Fundraising/Donor love

[Smiley]

There's something odd about this article:

That is how Wikipedia methods us into donating cash the use of very questionable practices
Kim Diaz, 15 November 2021, News Trace

To everybody who has entered Wikipedia, which I perceive is the majority of you, the awareness of ‘Expensive readers, Let’s get to the purpose. Lately we ask you to assist Wikipedia …‘. The Wikimedia Basis is funded through those donations, interesting to its function of “loose wisdom”. Alternatively, this basis already has greater than 300 million bucks in price range, person who we take note is, non-profit.

And but Wikipedia continues to invite its readers for donations. Actually, for years he has been doing it in a rather abusive method, which Craig Younkins feedback on his Medium weblog. And it’s that underneath the identify of Jimmy Wales, founding father of Wikipedia, the corporate asks customers to donate thru e-mails. Those emails, alternatively, skip all ethics to succeed in their objective: that the consumer donates.

Tips on how to hook the consumer to donate

In keeping with Younkins, In a duration of 5 years he has won as much as 3 emails from “Jimmy Wales” asking to donate at the platform underneath the word “I may not ask once more“, this is, “I can now not ask once more” in Spanish. Younkins has donated prior to now as a result of they in actuality just like the portal. Alternatively, he complains in regards to the basis’s abusive practices, and a transparent instance of them is this sort of electronic mail.

Probably the most ways in those emails, in step with Younkins, is to jot down one thing that hooks the consumer. A word that matches into the field that Gmail displays, after which does now not seem any place while you open it. This, in step with Younkins, is finished through producing the e-mail in a multi-part message structure, the place “the part textual content/undeniable has the textual content snippet desired. “That is how the word”That is Jimmy, signing off. I may not ask once more“It looked as if it would Younkins on this field as a declare, and that throughout the message it didn’t exist.

The multi-part machine used to be devised to permit the similar content material in numerous codecs, one thing Younkins considers an abuse. What is extra, Any other of the ways is to make it seem that the email comes from “jimmy@wikipedia.org”, when in fact this can be a message coming from the deal with “donate@wikimedia.org”. Those emails seem even if the consumer has unsubscribed from donations, since Younkins himself assures that he did so up to now, however that he believes that “he’s being added to a brand new listing yearly”.

The principle drawback with those emails is the best way Wikipedia asks its customers to donate thru unethical ways. Everybody can remember that donating on Wikipedia generally is a certain factor, however it might probably turn into rather questionable when resorting to those practices.

[AndyTheGrump]

There's something odd about this article:

I think there may be a clue here:

Kim Diaz

Kim recently joined the team, and she writes for the Headline column of the website. She has done major in English, and a having a diploma in Journalism.

link

[Smiley]

With 37,116 posts, Kim Diaz must be either a criminally overworked intern, or the pseudonym of whatever crappy AI translator program that site's using.

Original:
Antonio Vallejo "Así es como Wikipedia nos engaña para que donemos dinero usando prácticas muy cuestionables "

[Smiley]

There's an interesting all be it one-sided battle of wits featuring Andreas and ex-WMF employee Alex Ezell happening on HackerNews right now:

If you think anyone is getting rich working at the WMF, I can disavow you of that notion. It's just not true. aezell

Managers earning $300K+ are not getting rich. Good. I guess it's all relative. akolbe

[Anroth]

You cant have any real discussion about wages & wealth with people in SF/California. There are so many economic disparities that its a waste of time.

I was trying to point out the other week, that even taking into account how much goes on healthcare, housing, the exchange rate between US/UK etc, the person I was talking to (doing a similar job to me at a similar age bracket and background) still earned more and on paper had significantly more disposable income, yet always *still* seemed to complain about having less money. When I brought up their spending habits the conversation swiftly went downhill.

And dont get me wrong, I aint Scottish, but I'm not spending $$$$ on Lego either.

[Jim]

Donation
I have already donated a few times and the last time was last week. I still get the message to donate every time. Can I just ignore it? Thanks...

[Smiley]

10.1K Retweets | 187 Quote Tweets | 114.9K Likes

[Smiley]

Talk:Fundraising#Update on Annual Fund Campaign

As of Friday, December 17th, 4pm PST (midnight UTC) we will be pausing our Annual Fund banners and we plan to come back with Endowment banners next week, Monday, December 20th. In the meantime, we are working on improvements based on the feedback we’ve received.

