Every so often I give a few bucks(far less than the worth of knowledge I got from it)
Absolutely not. They have way more money than they can sensibly spend, keep begging for more as if they could barely keep the lights on (they could probably easily keep the core mission going with about 10% of the money they’re getting), and then expand their spending to match the donations they collected.
They then created an endowment (i.e. a pile of wealth that generates enough interest to sustain them indefinitely), using both additional donations and some of the money given to Wikimedia (which reduces the apparent amount of money they spend and is not listed as money Wikipedia/Wikimedia has, as it is accounted for separately). The $100M endowment was planned to take 10 years to build, got completed in 2021, five years before schedule. Wikimedia also has a separate cash hoard of almost a quarter billion dollars.
It’s actually all in their article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation#Finances
Wow I didn’t know about this, thanks for the reading! I always feel morally in debt for using Wikipedia without giving back much and assume they were struggling a bit to operate, but wow they have received millions of dollars already!
edit: I’m still willing to donate though, and I just did, like I’m happy to pay for what I’ve learned from it, even if it doesn’t mean much to them.
They make it sound like they’re just about to close down, I’ve been sending them a few bucks every month for like a year and I feel a little bit slighted tbh
Yes. People won’t understand the value of something until they lose it.
Yes, every month. Why? Because in my opinion it is one of the greatest collective projects of mankind (even with the flaws it has).
Yes, sporadically but usually once I year I give them a donation.
Wikipedia is an insanely valuable resource we as a society just take for granted, especially those that grew up with it. Instant access to nearly infinite information is an absurd luxury we have, and it’s a resource I want to see continue without being tied to corporate interests or abusive government regulation.
It’s never much mind you, but I try to contribute a little around Christmas time if I can.
Yup. $20 every year.
I just like that it’s there and I’ve used it a lot, and I want it to be there for the next generation.
Plus, they’ve maintained staying ad free, sub free, and bullshit free. I can’t think of another site that’s kept that level of decency.
Basically the same here, £2 a month, and for the same reasons as you.
I think once a year they show the donation banner, then I donate something like 10 dollars. I use Wikipedia almost daily, so I’m glad to contribute something.
I think Wikipedia is a valuable common good and should be maintained. Because I can afford it, I donate monthly, even if I only use it a few times each month.
I heard that the wiki foundation is pretty well off and the saleries they pay the executives are rising pretty fast. Havent donated myself but in principle I should, eventho the higher ups are earning this much.
I gave to them once or twice before the pandemic showed up. It was something I wanted to do, but never could since I was never financially able to.
I stopped once I found an article showing that Wikipedia is not hurting for money at all, yet they kept groveling for money. I think it also said the CEO/owner was keeping a lot of the money for themself which I was not a fan of.Wikipedia has an endowment that can pay for their servers for the rest of civilization. