Talk:Fundraising 2009/Survey

Discussion of Purpose

NOTE: Changes or comments regarding the purpose of this survey must be resolved before the survey questionnaire can be finalized.

Wikimedia is undertaking a survey of donors and potential donors in order to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of fundraising efforts of the Wikimedia Foundation. The results from this survey will help us to better understand donors and potential donors, and ultimately, will help to increase donations to the Wikimedia Foundation. There are several basic questions the survey is intended to answer:

• Who donates to the Wikimedia Foundation? What characteristics do donors to the Wikimedia Foundation share? Are there different types of donors that can be segmented by common characteristics?
• What motivates individuals to donate to the Wikimedia Foundation?
• What expectations do donors have about how their donations are used?
• What would (or how can Wikimedia) motivate current donors to increase their contributions?
• Why don't more individuals donate to the Wikimedia Foundation?
• What is likely to motivate non-donors to become donors?

Discussion of Process and Timeline

• great, leaving lots of space so we don't rush things (especially wrt translation). Cbrown1023 talk 00:12, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

• I disagree. I believe that the process plan is completely rushed and has not been sufficiently advertised to key stakeholders. (Today is the first I'm realizing this, and I have in the past offered gratis my marketing research insight to the Foundation, one would think that I would have been contacted about this important design phase.) For example, had I known about this earlier, I may have offered this guidance:

1. Build the Wikimedia Fundraising Survey meta-site for community involvement. (Mid-June 2009)
2. Advertise and promote the meta-site to gather comments and feedback from the community regarding the survey audience, design, and questions. (June 24, 2009) Where was this advertised? The edit histories of this page and its parent project page show virtually no outside input on the process thus far.
3. Gather community comments and feedback. (June 30, 2009) We are beyond this date. Are comments and feedback still welcome?
4. Finalize the survey questions in English. (July 2, 2009) You left three days to finalize survey questions, with no discussion of the sample framework. We are beyond this date. Are questions still open for revision?
5. Translate the survey into the languages identified. (July 12, 2009)
6. Finalize how, and to whom, the survey should be sent to. (July 14, 2009) This should have been considered and finalized before the questionnaire was designed. "Let's craft a survey about baroque and classical music; then, let's administer the survey to astronauts employed by NASA and also to children recovering in intensive care units in hospitals."
7. Input survey questions into online survey tool and test online questionnaire (July 15-22, 2009) Do you have the application tool available for design consultants to review capabilities (skip logic, answer randomization, alternation of question order, ability to split sample, etc.)? We cannot design an optimal questionnaire if the survey tool lacks certain features that are common to the survey industry.
8. Send survey to donors and prospective donors. (July 23-31, 2009) What do you mean by "send"? Do you have a list of prospective respondents' names, mailing address, e-mail address? How was this list generated?
9. Compile and analyze the survey results. (August 7, 2009) Who will interpret the results? Are they unbiased observers, or do they have a personal stake in the outcomes of the data?
10. Publish and share the survey results. (August 10, 2009) You are seriously going to take only three or four days to compile and analyze survey data spanning hundreds, if not thousands, of respondents in different languages?

This entire process, no personal offense intended, sounds entirely mismanaged and ill-conceived. -- Thekohser 19:45, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

We appreciate positive feedback, of course. Timeline has been extended and updated to reflect vacation plans of volunteer coordinator. Add and suggest changes as warranted. Rand Montoya 16:52, 7 July 2009 (UTC)

I have acted BOLDLY and updated the process timeline on the Content page. I am going to assume that all of my changes are acceptable to the WMF and the wider community, unless I am told otherwise. -- Thekohser 15:40, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

Thank you for the time you have put into providing feedback. It is really appreciated. I have updated the survey questions on the main page accordingly. Nearly all the suggested changes have been made -a few questions were deleted to keep down the length of the survey and a few minor edits were made. Thanks for your help! --jpilisuk 20:46, 17 July 2009 (UTC)

I won't venture to speak for everyone who contributed to this effort, but I will say "you're welcome", at least on behalf of myself. Coincidentally, I'm getting e-mail from an English Wikipedia Arbitration Committee member now, threatening to block me (again) from that project. It would be ironic, wouldn't it, that some of my most laborious and helpful contributions to Wikimedia projects would be answered with a block? -- Thekohser 20:29, 19 July 2009 (UTC)

Discussion of Methodology

NOTE: Changes in the survey methodology must be resolved before the questionnaire can be finalized.

