I support the idea that "translation" also needs to happen between cultures
within the same language.
I made the example of the Italian because it is my own, but of course there
are other English-speaking cultures other the American one, and they would
deserve the same attention.
Of course it is difficult, and of course it would be a burden for the
Fundraising team to have different messages for different nations [1], but
I think it's worth a real effort.
The Wikimedia movement is multicultural and multilanguage. We need to keep
it that way, also in delicate but fundamental aspects as the fundraising.
As the WMF feels entitled to fundraise for the whole movement, she would
feel the responsibility of speaking the movement language (meaning, all of
them :-D).
I really don't want to give the impression of *trashing* everything the
WMF does: I already said it, but I 'll repeat here that the Edit 2014 video
is passionate, clear, moving, inspiring and *honest*. I made me feel proud
of being part of the movement, and I think it is a great result for a 2
minutes video :-) [2]
Aubrey
[1] I'm still assuming a centralised, WMF-driven fundraising, please don't
we start with chapters fundraising in this very moment, although it could
be part of the solution).
[2] On a totally unrelated matter, I thought the same for the other
Victor's video about the kids from South Africa. (
).
It's maybe me, but I don't really understand why we don't use the
sitenotice to spread these messages.
On Fri, Dec 19, 2014 at 1:43 PM, Peter Southwood <
peter.southwood(a)telkomsa.net> wrote:
Not even slightly, even though I speak English.
Cheers,
Peter
-----Original Message-----
From: wikimedia-l-bounces(a)lists.wikimedia.org [mailto:
wikimedia-l-bounces(a)lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of Chris Keating
Sent: 19 December 2014 02:41 PM
To: Wikimedia Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Fwd: Our final email
Are you American?
On 19 Dec 2014 12:35, "Peter Southwood" <peter.southwood(a)telkomsa.net>
wrote:
I can only assume this is intended as some form
of humour, but I don’t
get it.
Cheers,
Peter
-----Original Message-----
From: wikimedia-l-bounces(a)lists.wikimedia.org [mailto:
wikimedia-l-bounces(a)lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of David Gerard
Sent: 19 December 2014 02:25 PM
To: Wikimedia Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Fwd: Our final email
Everyone who speaks English is American, particularly the English.
On 19 December 2014 at 12:21, Peter Southwood <
peter.southwood(a)telkomsa.net> wrote:
> Are you by any chance American?
> Cheers,
> peter
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: wikimedia-l-bounces(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> [mailto:wikimedia-l-bounces@lists.wikimedia.org] On Behalf Of Chris
> Keating
> Sent: 19 December 2014 01:47 PM
> To: Wikimedia Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Fwd: Our final email
>
> I have to say, I don't see anything remotely objectionable in that
email.
Bold
italicised text on a yellow background might not win any design
awards but effective fundraising often doesn't win design awards.*
I am not 100% sure how much donors care how soon our fundraiser ends
(these days
at least, a few years ago they did get fed up with the
perpetual Jimmy banners). However talking about that does give a sense
of urgency to the copy, which again is a key part of fundraising that
actually raises money.
It is of course a reasonable point of view that the WMF and
Wikimedia
movement have too much money and shouldn't really try to raise any
more. If you hold that view then I suppose it's reasonable to ask the
fundraising team to make their emails more inept. However, I don't
think that is a sensible view to take at the moment (or, probably, ever).
Chris
*(Actually, the only fundraising industry award I've ever been
involved in winning were for things that looked very nice, but that
doesn't disprove the general principle)
On Thu, Dec 18, 2014 at 11:08 PM, Liam Wyatt <liamwyatt(a)gmail.com>
wrote:
>>
>> This email was sent by WMF fundraising today.
>> I'm embarrassed. Read the email first, then I'll tell you why, below.
>>
>> *Da:* "Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia" <donate(a)wikimedia.org>
>> *Data:* 17 December 2014 10:15:56 pm GMT+1
>> *A: [email address removed]*
>> *Oggetto:* *Our final email*
>> *Rispondi a:* donate(a)wikimedia.org
>>
>> *If all our past donors simply gave again today, we wouldn't have
>> to worry about fundraising for the rest of the year.*
>>
>> Dear [name removed],
>>
>> This is the last email reminder you'll receive. We hope the
>> response to today's email will let us end the fundraiser. Please
>> take one minute to keep Wikipedia online and ad-free another year <
>>
http://links.email.donate.wikimedia.org/ctt?kn=3&ms=NDc2NDYzOTUS1&r
>> =N
>> z
>> U3Mzc1MDY0NjcS1&b=0&j=NTgzMzA0NDgwS0&mt=1&rt=0
>> >
>> .
>>
>> To protect our independence, we'll never run ads. We receive no
>> government funds. We survive on donations from our readers. If all
>> our past donors simply gave again today, we could end the fundraiser.
>> Please help us forget fundraising and get back to improving Wikipedia.