Best wishes, Ppena (WMF) 20:10, 17 December 2021

[Smiley]

Wikipedia fundraising banners paused over weekend in response to complaints Hacker News

The worse is that I started to stop contributing and caring for Wikipedia once the nagging fundraising started to be a regular thing.

All of that to support power/fame/hungry administrative employees/leaders that don't give a shit about the root goal of the project.

Also, something stunning when you read the replies and reflexions of the one in charge is how egoistic all of this is.

Good, it's irritating as fuck, especially on mobile. The constant dunning from Wikipedia puts a real sour taste in my mouth.

[Peter Damian]

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/20 ... on-giving/

At Christmas, charities launch their most emotive appeals. After almost two years of seeing their fundraising crippled by lockdowns and social distancing, they are more needy than ever. But I would think carefully before responding to one particularly aggressive annual solicitation.

Throughout December, Wikipedia is demanding a donation from visitors to the site. “Please don’t scroll past this,” my iPhone begs me. This is apparently needed “to protect Wikipedia’s independence”. The banner ads pose an existential issue: the website that so many people find so useful is in peril, and may even disappear if the funding drive falls short. But this is suspect.

The WMF holds assets of $240m (£181m), which is an impressive increase of $49m from a year ago. A total $208m is held in cash and short-term assets which the foundation can use to pay any unexpected bill - making any notion of the emergency that the ads imply today quite preposterous.

[el84]

On the latest enWiki fundraising banners, if you click "already donated" you're treated to this message:

Thank you, dear donor!
Your generosity helps keep Wikipedia thriving. Select "hide appeals" to suppress fundraising messages in this browser for a week, or go back to the appeal if you're still interested in donating.

With the option to "hide appeals" for a whole week, or to go back to the appeal.

The current banner reads:

Hi. This isn’t the first time we’ve interrupted your reading recently, but only 2% of our readers give. Many think they’ll give later, but then forget. This Saturday we ask you to protect Wikipedia. All we ask is £2, or what you can afford, to secure our future. We ask you, humbly: Please don’t scroll away. If you are one of our rare donors, we warmly thank you.

Give £2
Give a different amount

[Vigilant]

Sounds like someone needs to make a widget that suppresses these ads and then make it the default.

[JarrBarr]

Sounds like someone needs to make a widget that suppresses these ads and then make it the default.

If you have a WP account, you can suppress the ads in the preferences, but that's not by default. unlock origin cosmetic filter also works.

[Vigilant]

Sounds like someone needs to make a widget that suppresses these ads and then make it the default.

If you have a WP account, you can suppress the ads in the preferences, but that's not by default. unlock origin cosmetic filter also works.

I'm saying the en.wp should add a widget to the base en.wp css that blocks this shit and is on by default.

[tarantino]

There's a long thread about this on twitter today. Andreas has gone on about this for years with his wikiland account, but this guy reaches a much bigger audience, with 4,625 Retweets and 17.3K Likes.

[No Ledge]

[No Ledge]

Commentary on conservative British online magazine UnHerd

The next time Wikipedia asks for a donation, ignore it
The online encyclopaedia is not short on cash
BY ANDREW ORLOWSKI

[Vigilant]

WMF playing the shell game again with the "endowment" money

[Zoloft]

WMF playing the shell game again with the "endowment" money

Andreas correctly says that money can only be in one place.

Either it has been moved, or it hasn't.

There has been no direct answer to his question.

[tarantino]

Lisa Wells, a quantitative risk analyst for USAA replies on wikimedia-l

My tone is harsher than is my want due to your response to Andreas of 19 Jan 2023
challenging whether his questions were constructive. Andreas is unfailingly polite and
courteous, far more so than necessary by U.S. standards for expressions of fiduciary and
custodial concern. Since the WMF and Endowment funds are domiciled in the U.S., our local
customs should be followed. Dan Szymborski and The Cuncator both addressed this already, but in cordial terms. I am accustomed to speaking in the voice of governance and compliance IRL, thus wish to reinforce their defense of Andreas.

...

Inquiries about the status of assets under beneficial ownership--whether held by a
charitable organization or other entity--require a response that includes both magnitude
AND control. In other words, we need to know the dollar amount AND a projected time frame
associated with a change in control of these assets. (Note too that the trustees of these
funds must be held accountable for both magnitude and time.)

...