Target Audience and Segmentation

• "Current donors" and "past donors" groups can be identified from the Wikimedia database of contributors. However, there is no such source for the "prospective donors" group. Where should the group of "prospective donors" come from?

Languages, Translation, and Cultural Sensitivity

• suggested languages Cbrown1023 talk 00:19, 25 June 2009 (UTC)
  • en, cs, nl, da, es, fr, it, ja => based off donors
  • de => second largest wikipedia
  • pl => wikimania is coming there in 2010, perhaps we could get some donors from this (group 3)
• I don't see any possible cultural issues here, but they might come up during translation... do we want to contact people from those countries to review it first or localize/eliminate the questions (removing the issue in the translation) when we run into issues?

Survey Distribution

• civircm distrubtion? -- Casey
• comments from the community on who to include for non-donors? (not sure how we'll find non-donors, for that matter) -- Casey

---

The survey sample will be most meaningful and helpful if it is designed closer to a random, probability sample, than to a convenience, non-probability sample. Therefore, it is recommended that a "survey notice" be rotated randomly into the header of all possible Wikimedia projects, at a frequency that earns a desired number of responses to the questionnaire. I suspect that due to the magnitude of traffic to large projects like English Wikipedia, the ratio of the "survey notice" popping up for visitors would be 1 out of every 100, or some such. Smaller projects would likely want to increase the ratio to 1 out of 5 or 10, or some such. This will result in a stratified sample, for analysis by projects; but the end data ought to be weighted back to the "normal" distribution of project traffic. The sample should include the following key segments:

Random sample

• (GROUP A) Visitors to Wikimedia sites with no history of editing or donating
• (GROUP B) Visitors to Wikimedia sites with a history of editing, but not donating

E-mail contact from list

• (GROUP C) Past donors to Wikimedia, but suspended giving in past 18 months

- (C1) Probably want to split this by "small" donors (less than $100)

- (C2) And "heavy" donors ($100 or more)

• (GROUP D) Current donors to Wikimedia (past 18 months)

- (D1) Again, probably want to split this by "small" donors (less than $100)

- (D2) And "heavy" donors ($100 or more)

The first two segments rely on random sampling, while the latter two segments may utilize selective, targeted sampling, since the WMF retains these records and contact info. It would be silly to try to sample the latter two segments via random notices. -- Thekohser 15:11, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

Survey Timing

• looks good, 2 weeks is a good span... not to short that people don't check their e-mails/miss it by procrastinating, but not too long that it just drags. Cbrown1023 talk 00:23, 25 June 2009 (UTC)
• Much of the northern hemisphere will be on holiday or vacation during the summer months. Will this be a problem in getting an adequate number of survey respondents from this region? jpilisuk 21:05, 26 June 2009 (UTC)

It will impact effective incidence (response rates in July and especially August are often the worst on the calendar), but I do not suspect that vacation schedules will seriously damage adequate sample size. -- Thekohser 20:10, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

August is in the middle of summertime, not a good period for a survey in Europe.. Why don't postpone to September? --Frieda 13:44, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

The same argument reoccurs every year during sysop- and arbcom-elections on the Dutch Wikipedia. However, generally the number of voters during the summer period exceeds the number of voters during the rest of the year; I’m not sure if this is different in other European countries, but it would surprise me ;-) m:Mark W (Mwpnl) ¦ talk 14:21, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

Except we're mostly talking about "online-people" in Wikipedia elections. This is about Other People® ;-), people who usually are on holiday during this time. Back to Frieda's suggestion, would running it in September also hurt with back to school, proximity to the fundraiser, etc? Cbrown1023 talk 14:24, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

A similar converse argument could be made that, for example, in October when everybody's "back to work/school", they will be too busy and annoyed with taking a voluntary survey about charitable giving. I'm warming to the idea of full-speed-ahead, right now. -- Thekohser 14:30, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

Yep, that was my point. Cbrown1023 talk 14:55, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

Most "Other people®" (at least those without children) will go on a holiday outside of the normal school holidays, to avoid expenses and crowded holiday destinations. Families with children however, will – in general – go on a holiday for periods no longer than 3 weeks. It would be a very odd coincidence if all study population a) have kids and b) go on a holiday in the same two weeks, which is very hard to imagine. On top of that, I do believe we’re behind on schedule already, so it wouldn’t surprise me if we end up late in August anyway. Regards, m:Mark W (Mwpnl) ¦ talk 17:07, 3 August 2009 (UTC)

Original List of Proposed Survey Questions (see below for discussion of questions)

NOTE: Currently the survey may be too long. The final survey should be approximately 30 to 35 questions and/or take less than 15 minutes to complete, on average. Some sequential questions with the same answer fields may be consolidated into "grid" type exercises, which makes the survey length feel less tedious for the respondent. Please offer your suggestions below.

