Gov/en/Portal:R&D/Innovations:Revenue Spreading

💡 In simple words: People who help others join WikiDeal can choose to get paid all at once, or a little each year for ten years, whatever helps them most.

🎯 In 20 seconds (scientific summary): Revenue Spreading is a payout choice being explored for dialoguers (street fundraisers): take 100% in the first year, or a spread-out schedule of 20% across ten years. The long option intends to give workers in precarious situations a stable, durable income stream instead of a one-off payment.

Origin	🟢 WikiDeal concept
Status	Prototype 1, In testing

Fundraising work is often precarious: intense periods of income followed by nothing. This is not a matter of individual poor planning; it is how the ecosystem of short-term gig work is structured. Revenue Spreading starts from the worker's real need: some prefer money now, others prefer the security of knowing something will still arrive years later. The mechanism aims to leave that choice with the person, not the platform.

On this page:

• The need: stability for precarious work
• How it is intended to work
• Who does what
• Why it matters for the ecosystem
• State of the art

The need: stability for precarious work

Take Yasmin, a dialoguer who signs up new WikiDeal members on the street. In a classic model she would be paid once and then face uncertainty. With Revenue Spreading she could choose a smaller amount each year for ten years, turning a burst of work into a modest but reliable stream. Someone else in a different situation might prefer everything up front. Both choices are legitimate; flexibility is the point.

How it is intended to work

At the point of earning, the worker selects the payout schedule that best fits their needs: receive 100% in the first year, or receive 20% distributed across ten years. The spread-out option converts a one-time payment into a durable income stream. The detailed schedule mechanics and eligibility are being documented progressively as the platform evolves.

Who does what

• Dialoguers choose their own payout model at the moment of earning.
• The platform publishes the schedules transparently and executes them automatically.
• The community can review and refine the mechanism through Open Calls.

Why it matters for the ecosystem

Revenue Spreading expresses two of WikiDeal's guiding aims in a very concrete way: flexibility (each worker picks the schedule that suits their life) and transparency (published, predictable schedules instead of discretionary bonuses). It also reflects a systemic view of precarity: rather than expecting individuals to absorb the volatility of gig work, the platform design itself can smooth it.

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State of the art

Better distributing fundraising revenue among the people who do the dialogue work relates to research on charitable giving, fundraising management and pay in platform-mediated work.

• James Andreoni (1990), Impure Altruism and Donations to Public Goods: A Theory of Warm-Glow Giving, The Economic Journal, 100(401): doi:10.2307/2234133 · warm-glow giving on Wikipedia.
• René Bekkers and Pamala Wiepking (2011), A Literature Review of Empirical Studies of Philanthropy: Eight Mechanisms That Drive Charitable Giving, Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 40(5): doi:10.1177/0899764010380927.
• Edward P. Lazear (2000), Performance Pay and Productivity, American Economic Review, 90(5): doi:10.1257/aer.90.5.1346.
• Alex Rosenblat and Luke Stark (2016), Algorithmic Labor and Information Asymmetries: A Case Study of Uber's Drivers, International Journal of Communication, 10: open access article.
• On the practice itself: street fundraising on Wikipedia.

See also: All innovations · R&D Portal