[Foundation-l] Chapters

[Chris Keating]

>
>
> Funding chapters by grants from WMF so that they all use the money in the
> > same WMF approved way is a systematically bad idea in the same way
> sending
> > shoes to Africa is a bad idea.  Redefining the chapters who participated
> in
> > a joint fundraiser with WMF as WMF's "payment processors" is straight-up
> > insulting.
>
>
> Well, let's be clear here: in what sense are the chapters "participating"
> in
> the fundraiser, rather than merely being its beneficiaries?  The underlying
> fundraising work -- the actual solicitation of donations, in other words --
> is performed by WMF staff directly.  The chapters do provide some level of
> administrative and accounting support, obviously; but that could just as
> easily be done by the WMF as well, and likely at lower cost.  The only real
> advantage a chapter's involvement can provide over a fully WMF-operated
> fundraiser is the availability of tax benefits in a particular
> jurisdiction;
> and, given the small size of the average donation, it's unclear to what
> extent such tax benefits are a significant consideration for the average
> donor.
>

The other benefits are;
* chapters can take advantage of local payment systems, which donors may be
more accustomed to - not just credit cards
* the chapter can probably make better subsequent use of the data on donors
* if the chapter has a greater stake in the fundraiser, they are more likely
to care about providing effective messages that work well

So I simply do not accept that the right thing for the movement is for
donations to be received by the Foundation and then passed on to the
chapters. Chapters in my view have an important role to play in maximising
the fundraising potential of the Wikimedia movement.

Chris