Survey Introduction

Thank you for taking your time to complete the 2009 Wikimedia Development Survey. This survey takes most people less than 15 minutes to complete. Your individual responses will remain private and confidential. Published results of the survey will not contain any personally-identifiable information. This survey was designed with input from the various Wikimedia communities of users.

Group Classification Questions

1. I currently reside in this country: (pull down list)
2. Which of the following best describes your experience editing or contributing content to any Wikimedia projects (such as Wikipedia, Commons, Wiktionary, Wikiquote, etc.)?
   1. I have never edited/contributed content (POSSIBLE AS GROUP A)
   2. I have some experience, occasionally editing/contributing content
   3. I have much experience, frequently editing/contributing content
3. Have you ever made a financial donation to the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation?
   1. No, never (CLASSIFY AS GROUP A (if never edited), ELSE GROUP B)
   2. Yes, but not in the past 18 months (CLASSIFY AS GROUP C)
   3. Yes, within the past 18 months (CLASSIFY AS GROUP D)
4. (ASK IF GROUP C OR D) To the best of your recollection, what was the value ($USD) Click here for currency conversion tool of your largest financial donation to the Wikimedia Foundation? Under $10 / $10-$19 / $20-$29 / $30-$49 / $50-$74 / $75-$99 / $100-$249 / $250-$499 / $500-$999 / $1,000 or more (CLASSIFY FIRST 6 PUNCHES AS C1 OR D1, LAST 4 PUNCHES AS C2 OR D2)

Demographic Questions

1. My gender is: Male / Female / Prefer not to say
2. My age is: Under 17 / 17-20 / 21-24 / 25-34 / 35-44 / 45-54 / 55-64 / 65+
3. My marital status is: single, never married / living with significant partner / married / separated or divorced / widowed
4. The current annual income for my household is ($USD) Click here for currency conversion tool: Under $10,000 / $10,000-$19,999 / $20,000-$29,999 / $30,000-$39,999 / $40,000-$49,999 / $50,000-$74,999 / $75,000-$99,999 / $100,000-$150,000 / Over $150,000 / Prefer not to say
5. The highest level of education I have achieved is: grade school or less / some high school / high school graduate / some college / trade, technical, or vocational training / college graduate / some postgraduate work / post graduate degree
6. My employment status is best described as: Full-time employed / Part-time employed / Not employed
   1. (IF NOT EMPLOYED) I am: Looking for work / Sick or disabled / Homemaker / Retired / Student / Other
   2. (IF EMPLOYED) The organization I work for is in: Public or government sector / Private or commercial sector / Not-for-profit / Don't know / Other