WMF has informed us that U.S. Internal Revenue Service granted a non-profit 501(c)3
organizational status to the Endowment no later than October 2022. Many, many inquiries,
by Andreas and others, were required to obtain this information. Even the news media (in
Italy) were unable to get a meaningful response. A meaningful response as of October 2022
would have been:

Yes, the Endowment has been granted non-profit 501(c)3 status as of <monthX, yearX>
and we anticipate transfer of control from Tides to a WMF controlled entity no later than
<monthY, yearY>. Any delays and the reasons for those delays will be communicated to
the public and the Wikimedia movement via our periodic WMF blog posts at <URL>.

It is now March 1, 2023. We still do not know what <monthY, yearY> is.

Why didn't WMF do the groundwork for transferring the endowment funds from Tides to a
WMF 501(c)3 given that there were over SIX long years to make such plans?

Why does WMF STILL not know how to effect this transfer or when it will be completed,
despite the passage of six months?

My greater concern is based on what SJ said, and the quotes provided by Lane Chance. These
suggest that WMF does not intend to transfer the Endowment away from the Tides Foundation,
despite achieving 501(c)3 status. That means the WMF Endowment would remain under the
control of Tides as a Tides Collective Action Fund. Based on Tides FAQ for Collective
Action Funds https://www.tides.org/faq/what-are-coll ... unds-cafs/ Tides has
the authority to disburse WMF Endowment funds in support of Tides Foundation’s charitable
purposes. These are NOT the same as Wikimedia's charitable purposes.

[tarantino]

Many Japanese are unhappy with the tone of the emails they've received that ask for donations to the wmf.

From the movement strategy forum:

さえぼー March 13, 2023, 4:31pm 141

Hi, I posted a complaint about the Japanese version of the -email asking for donations on Mata-wiki. I have received multiple complaints about the content of the e-mail: the title of the e-mail, 「 もう、たくさんです」, completely looks like a spam, and the wording, such as 「 正直に申し上げます。もう、たくさんです。」, is quite rude. I’m afraid this kind of e-mail only baffles recipients. How do we improve the e-mail?

Afaz March 14, 2023, 1:18am 143

The e-mail subject is fighting with the person who made the donation. Couldn’t you have hired a decent translator?

Afaz March 23, 2023, 3:08pm 155

Let me translate some of the Twitter reactions.

The donation request emails from Wikipedia are written in a completely spam-like style, which is so scary that I can’t even open them. Maybe the translation is bad?

When I received an email from Jimmy and thought “what spam is this lol”, it turned out to be a donation request from Wikipedia.

I get startled every time I see the headline “もう、たくさんです” in the donation request emails from Wikipedia. Is there no one among the officials to point this out?

The title of the donation request email from Wikipedia looks like nothing but spam email. Can’t they do something about it?

It seems that if you donate to Wikipedia, you receive an email with the title “もう、たくさんです” I wonder what English could be translated to make such a terrible phrase…

[el84]

Here we go... here we go again...

Wikipedia is not for sale.
A personal appeal from Jimmy Wales

Please don't scroll past this 1-minute read. This Saturday, 26 August, I ask you to reflect on the number of times you visited Wikipedia in the past year, the value you got from it, and whether you're able to give £2 back. If you can, please join the 2% of readers who give. If everyone reading this right now gave just £2, we'd hit our goal in a couple of hours.

When I set up the Wikimedia Foundation as a nonprofit to host Wikipedia and 12 other free knowledge projects, it meant that we could preserve our core values: neutral, high quality information, not outrage and clickbait. Being a nonprofit means there is no danger that someone will buy Wikipedia and turn it into their personal playground.

If Wikipedia has given you £2 worth of knowledge this year, please give back. There are no small contributions: every edit counts, every donation counts. Thank you.

[Mojito]

If it's about paying for the articles one has read, then the WMF should be passing the money on to the volunteer editors.

[The Blue Newt]

“every edit counts, every donation counts. Thank you.“

Given that some edits count as debits, does that mean Djimma will take negative contributions of money?

[Midsize Jake]

I'm sure everyone here is already aware of this, but he's just using this "Wikipedia is not for sale!" slogan as a "trope" because it got him a lot of media coverage when he used it back on Dec. 7-8 in response to a tweet someone sent to Elon Musk.

We barely mentioned it here because it was, frankly, silly and not worth taking seriously. (Registered members can see a post by me regarding this in one of our off-topic forums.) So while we were dismissive of it at the time, considering what Musk has done to Twitter in just the past few months, now I'm thinking we should have been much more supportive of the idea, and maybe we should redouble our efforts to figure out how it might be possible to sell WP to him after all.