I checked my inbox today to find a note from a friend asking if Wikipedia was okay. My reply was essentially "Wikipedia is fine, if you want to donate, make an edit or two."
I wonder how many Wikimedians are getting the same notes of concern. I'd be quite surprised, for example, if Wikimedia Foundation department heads weren't getting these types of notes right now. It's a bit sad. And I wonder how others reply to sincere concerns about Wikipedia's health. (Again, nobody knows what Wikimedia is, for better or worse.)
Meanwhile, also in my inbox, the author of this piece sent me a link to http://newslines.org/blog/stop-giving-wikipedia-money/, which was silly in parts, but an interesting perspective to read.
Lila Tretikov wrote:
I recommend those of you who would like to come up with some test wording assuming the current word count do so and after you pick top 3-5 we can pilot with one of our next user groups.
Eh, fair play. I've started a page here: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundraising_banners/December_2014. I'm busy today, but I'll try to brainstorm some better options. If we must have donation advertising (a necessary evil, for now, we assume), we can probably at least stop shouting at and misleading our readers/donors. :-)
MZMcBride