Proposal:Alumni-organization (send email and welcome returnees)

From Strategic Planning
Status (see valid statuses)

The status of this proposal is:
Request for Discussion / Sign-Ups

This proposal is associated with the bolded strategic priorities below.


  1. Achieve continued growth in readership
  2. Focus on quality content
  3. Increase Participation.
  4. Stabilize and improve the infrastructure
  5. Encourage Innovation


Summary

Proposal

We could create an Alumni-organization based on e-mail for former Wikimedians to stay in touch. This might be a way to encourage short time editors to come one day back. And editors with xxx edits might be interested in what is going on even if they don´t edit any more. For instance we could inform them that the Wikimedia Board of Trustees election has started or an article on their watchlist is a Featured article candidate. We might add at the My preferences a possibility to choose which event should trigger an e-mail (vote, WP:FAC, ...)

If the wikimedia projects provide a history of the high-level changes (e.g. policies) than getting back would be easier. (source)

Motivation

Editors stay only a few weeks, months or years. Other organisations have a lifetime approach and have found that volunteers pop in and out of activity several times in their lives, especially if you are welcome to returnees. We should try to get them back.

Key Questions

I think this proposal belongs to the "participation" Working Group. The Key Question might be "Maybe we should think how to increase the number of edits of these short time editors."


Potential Costs

An electronic newsletter with the possibility to opt in or out of specific sections would cost little to run.

References

Community Discussion

Do you have a thought about this proposal? A suggestion? Discuss this proposal by going to Proposal Talk:Alumni-organization (send email and welcome returnees).

Want to work on this proposal?

  1. Vibhijain 14:45, 8 May 2011 (UTC)
  2. .. Sign your name here!