There are some valid differences of opinion being expressed about the cultural-linguistic appropriateness of the language used in the fundraising email.
But these are tangential to the substantive issue I was attempting to raise.
Ideally, Wikimedians should feeling empowered and excited to share the message that we need to fundraise to continue our movement's important work with my friends and family. Instead, I feel embarrassed (and consequently demotivated and unempowered) by the fundraising campaign - and I believe a lot of others in the community are too.
Let me reiterate the final, official WMF fundraising principle https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fundraising_principles:
"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."
Now, we can debate the minutiae of the fundraising banners/emails - and I am certainly guilty of raising a series of very specific linguistic/stylistic critiques - but the more strategic issue is that I believe that this "maximal participation" principle has been completely left behind. Furthermore, that the principle of "minimal disruption" has become to be defined as "get the money as fast as possible". To reiterate: efficiency != effectiveness.
The feeling being generated is that fundraising is a "necessary evil" that we all have to suffer through. But the "maximal participation" principle implies that fundraising should be an opportunity for us all as a community to FEEL PROUD to tell our friends that what we do is important and that if they can't provide time or expertise, then at least provide some money to show their support. I USED to do that. I want to again.
So, How can we move from a position where I (and presumably many others) in the community are merely "enduring" the fundraising season, to a position where we can be proud ambassadors of our movement? We should get back to using this time as an opportunity to share our movement's value - We should celebrate collectively when we reach the fundraising goal because we know that means we can achieve the awesome things planned to do with that money. This requires seeking "buy in" from the community at all stages - from the annual budget to the banner translation to email responders. Not simply "tolerating" fundraising season....
Less "efficient" fundraising, more "effective" fundraising. WMF Board of Trustees, I'm looking at you to set a direction -Liam
wittylama.com Peace, love & metadata