Behavioral Questions

1. In the past 18 months, to how many different charitable organizations have you made a financial donation: None (SKIP NEXT 4 QUESTIONS) / 1-2 / 3-4 / 5-7 / 8-10 / More than 10
2. What is the typical amount that you donate when making a charitable financial contribution to any organization? ($USD) Click here for currency conversion tool: Under $10 / $10-$19 / $20-$29 / $30-$49 / $50-$74 / $75-$99 / $100-$249 / $250-$499 / $500-$999 / $1,000 or more
3. What is the largest amount that you have donated to any one charitable organization in the past 18 months? ($USD) Click here for currency conversion tool: Under $50 / $50-$99 / $100-$249 / $250-$499 / $500-$999 / $1,000-$4,999 / $5,000 or more
4. Which of the following describe your reasons for making charitable donations in the past 18 months? (Select up to FOUR most important to you): (SCRAMBLE SORT) Mission of the organization is universally important / Mission of the organization is personally relevant to me, a relative, or a friend / It is the ethical thing to do / Spontaneously felt like giving / I may benefit one day from the organization / I can afford to give / Responded to a public appeal or campaign / Responded to a direct contact by a charity representative / Responded to a personal appeal from someone I know / Giving makes me feel good / Information about the organization in the media inspired me to give / The government and private sector do not give enough support to fund charity work / Tax benefits of donating
5. Which types of charitable organizations have you supported financially in the past 18 months? (Check all that apply): Educational (schools, colleges, scholarships) / Religious / Sports and exercise / Health, disability, and medical research / Children and youth / Local community or neighborhood groups / Hobbies, recreation, or social clubs / Humanitarian aid and disaster relief / Animal welfare / Elderly people / Arts and culture (music, theater, museums, historical) / Environment, ecology, and conservation / Social welfare / Economic development / Politics and government advocacy / Police, fire, and rescue / Justice, peace, and human rights / Trade unions / Other (please specify)
6. Would you say during the last 18 months (compared to the previous 18 months), the total financial value of your charitable donations has: Increased greatly / Increased somewhat / Stayed about the same / Decreased somewhat / Decreased greatly
7. (IF INCREASED) Which of the following describe why your charitable donations in the past 18 months have increased? (Select all that apply to you): (SCRAMBLE SORT) Personal income has increased / I felt I should give more / Something happened to me, a relative, or a friend / I was asked to increase my contribution / Economic conditions are hurting charitable organizations / For tax purposes / Other (please specify) / Don't know
8. (IF DECREASED) Which of the following describe why your charitable donations in the past 18 months have decreased? (Select all that apply to you): (SCRAMBLE SORT) Not enough personal income to spare / Some charities waste too much money / The government should provide more support / The private sector should provide more support / Some charities fail to achieve their objectives / I now contribute in non-monetary ways / Some charities are not honest and open / Personally disappointed in a relationship with a charity / I wasn't asked for another contribution / I have lost confidence in giving to charities / Fewer particular causes are appealing to me / I intend to defer my giving through my will and estate planning / Other (please specify) / Don't know
9. Please rate how important to you are each of these factors when deciding whether or not to donate financially to a particular charity. (SCALE) Extremely important / Very important / Somewhat important / Not very important / Not at all important: Organization is highly rated by independent charity watchdog services (such as GuideStar or Charity Navigator) / Personal belief that the organization uses money effectively / Receiving information on what is being done with my donation / Personal appeal from a friend or family member / Donation is tax deductible or has tax benefits / Being able to give through an automatic payroll deduction / Being able to contribute non-liquid gifts such as real estate, rare valuables, or shares of stock / Direct appeal for giving by my employer, a peer group, or religious organization / Having information to compare different charities / Receiving a thank-you letter or e-mail / Frequency with which the charity asks me for additional or increased donations / Other (please specify) / Don't know
10. Indicate your priority in supporting charitable organizations: Only support global charities / Mostly global, some local / Global and local equally / Mostly local, some global / Only support local charities
11. In the past 18 months, I have supported charitable organizations in the following non-monetary ways (Select all that apply): Volunteer time and skills / Donated materials, food, blood, or supplies / Board member / Committee member appointed by board / Fundraising outreach / Other (please specify) / None
12. During the past 18 months, I have donated to organizations using the following methods (check all that apply): (SCRAMBLE SORT) Loose coins or bills to a collecting tin / Buy raffle tickets / Donations by direct debit, automatic payments / Buy goods from a charity shop, catalog, or auction / Collection at a place of worship / Sponsor someone in a race or walk / Occasional donation by check, credit card, debit card / Regular (scheduled) donations by check, credit or debit cards / Fundraising event (carnival, fair, concert, etc.) / Door-to-door solicitation / Entrance fee "voluntary" donation (museum, gallery) / Subscription, membership fee to charitable organization / Payroll deduction / Gift of real estate, rare valuables, or shares of stock / Other (please specify) / None
13. What is your most preferred payment method for making donations? Cash / Check / Credit or debit card / Bank transfer / PayPal / Other (please specify)
14. What kind of information would you like to receive in order to understand the impact of your donation? (Rank in order of preference): (SCRAMBLE SORT) A detailed annual report with financial information / A promotional summary report with photos or videos / Statistics or data on the results achieved / Testimonials from the beneficiaries / None, I don't want information regarding the impact of my donation
15. How frequently would you like to be updated about the work and performance of the organizations you support? Weekly / Monthly / Quarterly / Annually / Only upon request
16. What method of communication do you prefer for receiving updates from organizations you support? (Rank in order of preference): (SCRAMBLE SORT) E-mail / Electronic mailing list / Postal mail / Social media groups (e.g., Facebook, Twitter) / None, I prefer not to receive updates
17. After you've made a financial contribution to a charitable organization, which best describes your involvement with that donation? Pay close attention to organization's performance, and likely to impact future decisions to donate / Pay some attention to organization's performance, but not likely to impact future decisions to donate / Don't pay much attention to organization's performance
18. When making financial donations: I typically support the same causes year after year / I often find new or different causes to support

