infundibulum

Suw Charman recently wrote about the challenges involved in making an open source project stay in the black. Ethan Zuckerman wrote about a fundraiser to help four very worthy young Mexican-Americans to get into engineering school (he points to a very compelling story in Wired, which I recommend highly).
Both posts happened to get me thinking about an increasingly common problem…

When the tsunami happened, Amazon.com put up a fund raiser for the Red Cross. You could reload it after waiting just a few seconds, and see that someone else had felt just like you had, and had put some more wood on the fire. For about a week, for me, it was the most addictive site on the internet—the only antidote available to the constant onslaught of horrifying news. And it worked. Much, much better than the Red Cross site did.

Why? Because Amazon.com knows that customers (and contributors) want feedback.
Compare how Wired is handling this fundraiser for the kids trying to get into college:

The Phoenix Union High School District has created a scholarship fund to benefit the further education of Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Luis Aranda, and Oscar Vazquez. To make a donation, please send a check payable to “Phoenix Union Partnership – La Vida Robot Scholarship” at: Phoenix Union Partnership – La Vida Robot Scholarship / Phoenix Union High School District – / Attn: Jodie Baker / 4502 N. Central, Room 5 / Phoenix, AZ 85012

For further information, contact the Carl Hayden High School robotics team adviser Allan Cameron at: Cameron@phxhs.k12.az.us

That’s great, but c’mon, Wired, live up to your name. Which snailmail universe are you living in? It’s not even formatted nicely. Where’s the Kottke-esque micropayment system with Paypal? I want freakin’ bar graphs, guys! I want a damn “Robotics Whiz Kids Tuition” thermometer in Flash, already!

The point isn’t that people are vidiots and are only captivated by pretty pictures. The point is that people feel empowered by feedback. If this fundraiser (or Wordpress, the project Suw described) had a little feedback, the whole thing would stop being a faceless “charity” and become a community project. People trust things that don’t feel like bottomless wells.

The bright folks who run Wikipedia tell you just how much money they raise, down to the day. Guess what—they met their goal with flying colors.

That’s forward thinking.

The New Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”