Hi Anna, Thanks for your note. For what it's worth, Lisa Seitz Gruwell[1] said[2] a couple of days ago on Meta, in response to Liam Wyatt,
> Thanks for the feedback. I think you are referring to language about "keeping Wikipedia ad-free." We have taken that language out of the banner. She added, in response to myself, > Thanks for the suggestions. Here is the language we are now using to summarize costs: "If Wikipedia is useful to you, please take one minute to keep it online and growing. We're a small non-profit with costs of a top website: servers, staff and programs." I personally like the simple German wording about "giving something back to Wikipedia" very much. I think many of us started editing with that sort of sentiment in mind. However, "to keep it online and growing", too, is a vast improvement over "to keep it online and ad-free". I am very happy to see Lisa confirming that "ad-free" has been dropped. Andreas [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Lgruwell-WMF [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fundraising%2F2015-16_Fundraising_ideas&type=revision&diff=14612876&oldid=14600150 On Sun, Nov 15, 2015 at 6:49 AM, Anna Stillwell <astillw...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > Andreas, > > Thank you for this positive feedback. I can't comment on future banner > messages because I don't have the requisite knowledge. > > Here's where we are right now... I've seen Megan and the fundraising team > really apply themselves on this concern. They've interviewed many people > and they are starting to collaborate with some of the people who have not > liked our banners. > > I have no promises. None. I am just filling you in on the process. We're > also headed into the busiest times of our year and we are a small team so > we may not be able to update you in a timely fashion. > > /a > > On Fri, Nov 13, 2015 at 5:42 AM, Andreas Kolbe <jayen...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > I see that the fundraising banners currently running in Germany[1][2] no > > longer speak of "keeping Wikipedia online and ad-free", but instead > > encourage people to "give something back to Wikipedia" if they find it > > useful. > > > > That is a much, much better wording. Thank you. I trust the English > banners > > that will run in December will follow the same approach. > > > > Note however that the German FAQ[3] that is linked from the German Donate > > Now page[4] is several years out of date. It refers to 2013/2014 as the > > current financial year, and directs readers to the 2011/2012 annual > report > > (!!!). > > > > The English FAQ[5] has much less content than the German one (I'm told > all > > the outdated content has been commented out) and now lacks any specifics > > that would give donors an idea of what the Foundation is doing with their > > money. > > > > In all languages, the link to the FAQ on the Donate Now page is in such > > small print as to be barely legible. Please update the FAQs in all > > languages as a matter of urgency, and change the font size of the links > to > > something more reasonable. > > > > In general I would like to see the Foundation communicate more clearly, > > transparently and proactively about where the money goes, and what the > user > > benefits are. Reports like the one last year on improving access speed[6] > > are useful. > > > > Andreas > > > > [1] > > > > > https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Datei:Spendenbanner-de-s5mini-151112_Kopie.jpg > > [2] > > https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Fehlerhafte_Spendenkampagne.png > > [3] https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/FAQ/de > > [4] > > > > > https://donate.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?title=Special:FundraiserLandingPage&uselang=de > > [5] https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/FAQ/en > > [6] > > > > > http://blog.wikimedia.org/2014/12/29/how-we-made-editing-wikipedia-twice-as-fast/ > > > > > > On Thu, Nov 5, 2015 at 11:17 PM, Pine W <wiki.p...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > > > I was happy to see increasing net assets and increasing revenue. The > > > fundraising messages that WMF sends should to reflect the facts about > > where > > > the money will go and about the current financial status of WMF. > > > > > > I've been told by someone whose history with the Wikimedia community is > > > longer than mine that many years ago, the chapters used to be in > stronger > > > financial positions than WMF was. Eventually this flipped. As recently > > as a > > > few years ago were consistent questions about the effectiveness and > > > integrity of the chapters. In more recent history, the chapters seem to > > be > > > doing well in terms of effectiveness and integrity, and now the bulk of > > the > > > revenue is going to WMF where there are more questions about > > effectiveness > > > and integrity. I'm particularly troubled by the lack of responses from > > WMF > > > to a number of questions that I repeatedly asked about the 2015-2016 > > Annual > > > Plan, and I'd really like to see some work done on increasing financial > > > transparency in WMF as well as enhancing the integrity of the online > > > fundraising messages. > > > > > > Pine > > > > > > On Thu, Nov 5, 2015 at 2:59 PM, Andreas Kolbe <jayen...@gmail.com> > > wrote: > > > > > > > On October 30, the Wikimedia Foundation posted its audited financial > > > > statements for the year ended June 30, 2015. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foundation/0/0b/Audit_Report_-_FY_14-15_-_Final.PDF > > > > > > > > The figures contained in these statements have a bearing on the > present > > > > discussion. Some highlights: > > > > > > > > Net assets at end of year: > > > > $77.8 million > > > > (up $24.3 million from $53.5 million) > > > > > > > > Current assets include: > > > > $35.2 million in cash and cash equivalents > > > > $29.0 million in short-term investments. > > > > > > > > Total support and revenue: > > > > $75.8 million > > > > (up $23.3 million from $52.5 million) > > > > > > > > Total expenses: > > > > $52.6 million > > > > (up $6.7 million from $45.9 million) > > > > > > > > Internet hosting costs: > > > > just under $2 million > > > > (down $0.5 million from $2.5 million) > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > > > > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > > > Unsubscribe: > https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > > > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > > > > > -- > Anna Stillwell > Major Gifts Officer > Wikimedia Foundation > 415.806.1536 > *www.wikimediafoundation.org <http://www.wikimediafoundation.org>* > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
