Fundraiser: Jimmy’s Appeal
December 30th, 2008There is just no doubt in my mind that Jimmy’s Appeal letter has been the cause of our wonderful, incredible fundraising bump over the last 7 days. None of us here predicted such a wonderful response…but when you think about it, it really makes sense.
A few blog posts back, we proved that people do read our site notices…our messages matter. So is it so hard to imagine these results?
Fundraiser Snapshot 122908
Yeah… I guess it might be hard to imagine. Those LONG green lines are the donation totals for Jimmy’s Appeal. It’s roughly 8 times what we had been raising on a daily basis previous to the appeal.
Date # Donors $USD
12/23/08 8,192 $283,994.98
12/24/08 6,823 $229,293.59
12/25/08 5,139 $169,109.73
12/26/08 5,995 $213,963.27
12/27/08 5,791 $200,988.24
12/28/08 5,627 $196,524.30
12/29/08 5,850 $207,349.76
Compare those results to the recent weeks (when we were averaging about $30,000 per day), the biggest change is running the Jimmy Appeal at 50% of the time.
Site Notice Frequency 12/20/08 to 12/22/08:
There Need it Meter: 25%
Rely on donations Meter: 25%
Wikipedia is a Non Profit: 25%
Various Quotes: 25%
And from 12/23 to present:
Jimmy Appeal Red Border: 25%
Jimmy Appeal Grey Border: 25%
There Need it Meter: 10%
Rely on donations Meter: 10%
Wikipedia is a Non Profit: 10%
Various Quotes: 20%
Incidentally, how did the grey bordered vs. red bordered vs. quotes and other site notices do?
# donations sum average
red border 13,372 $441,163.75 $32.99 25%
grey border 12,215 $419,911.63 $34.38 25%
quotes 1,560 $59,445.81 $37.69 20%
Helped Meter 963 $35,814.23 $37.19 10%
Need it Meter 927 $32,502.97 $35.06 10%
NonProfit Meter 867 $38,412.25 $44.30 10%
Nope… no doubt. The Jimmy Appeal was a huge push.
The Appeal really hit the right notes for our community: direct and honest. It was straight to the point and forceful. And it helped our donors understand why we needed the money and what we were going to do with it.
As I write this, we’re at approximately $5,500,000.00 and still going strong toward our $6 million goal. That’s with over 100,000 donors (many of them new donors) averaging over $30.00 per donation. That speaks very well for the depth of our donor pool and the future.
Rand Montoya
Head of Community Giving
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December 30th, 2008 at 08:28
What is really amazing as well is … the long lasting effect. It could have been a one or two days shot, but it has been on for several days now, with the same effect. Fascinating.
Rand, I’d like that you give us afterwards the impact of the statement that “we are a charity”. Something odd happened to me two weeks ago. The day I got this medal in France, I gave a little speech, during which I mentionned that “Wikimedia Foundation est une organisation caritative” (that’s the French translation for charity). Several people came to me saying “great speech, but you used some improper terms, probably a wrong translation of English”. Which terms disturbed them ? “caritative”. They said that we are a non profit for sure, but definitly not a charity. In their view, charities are organizations such as “medecins sans frontieres” or “red cross”. Organizations saving lives. I must clarify that these people are not wikipedians, but all are users of our content. Just regular people. People who love us, understand a little bit what “free” is (not much), understand why we do not want to run ads, understand a bit how we are set up. But they were annoyed at me using that term, which they thought borderline abuse. I felt that me using the term “charity” had possibly more a negative impact on them than positive. As such, I would be curious to know the impact of that specific statement (compared to, say, we are a non profit).
Ant
December 30th, 2008 at 19:13
Thanks for an amazing technology, and keeping it free!
One good idea (I thought) I came up with while thinking about your situation; why not have ads that users can turn on? I know you have stated that you are seeking to keep the site ad free, but for people that don’t mind ads (or may be interested in related products) this would be a “win-win” for the user and the site. It would be a way for people to “donate”, in a sense, if they don’t use paypal or are not inclined to donate money.
I don’t think this violates your philosphy of a free / ad free site since an ad-free site is still available to users. If part of your mission is to disseminate information to users, providing the option to connect them with potential vendors would seem to be valuable in some situations as well.
