785097 - Contribution Paypal message is confusing when MoFo or another charity are the recipients

Status: RESOLVED FIXED

(addons.mozilla.org Graveyard :: Developer Pages, defect)

Description

[Gervase Markham [:gerv]]

Some addons developers, e.g.:
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-us/firefox/addon/fireshot/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/firebug/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/mobile/addon/dom-inspector-6622/
https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/javascript-deminifier/

specify that anyone who wants to make a donation to support their addon should make it to MoFo.

This money ends up, via Paypal, with Marilyn Wigglesworth, MoFo's money person <[e-mail]>. The report she gets has a column which says e.g.:

Colaboracion para Firebug: Mozilla Foundation
Contribution for Always on Top: Mozilla Foundation
Contribution for Always on Top: Mozilla Foundation
Contribution for DOM Inspector: Mozilla Foundation
Contribution for Firebug: Mozilla Foundation

The word "for" in here makes this donation look like it has been designated. She has therefore been saving this money in a series of small pots, marked with the name of each addon, not knowing what to do with it. 

My understanding is that this money is supposed to go direct to MoFo, to spend how it likes. I suspect that this misleading text is generated somewhere inside AMO.

Can the AMO team:

a) confirm that the intended purpose of money which arrives in this way is that it should be placed in a MoFo general fund;

b) update the code which deals with Paypal donations to make this more explicit? I would suggest e.g.:
"Contribution for Mozilla Foundation (via Firebug add-on)"

Thanks,

Gerv

Comment 1

[Jorge Villalobos [:jorgev] (he/him)]

(In reply to Gervase Markham [:gerv] from comment #0)
> Can the AMO team:
> 
> a) confirm that the intended purpose of money which arrives in this way is
> that it should be placed in a MoFo general fund;

Yes, the idea is that you can set contributions for your add-on that will go to MoFo and used as MoFo sees fit.

> b) update the code which deals with Paypal donations to make this more
> explicit? I would suggest e.g.:
> "Contribution for Mozilla Foundation (via Firebug add-on)"

This is probably an easy fix, changing the string to something different when the contribution is done to MoFo or a different charity.

Comment 2

[Gervase Markham [:gerv]]

Marilyn: I hope comment 1 above is enough to make you happy about rolling pots from specific addons with messages of the form:
Contribution for XXXXX: Mozilla Foundation
into the general MoFo pot. (jorge is in charge of AMO.)

This bug will remain open to get the message made more clear.

Gerv

Comment 3

[Wil Clouser [:clouserw]]

The confusion behind this bug has been fixed.  closing.