On Tue, Dec 23, 2008 at 8:59 PM, Erik Moeller <e...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > 2008/12/23 effe iets anders <effeietsand...@gmail.com>: >> Up to now, I kinda liked the fundraiser. Although they are very shouty for >> what I'm used to (I dislike the red button for instance and the somewhat >> agressive tone), I think this last change in message could use a *little* >> step back. Please use a slightly smaller font, an slightly less shouty text. >> To me it really reads like " wow, now we're really desperate, PLEASE COME >> READ THIS ** APPEAL". I would really appreciate it if this last banner would >> be done a little less in a way that comes to me (justified or not) as >> "typical American"... > > Within the last 24 hours, we've raised a total of $283,859. That's > more than 10 times as much as we made during a typical weekday in the > last few days of the fundraiser, and the single highest day on record > for community gifts. We don't know yet how steep the inevitable > drop-off will be, but it's obvious that the appeal is working beyond > everyone's expectations. > > I think it's worth noting that this tenfold increase has been possible > without the use of additional pixel real estate, without scrolling > marquees, interstitials, or other serious interruptions of the > Wikipedia reader/editor experience. All it took were less than 60 > characters of text on each page in a highly visible font, linking to a > personal appeal that makes our case in more detail. > > We should ask ourselves why it is that based on the previous > sitenotices, 9 in 10 people who would be clearly willing to give to > us, did not do so. There seem to be at least three principal reasons > for that: > > * The previous messages were below the visibility threshold for most > people: They considered them to be an unimportant part of the page > that should be ignored. > > * The previous messages did not, clearly enough, make a case for > giving. They appealed to people who instantly "get" the non-profit > donation model, but not to those for whom Wikipedia is essentially the > same as any other website. The appeal directly addresses this > distinction, to the satisfaction of a great number of people. > > * Because it's a personal appeal, rather than an impersonal donation > message, the letter seems more likely to resonate with people.
This is really important. Even the fact there was a picture is helpful. It humanizes the process, and makes it much less anonymous. When this letter has reached its audience and we need a new donation banner, I would strongly suggest another personal appeal of this type, from a new person (maybe an educator). Thanks, Pharos > Regardless of how the numbers will hold up, it's clear that these are > important lessons to take away: The appeal, compared to some of our > other site-notices, was trivial to implement. It's more important to > communicate clearly and in a personal manner what we're trying to do > than to focus on widgets & designs. > > Yes, more so than before, this appeal communicates a sense of urgency. > As it should: We still have a revenue gap of $1.75M to just cover our > expenses for the fiscal year (let alone increase our reserve). We're > in the middle of the worst financial crisis in our lifetime; companies > are failing or laying off staff around us. If people's reaction is "I > don't want Wikipedia to go away - I better donate", that's not a bad > thing. > > Obviously we should try to work out any remaining display glitches. > And I'm sure over time we'll find a "happy medium" when it comes to > aspects like font size, color, etc. But more importantly, we should > try to translate this appeal into as many languages as possible, as > it's currently just running in the English language wikis. > -- > Erik Möller > Deputy Director, Wikimedia Foundation > > Support Free Knowledge: http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Donate > > _______________________________________________ > foundation-l mailing list > foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l > _______________________________________________ foundation-l mailing list foundation-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/foundation-l