On 23 May 2013 11:19, <fabian(a)unpopular.org.uk> wrote:
I would suggest that if people are serious about going
for a substantial
slice of funding, then they work up the idea and then see if the concensus
of the community is ready to back them. At that stage, it will then be a
matter of finding funders interested in the project.
I think Fabian's comment has merit. But there is surely more going on here.
Taking the Wikimania bid as a relevant example: yes, a motivated
smallish group is a good place to start. To avoid chicken-and-egg
issues, I don't think people beginning with a blank sheet of paper, in
a complete vacuum of prospects, is likely to be the most fruitful in
terms of outcomes.
Any application by the charity is going to have to be signed off by
the Board. Some sort of "incubator" for ideas would seem to be
required, that had input from the Board, probably only via vague
steers though.
Jon used the word "nimble", which sums up fairly well what Google can
be presumed to have sought in giving a timescale of just a few weeks.
That sort of timescale is certainly not compatible with building a
consensus from scratch.
Finally, WMUK does have a fundraiser. Katherine Bavage (I know) was
dealing with key Gift Aid matters when the bid came up, which is a
classic "bird in hand versus two in bush" situation. External grant
funding would end up on her desk, in any practical scenario with forms
to fill. Said nimbleness and agility would probably be based on
position papers, and the office staff having been given time to
anticipate the issues.
Charles