Keep up the good work. Best of luck!
Brett
December 31st, 2008 at 01:17
>What is really amazing as well is … the long lasting effect. It could have been a one or two days shot, but it has been on for several days now, with the same effect. Fascinating
My guess is that it has to do with :
* the message is progressively being translated and extended to other languages even now, which makes a steady flux of new visitors discovering it all over the world, one wiki after another – I was suprised by Jimbo’s lessage’s impact on other wikis, since he a lot less reknowned outside USA ; for example, for the french chapter, a visible growth in donation was also observed following the message’s translation.
* Since it’s X-mas, maybe people spend less time on the internet, hence a delay in the discovery.
* Also since it’s X-mas, it mean it’s one of the moments people feel the most happy to give something (I think)
December 31st, 2008 at 09:15
* Also since it’s X-mas, it mean it’s one of the moments people feel the most happy to give something (I think)
Hmmm. Or not. In many countries, there are bad rumors about the eco situation. Heck, many people were laid off JUST before Christmas. And Christmas times are expensive times. Current situation is properly amazing because most charities saw a serious decrease in the gifts they received. Medecins sans Frontieres is even doing home-calls fundraising (just got their phone call yesterday !).
Also, to be practical, if we run the fundraiser at that time is not because of Christmas, it is because it is the end of the fiscal year, and for many, better give to a non profit than give to the gov for taxes. Bapti mentionned that basically, for ALL donations we get in France, people ask for a tax receipt.
January 4th, 2009 at 16:24
The word “charity” is country-specific. In Britain, you’re a charity if the Charity Commission says so, and the word applies pretty universally. “Charity” is technically correct in the US. In Australia, “tax-deductible nonprofit” is understood to mean the same thing and “charity” is more commonly applied to organisations that do direct charitable work for people.
So the main thing is to heavily localise translations :-)
January 23rd, 2009 at 12:50
I enjoy your websites for obtaining information, yet I find many that do not include Important information…example, the site on auguste rodin, it mentions his death but not that he died broke and starving and that his request, to the french government, to live in the museum, where his sculptures ,where being housed, was denied.
This is another example of worshiping the dead, but ignoring their gifts while they are Living, as a poor determined writer, I was told that most Artist are not Appreciated,until long after there demise….After much reaserch I have come to the conclusion, this is a TRUE Statement,in a lot of cases….Wouldn’t we benefit more by Appreciating Artist while they are Living, instead of Acknowledgement after the vessel is taken. Food 4 Thought, May GOD Bless, Thank you for your Time….
The Pattern of Life…which way 2 sew.
Humbly, Humbly…4 Wisdom 2 grow.
the wave of Destiny, which wake 2 ride.
the one without, jealousy, ego or pride.
The sword of Light, which route 2 take.
The one without, anger or hate, in the wake.
The doorway of Grace, the stairs of Eternal Light.
4 that which isn’t seen…FAITH is in flight.
The candle of tomorrow, , within the living flame.
Where the force is of LOVE and PEACE, is the game.
4 the doorway 2 Destiny, the sword of Eternal, Light.
Is on the path of JOY…where belief takes flight.
The travels are many, and the paths shall change.
Yet the True force, resides within…Fruit on the range.
Not seen by the human eye, yet a Gentle touch of Love, 2 Be.
4 that which is on the stairway, that leads 2 ETERNITY.
Some say it doesn’t exist, little do they know.
That it starts with a flicker, the turns into a glow.
4 that which is LOVE is the reason man exists.
4 the Fruits are in the wave, as the Spirit is in the mist.
Feeding off of FAITH unseen and felt by many there.
With the Gentle, force from above…the Angels on the stair.
4 the pattern of Life, is neverending, as the seeds which are grown.
4 within the Kingdom of Grace….the True Treasure, is inner sown.
Between the Heart and the Mind, is a tool GIVEN as a Gift.
4 that which is Mercy and Grace…needed in Life’s drift.
The The candle of Light and the Sword of Destiny.
reside withion the pages, of that which U can not see.
Thru the wake of Time and the valley, the Earthy Light.
Is the candle of Tomorrow…. ETERNALLY in flight.
Please accept this poem as a offering a Gift for your Time….