Wikipedia talk:Wikipedia Signpost/2010-11-08/Fundraiser

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• For those of you who are not aware, there exists a Bounty board where editors can post bounties, which are promises of donations to the Wikimedia Foundation in exchange for certain articles being upgraded to GA or FA status. For those of you who are unable to donate, this is an excellent way to still contribute to the fundraiser. Sven Manguard _Talk 16:59, 9 November 2010 (UTC)

• Will there be an option to opt-out or suppress the fundraiser banners, as there was last year? (I just had a peek at my preferences settings, & didn't see the checkbox that was there last year.) -- llywrch (talk) 19:29, 9 November 2010 (UTC)

  I'm not sure whether anyone has taken the lead on the local projects for setting that up, but there will be a "hide" button on the banners themselves. (It's a little x in the top right of the banner). Philippe Beaudette, Wikimedia Foundation (talk) 23:03, 9 November 2010 (UTC)

  I imagine there will be a gadget created in short order. Stifle (talk) 09:30, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

• Yeah, I saw that "x" on the first banner that accosted me. I clicked on that "x" & that banner went away. Now I'd like to be sure I never see another banner for the rest of this fundraiser. -- llywrch (talk) 00:14, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

  Click x and it's gone. Lose a cookie and it's back. Add a line to your custom stylesheet and it's gone gone gone. Enough time wasted on this nonsense and back to the interesting stuff. Superp (talk) 20:52, 12 November 2010 (UTC)

Last year we needed 8 million dollars, this year we somehow need 16 million to be able to exist, how come? Everyone know that to run Wikipedia we need servers and we have to pay for bandwidth + some other expenses (a lawyer, some IT guys) but it seems to me that the limits for what a fund-raiser should be, both in money and time used, now is being stretched. I think that one month of running a banner is enough - and the money that comes with that month is what Wikimedia Foundation can use for the coming year. Ulflarsen (talk) 11:31, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

Wikimedia Foundation has about doubled its staff. Some of them seem to be working on publicizing Wikipedia and trying to attract more editors. I do not have all the facts in front of me, and I sure would like for someone to repeat to us, periodically, what the bulk of the money is planned to be spent on (big ticket items is all I'm asking for), why Wikimedia needs to double its budget, and whether this will continue every year. Really, I think it is in Wikimedia's interests to be very transparent about this, since you are asking us to volunteer our time and, goodness knows, emotionally invest, in the project. -- Ssilvers (talk) 18:33, 10 November 2010 (UTC)

Two months?! Have previous fundraisers really been that long? Having a fundraiser that runs for 17% of the year seems a bit much. Fingers crossed for banners which are less obnoxious than previous years (particularly 2009). Modest Genius ^talk 23:05, 11 November 2010 (UTC)

• "Last year we needed 8 million dollars, this year we somehow need 16 million to be able to exist, how come?" - perhaps if you read the link in this article to the 2010-2011 spending plans? Ditto for: "I sure would like for someone to repeat to us, periodically, what the bulk of the money is planned to be spent on (big ticket items is all I'm asking for)". --bodnotbod (talk) 16:08, 12 November 2010 (UTC)

To Bodnotbod: I have read the link and I know about the plans for expanding the activities of the Foundation, so I am not unaware of what the money is supposed to go to. What I don't like is the way this is sold, we have to raise 16 million dollars as I can not see that is right. I don't have to reach that goal, if we get the same amount as last year, or less, I be just as happy as my basic editing and reading on Wikipedia will not be harmed, as the added money is not about that. It may sound like a small detail, but "this year we will try to raise 16 million" would be a whole lot different.

The second thing is the time frame, two months. Everyone knows we need money to have servers etc, but two months is long, too long in my opinion. If you have a one month fundraiser, then you are able to cover a "window of money" so to say - as most people get their pay within a month's time. When we extend the fundraiser to double that time it just becomes an irritant. I will give and I do so after my payday which is the 25, and that's it - and this is how it is for most people I would assume. WMF should be very careful with how they treat the trust that the contributors to Wikipedia - you and me - have built up over the last ten years. Ulflarsen (talk) 12:58, 15 November 2010 (UTC)