WMF Questions

1. How familiar are you with the Wikimedia Foundation: Very familiar / Somewhat familiar / Not very familiar / Not at all familiar
2. How familiar are you with the mission of the Wikimedia Foundation and the projects it supports: Very familiar / Somewhat familiar / Not very familiar / Not at all familiar
3. The Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation is: (SCRAMBLE SORT) Sue Gardner / Erik Moeller / Michael Snow / Jimmy Wales / Don't know
4. The Chair of the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees is: (SCRAMBLE SORT) Sue Gardner / Erik Moeller / Michael Snow / Jimmy Wales / Don't know
5. The primary Founder of the Wikimedia Foundation is: (SCRAMBLE SORT) Sue Gardner / Erik Moeller / Michael Snow / Jimmy Wales / Don't know
6. The Wikimedia Foundation is headquartered in: (SCRAMBLE SORT) London, UK / New York, NY / St. Petersburg, FL / San Francisco, CA / Don't know
7. I see the work of the Wikimedia Foundation as important and vital: Strongly agree / Agree / Neutral / Disagree / Strongly disagree
8. I believe the Wikimedia Foundation has been successful in carrying out its mission: Strongly agree / Agree / Neutral / Disagree / Strongly disagree
9. I believe the Wikimedia projects and their leadership to be honest and trustworthy: Strongly agree / Agree / Neutral / Disagree / Strongly disagree
10. I believe the Wikimedia Foundation is an efficient steward of donations and resources: Strongly agree / Agree / Neutral / Disagree / Strongly disagree
11. I believe the Wikimedia Foundation is a professional and ethical caretaker of human knowledge: Strongly agree / Agree / Neutral / Disagree / Strongly disagree
12. How often do you visit the websites hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia, Commons, Wiktionary, Wikiquote, etc.): A few times per year / A few times per month / A few times per week / About once a day / Several times per day
13. I intend to make a financial contribution to the Wikimedia Foundation within the next 12 months: Strongly agree / Agree / Neutral / Disagree / Strongly disagree
    1. (IF DISAGREE) What is the primary reason you do not intend to donate financially to the Wikimedia Foundation? Please give details, without identifying yourself personally. (Capture open-end response)
14. Are there any other comments you have about the Wikimedia Foundation? Please give details, without identifying yourself personally. (Capture open-end response)

Lapsed Donors (GROUP C = Have donated to WMF, but not within the last 18 months)

1. You indicated that you have contributed financially to the Wikimedia Foundation, but not in the past 18 months. Select up to three reasons why you have not donated to the Wikimedia Foundation within the last 18 months: (SCRAMBLE SORT) Not enough money to spare / Was not asked to donate again / Contributing to Wikimedia projects in other non-monetary ways / I believe the Wikimedia Foundation is less effective in achieving its mission / I no longer support the mission of the Wikimedia Foundation / I no longer trust the Wikimedia Foundation or its projects / My relationship with Wikimedia projects was disappointing / Giving options did not fit my needs / I intend to defer my giving through my will or estate plan / Other (please specify)
2. What is the one key thing that the Wikimedia Foundation could do to encourage your future financial contribution to it? Please give details, without identifying yourself personally. (Capture open-end response)

Recent Donors (GROUP D = Have donated to WMF within the last 18 months)

