[Foundation-l] Fundraising banners

[Delphine Ménard]

On Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 09:04, Sebastian Moleski <sebmol at gmail.com> wrote:
>  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 :)

So do I. I think the 10th birthday is definitely something we want to
include as a prominent topic in a "fundraising summit" to come.
Planning early is indeed of the essence, especially when we want to
take advantage of such events, which only happen once.

> 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.
> From a purely revenue-maximizing perspective, it makes sense to keep the
> fundraiser in November/December.

I think we might also want to try and adjust in a country-specific way
for some languages. I know for example the Polish have their tax
return (and their biggest fundraising opportunity) around April, while
for example chapters-to-be such as India also have their fiscal year
running to April. We might want to try and take into account those
differences to plan accordingly.

Delphine
-- 
~notafish

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