On Thu, 2010-02-18 at 19:51 +0000, Thomas Dalton wrote:
<snip>
On 18 February 2010 19:39, Brian McNeil
<brian.mcneil(a)wikinewsie.org> wrote:
It all costs money, and it won't happen
overnight. I'd rather see the
board talk things over with the WMF and perhaps invest some money in
improving the core WMF fundraiser system to better help chapters promote
themselves and maintain income.
We don't use the WMF's fundraiser system. They just direct donors to
our fundraising system, which I consider preferable. We want to keep
control of our money.
Yes, but as I assume you're aware, there was some discontent over the
fundraiser. At least with regard to sister projects. Equally, the system
could better support local chapter membership drives. That does not mean
ceding control of funds to the WMF - a point I find strange to raise as
I'd expect you to trust them and the WMUK board to draw up reasonable
agreements.
There is talk of geolocation improvements to the central sitenotice and
related use for fundraising. Why not have input on that development?
Possibly even pay for the development of a system for the WMF to
handover donation information to WMUK for them to process and possibly
add a "top up" for membership, or a direct debit.
Basically, I'd say concentrate on bringing in the more dedicated
Wikimedians - hopefully the people who have ideas on how WMUK can
facilitate creation, collection, and dissemination of Free knowledge and
culture.
I'd think very long, and very hard, before offering a "too cheap"
membership fee - especially if auto-renewed at that rate.
Look at National Trust membership fees:
http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-trust/w-support/w-jointoday/w-jointo…
In my opinion, a little steep - but I believe they've secured a rather
nice members benefits package.
So, where's the tipping point? And, as you're stuck with a relatively
small base to try and recruit from, or required to "beg" from donors to
the WMF - look at what all you need in place, and how it fits into the
bigger WMF picture. There is a checken-and-egg issue; WMUK needs the
id/credentials points in place as a negotiating point with potential
partners. You'd need a fairly regular newsletter as most people won't
sign up to mailing lists or turn up in IRC (working with the MWF and
non-UK-resident Wikimedians) you could employ a variety of distribution
mechanisms, such as iPlayer (Wikinews used to do this for the print
edition), have invite-only verified Facebook group(s), &c. Even if
initially all you're doing is sending members an update on the last
month's UK-related featured content you have to be giving people
something reminding them you've not forgotten about them.
Build from that - offer a £25/quarter donation and membership fee at the
next fundraiser. Then, work on newsletter content to draw in people who
sign up and convert them into content contributors.
--
Brian McNeil <brian.mcneil(a)wikinewsie.org>
Wikinewsie.org