1. What are your main reasons for donating to the Wikimedia Foundation? (Select up to THREE): (SCRAMBLE SORT) Keep Wikimedia projects running by paying for hardware and bandwidth costs / Keep Wikimedia projects running by paying for administration and legal support / Increase society's use and adoption of wiki tools and communities / Improve the technology and features available for creating and managing wiki communities / Enable more professional knowledge management practices on the Wikimedia projects / Personal benefits derived from the Wikimedia Foundation's work / Other (please specify) / Don't know
2. Please indicate which you feel are the three most important projects that the Wikimedia Foundation supports. (Select up to THREE): (SCRAMBLE SORT) Wikipedia / Wiktionary / Wikiquote / Wikibooks / Wikisource / Wikispecies / Wikinews / Wikiversity / Wikimedia Commons / MediaWiki
3. How important are the following in your decision to donate to the Wikimedia Foundation? (SCALE) Extremely important / Very important / Somewhat important / Not very important / Not at all important: (SCRAMBLE SORT) Detailed information about the organization and projects / Organization has a good reputation / Evidence of the organization's success / Testimonies from individuals who have benefited from the Wikimedia Foundation's services / Spokespeople of the organization present a clear, strategic view / Receive appropriate recognition for my donation
4. I would be likely to increase the amount of my donation to the Wikimedia Foundation if... (Check all that apply): (SCRAMBLE SORT) I knew where the money would be spent / I could influence how the money was spent / My disposable income increased / I was asked to increase my contribution / I received more contribution requests / There were significant improvements in the Foundation leadership / There were significant improvements in the projects' output / Other (please specify)
5. I would like to learn more about the projects and activities being undertaken by the Wikimedia Foundation: Strongly agree / Agree / Neutral / Disagree / Strongly disagree
6. In the future, I expect my financial support for the Wikimedia Foundation to: Increase greatly / Increase somewhat / Stay about the same / Decrease somewhat / Decrease greatly
   1. (IF DECREASE) Which of the following describe why your support may decrease? (Select all that apply to you): (SCRAMBLE SORT) Not enough personal income to spare / WMF wastes too much money / The government should provide more support / The private sector should provide more support / WMF fails to achieve its objectives / I now contribute in non-monetary ways / WMF is not honest and open / Personally disappointed in my relationship with the WMF / I'm not asked for another contribution / I have lost confidence in giving to WMF / The WMF cause is not appealing to me / I intend to defer my giving through my will and estate plan / Other (please specify) / Don't know
7. I am satisfied with the level of recognition I receive for making a donation to the Wikimedia Foundation: Strongly agree / Agree / Neutral / Disagree / Strongly disagree
8. The process of making a financial contribution to the Wikimedia Foundation is convenient and easy: Strongly agree / Agree / Neutral / Disagree / Strongly disagree

Discussion of Survey Questions

General Comments on Survey Questionnaire

• The final survey should be about 25 questions. Please offer suggestions and highlight questions that could be eliminated or possibly consolidated.
• The survey will be translated in to multiple languages and will reach a culturally diverse audience. Are there any questions that might not be effective or culturally sensitive with a global audience?
• What terminology should be used to refer to donor recipient organizations: charity? non-profit? organization?
• Are there any additional questions needed for "non-donors," other than those already included in GROUP0 (all survey respondents)?

Discussion of Specific Survey Questions

• * Why does the income question not contain a 'rather not say'. Even when anon, some folks rather not put that information. --RobH 23:33, 24 June 2009 (UTC)

Agreed. In US consumer surveys, typically about 9% to 12% will initially refuse to answer an income question. Some of them may be persuaded to answer a more broadly framed question, such as, "Is your annual income above or below $75K?" -- Thekohser 19:27, 6 July 2009 (UTC) Done. -- Thekohser 13:59, 15 July 2009 (UTC)

• My comments. Cbrown1023 talk 00:02, 25 June 2009 (UTC)
  • 0#2 => "My gender is: male/female" => usually it's best to put a "decline to state" option... I know of quite a few Wikipedia who don't want to feel confined to the traditional gender roles (thinking cross-cultures). [flickr gives both "other" and "decline to state"...] Done. -- Thekohser 18:24, 15 July 2009 (UTC)
  • 0#4 => what if they're not married, but they're in a domestic partnership? or they've just been dating for 2 years? single doesn't really fit in here. Done. -- Thekohser 18:25, 15 July 2009 (UTC)
  • 0#11-12 aren't completely clear on if we're talking about WMF donations or just donations in general
  • 0#12/14 => I may be weird, but time seems to apply here too in my mind (not just money).
  • 0#16 => "no effect" might be clearer for the lowest option
  • 0#23 => yay, non-monetary \o/
  • 0#35-40 => yay, neutral
  • 0#36/43 => no question mark ;-) Got it, fixed jpilisuk 20:53, 25 June 2009 (UTC)
  • 1#5 => perhaps a "how" box too?
  • 1#6 => wha do we define "interaction" as?
  • 1#8 => suggest that friends donate or just check out the organization?
  • 1#9 => if disagree/strongly, how could we improve?
  • 1#10 => if disagree/strongly, what's wrong?
  • 2#1 => also "I feel they already have enough money"... people may think that because our last fundraiser was so successful, they don't need to donate... or that recent partnerships/sponsorships already provide lots of money (both false, but they might now know that)
  • 2#2 => I don't like how this question assumes that they've stopped all charitable contributions, maybe that's just me

Discussion of Results

This discussion can begin once the survey is complete and the results have been posted.