>>
>> We are deeply grateful for your past support. This year, please
>> consider making another donation to protect and sustain Wikipedia <
>>
http://links.email.donate.wikimedia.org/ctt?kn=3&ms=NDc2NDYzOTUS1&r
>> =N
>> z
>> U3Mzc1MDY0NjcS1&b=0&j=NTgzMzA0NDgwS0&mt=1&rt=0
>> >
>> .
>>
>>
https://donate.wikimedia.org
>> <
>>
http://links.email.donate.wikimedia.org/ctt?kn=3&ms=NDc2NDYzOTUS1&r
>> =N
>> z
>> U3Mzc1MDY0NjcS1&b=0&j=NTgzMzA0NDgwS0&mt=1&rt=0
>> >
>>
>> Thank you,
>> Jimmy Wales
>> Wikipedia Founder
>>
>> PS: Less than 1% of our readers donate enough to keep Wikipedia
running.
> Your
contribution counts!
> *DONATE NOW »*
> <
>
http://links.email.donate.wikimedia.org/ctt?kn=3&ms=NDc2NDYzOTUS1&r
> =N
> z
> U3Mzc1MDY0NjcS1&b=0&j=NTgzMzA0NDgwS0&mt=1&rt=0
> >
> ------------------------------
>
>
> "our final email"?
> This is the last email reminder you'll receive"?
> Surely that should be qualified with "... this year."??
> If that weren't embarrassing, what about...
>
> - Using *bold* AND *italics *AND yellow backgroud colouring all
> at
the
>> same time in the heading.
>> - Sending an email on the 18th of December saying that if "ALL past
>> donors simply gave AGAIN today" [my emphasis] then you wouldn't
>> need to do
>> any more fundraising "for the rest of the year", i.e. for 2
weeks!!
>> - On the one had it says "we'll never run ads" but in the
sentence
>> immediately beforehand pleads help to us stay "ad-free another
year".
>> - Does the phrase "Less than 1%
of our readers donate enough to
keep
>
Wikipedia running" mean a) that less than 1% of readers donate,
which is
> enough to keep us running, or b) that less
than 1% of readers
> who
have
>> donated, donated enough to keep us running (implying that the
>> other 99% of
>> donors didn't donate enough)?
>> - Finally, this email is addressed from Jimmy, but when you
receive a
>
"thank you for donating" email, it's addressed from Lila. [I
> should
note
>> that the thank you for donating email IS very positive and
>> mission-oriented].
>>
>>
>> *Effectiveness != Efficiency*
>> One of the official WMF Fundraising principles
>> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundraising_principles> is
>> "*minimal disruption*...aim to raise money from donors
>> *effectively*" [emphasis is original].
>> I believe that this wording has been interpreted by the fundraising
>> team to mean *"*do the fundraising as quickly as possible".
>> However, I contest that "less disruption" and "more
effective" is
>> not the same as "shorter fundraiser". i.e.: Effectiveness !=
Efficiency.
>>
>> I am sure that these desperate fundraising emails/banners are
>> *efficient *at getting the most amount of money as fast as possible
>> (they have been honed with excellent A/B testing), but, they
>> achieve this by sacrificing the core WMF fundraising principle of
>> being *minimally disruptive. *In fact, they actually appear to be
>> following a principle of being "as *maximally *disruptive as they
>> can get away with, for as short a time as required".
>>
>> Can the WMF to say how "minimal disruption" and "effective
>> fundraising" is defined in practice, and how they are measured?
>>
>> *Shareable vs Desperate*
>> On the same day that the WMF communications team release this
>> inspiring and positive "year in review" video <
>>
https://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/12/17/wikipedias-first-ever-annual-
>> vi d eo-reflects-contributions-from-people-around-the-world/
>> >,
>> this fundraising email sounds negative and desperate. It is all
>> about not advertising and staying online for another year.
>>
>> Couldn't the "year in review" video have been used in the
>> fundraising email to tell a positive story about all we have achieved
this year?
That's the kind of thing Wikimedians will want to
share and feel
proud about, not something that almost bullies you to donate out of
a sense of moral-obligation.
*Fundraising "operating principles"* I would like to reiterate my
call to see us develop some practical "operating principles" for
fundraising that would give some real-world guidelines for
website-banners and emails. Board of Trustees member Phoebe has
done an excellent job of summarising the fundraising conversations
on this list from the last few weeks here:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Fundraising_principles
I would like the Board to ask the Fundraising team (once this
fundraiser is
finished) to develop these operating principles in a collaborative
process with interested community members. This is in the hope that
in the future, the community can help spread the word and feel
empowered to join the fundraising campaign for our movement, rather
than simply hoping it will go away as quickly as possible.
After all, the final official WMF fundraising principle is:
"Maximal participation: Consistent with the principles of
empowerment underlying Wikimedia’s success, we should empower
individuals and groups world-wide to constructively contribute to
direct messaging, public outreach, and other activities that drive
the success of Wikimedia’s fundraising efforts"
-Liam
p.s. by the way, has anyone from the WMF talked the Russian
community yet about why they aren't allowed to donate?
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