php/2009/Donate-Chapter/en
> http://dev.donate.wikimedia.org/index.php/2009/Donate/Thankyou/en
> http://dev.donate.wikimedia.org/index.php/2009/Donate/Support/en
> http://dev.donate.wikimedia.org/index.php/2009/Donate/WaysToGive/en
>
> Banners and Site Notices (a sampling):
>
> http://dev.donate.wikimedia.org/index.php/2009/Notice1/en
> http://dev.donate.wikimedia.org/index.php/2009/Notice2/en
> http://dev.donate.wikimedia.org/index.php/2009/Notice3/en
> http://dev.donate.wikimedia.org/index.php/2009/Notice11/en
> http://dev.donate.wikimedia.org/index.php/2009/Notice12/en
> http://dev.donate.wikimedia.org/index.php/2009/Notice22/en
> http://dev.donate.wikimedia.org/index.php/2009/Notice23/en
> http://dev.donate.wikimedia.org/index.php/2009/Notice27/en
> http://dev.donate.wikimedia.org/index.php/2009/Notice28/en
>
> And see parts of the messaging and phases through the translation
> process:  http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundraising_2009/core_messages/en
>
> There is currently lots of valuable feedback at
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Fundraising_2009/Website_Design from
> the community.   I appreciate that feedback and encourage more.    I
> will be monitoring feedback there and on this list.
>
> It's worth keeping in mind that there is no single message for this
> campaign.  As you can see we're going to test a number of new messages
> that, backed with some valuable research by the contractor we're working
> with, we feel will engage a new audience of donors to the Wikimedia cause.
>
> We are currently working several ambitious technical upgrades to this
> year's campaign:  GEO IP localization for chapter messaging, local
> processing of credit cards, and project specific integration of the
> donation pages.    Like all other fundraisers, we appreciate your
> patience as we work to bring these pieces together.
>
> I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have.
>
> -Rand
>
> --
> Rand Montoya
> Head of Community Giving
> Wikimedia Foundation
> www.wikimedia.org
> Email: rand at wikimedia.org
> Phone: 415.839.6885 x615
> Fax: 415.882.0495
> Cell: 510.685.7030
>
> “At some future time, I hope to have something witty, intelligent, or funny in this space.”
>
>
> --
> Cary Bass
> Volunteer Coordinator, Wikimedia Foundation
>
> Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate
>
>
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