Discussion of Conclusions

This discussion can begin once the survey is complete and the results have been posted.

Discussion of Resources

What other information is needed? Please add resources or links to resources that may inform the discussion regarding the Wikimedia 2009 Fundraising Survey.

Comment about this process

Questionnaire design and revision via a wiki page, plus a discussion page, strikes me as a terribly inefficient way of constructing a study. It would appear that certain major principles of the sampling methodology have not even been addressed. Will this be a random, probability sample, or will it be a non-probabilistic convenience sample? Is there a budget for this process? Is anyone skilled in marketing research practice participating in the design process? I am a skilled market researcher, but I hesitate to contribute to this process, for fear that my actions will be taken as overbearing and too "ignore all rules". -- Thekohser 19:25, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

Why not simply make some suggestions and recommendations here and see what people think of them. Everyone is invited to discuss topics on meta: :-) fr33kman ^{t - c} 19:56, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

I could probably spend two hours of my professional time revamping and improving this study's design, methodology, and questionnaire. Then, I might be told that the advertised calendar (with key milestone dates now in our past) takes precedence over expert revisions at this late date. I would have then wasted two hours of my professional time. I would rather get some clarity on the course of this project before contributing to it. I've left voicemail with Mr. Montoya, so hopefully I'll know soon. Have you noticed, Fr33kman, that at least 95% of the edits to this page and the parent project page were executed by either Montoya, Pilisuk, or CBrown? That would suggest to me that the "community input" phase has already failed. I don't want to throw good volunteer time after bad. -- Thekohser 20:05, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

I wouldn't say that community input has failed, merely that meta is a small wiki with a small community; many of whom might simply be uninterested in this topic. I'd still advise that if you think the process needs help to offer it. What's two hours in the grand scheme of the universe after all? It wouldn't be time wasted anyway; it might serve as a starting point for discussions on the next iteration of the survey. I agree that a scientific methodology would certainly lead to results that are unimpeachable. Personally, my expertise in survey design and statistics is medically based, not fund-raising. :) fr33kman ^{t - c} 20:23, 6 July 2009 (UTC)

It is completely frustrating and illogical to have "input" on this study's objectives, design, and instrument on both a Content page and a Discussion page. I move that we centralize development to either one or the other page, until we reach the "Questionnaire finalization" stage on July 17th. I hereby propose that it be the Discussion page, and I will collapse the in-process content on the Content page. -- Thekohser 15:29, 9 July 2009 (UTC)

Status of Fundraising Survey

It has been many weeks since I last heard about implementation of the Fundraising Survey that I spent many hours helping to design, both in framing the sampling plan and in questionnaire construction. Last I heard, it was being translated into many different languages. But, it looks like it did not actually field yet, and thus we've missed getting important input before the donation campaign. Could Rand or some volunteer please give us a formal update on what the current anticipated schedule looks like for roll-out of this survey? -- Thekohser 13:57, 14 November 2009 (UTC)

This question remains unanswered, and it is similarly ignored on the Foundation-l mailing list. That speaks volumes about quite a number of things. -- Thekohser 20:14, 9 December 2009 (UTC)

So, it is now February 2010. Still no answers about what happened to the 2009 Fundraising Survey, and not a word about whether this will be implemented or not in 2010. This, to me, shows the effects of an immature and decidedly non-transparent organization. I think what happened is that the Foundation was tickled pink that they got their $10.4 million to keep Sue Gardner's empire running, so they don't really see the need for this study. -- Thekohser 21:38, 8 February 2010 (UTC)

This is the discussion page for the Wikimedia 2009 Fundraising Survey. All comments, discussion, and feedback should occur on this page. Comments Page for the Wikimedia 2009 Fundraising Survey WMF Staff: Rand Montoya