Thread:Project:WikiProject Extensions/Ideas/Link within Extension to allow developers to solicit donations/reply

Geoff Brigham (WMF's GC) offered the following for consideration, with the disclaimer that it's not legal advice:


 * 1. There would be a need to put in some controls on receiving payments.  For example, in whose name are the donations made (and is that person willing to accept responsibility and potential liability)?  How is distribution of the money decided?  Where is the money kept?  How do you prevent misapplication of funds?   How do you ensure transparency?


 * 2. To do this right, you would need to confirm whether state regulations required any type of registration for this type of "passive" fundraising. Maybe not, but you would need to confirm.


 * 3. To do this right, you should have systems to protect donor data, including a privacy policy, security around the data, etc. If there is a data leak, you could be liable, so you may want to consider insurance.  The risk would be minimal however if only Paypal - not you - saw the data.

My view: In general, I find direct PayPal links a bit iffy due to the issues around accountability. Is it the right person? Are they going to spend the money on working on that extension? Are donors going to assume that WMF did some degree of vetting? Etc. With disclaimers it might be manageable. It would be a lot cleaner if we're just linking to a trusted non-profit (e.g. OpenStreetMap) where that's possible.

If a developer wants to work on an extension that has relevance to WMF's mission, applying for a grant (even as an individual) through WMF's grants program is definitely a possibility, as well. I don't think there are many existing examples of that, but if someone put in an application, I'm sure we'd give it fair consideration.