[Foundation-l] Be bold!

[Anthony]

On 12/29/06, Erik Moeller <erik at wikimedia.org> wrote:
> On 12/29/06, Michiel Bontenbal <wikipedia.bontenbal at gmail.com wrote:
> > Don't give in to demands from sponsors or donors, don't give in to the
> > principle of independence, not just a tiny little bit.
>
> We should also not give in to dogma, or to those who shout the loudest
> and complain the longest, for that is not democracy. We should
> continue to have a reasoned debate about the best fundraising
> strategies, and consult and involve the community in this process as
> much as possible.
>
Absolutely.  And I have to say I really don't have a good sense of
what the community feels about the Virgin Unite matching donation and
acknowledgement.  There are certainly some people who feel strongly
against it, and some people who don't mind it at all.  Personally I
think it's slightly annoying, but I thought the sitenotice was
annoying even before the mention of Virgin Unite.

I also don't have a really good sense of how necessary the matching
funds were.  It seems to me that the funds already raised already far
exceed what's needed to keep the site running, but at least two
employees of the foundation have implied (or maybe it was outright
disputed) otherwise.

Those of you on the board have a fun time ahead trying to read the
reaction of the community.  Hopefully you can read it better than I -
you probably can as that's part of the reason you were elected.

Anthony