[Foundation-l] Fundraising banners

[Sebastian Moleski]

On Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 12:52 AM, Liam Wyatt <liamwyatt at gmail.com> wrote:

> That's interesting. I had always thought that it was done at this time of
> year to coincide with "Wikipedia Day" on Jan.15 but that we just reached
> our
> goal early. To that end, Wikipedia Day in 2011 will be our "10th Birthday"
> and potentially there is a lot of fundraising/media potential around that
> date.
>

I agree. WMDE has already put aside a portion of its budget to plan for
Wikipedia's 10th birthday in 2011. There's definitely a lot of potential
here, not just from a fundraising perspective.

 Yes, I can see how the Christmas "giving spirit" would increase the
> potential donations. If that is the reason why it's run in December, why
> don't we investigate how donations to WM could be given as a present to a
> friend/relative. I know a lot of charities offer "gifts" where what you
> personally receive is a certificate to give as a present to your relative,
> but the money is actually going to the charity for a nominated purpose. For
> example: http://www.oxfamunwrapped.com.au/Product.php?productid=94 Could
> donating to WM somehow be made into a christmas present? I believe we've
> previously talked about saying things like "donating $30 will run your
> language's Wikipedia for 'x' minutes" - perhaps we could turn that into a
> certificate kind of thing? (so long as it was made clear that this was
> nominal, rather than making a false promise that your donation would be
> spent at a precise moment in time).
>

I think that's an excellent idea :)

As for the tax-adjustment aspect, that may be the case for the US (and
> granted, that's where most of the money is being raised currently), but
> different countries have different periods - here in Australia for example
> the fiscal year is July-June.
>

It's country-dependent. From what I know, personal income tax returns in
most European countries cover a Jan-Dec period. So the last few days of the
year are also the last chance for donations to be included in that return.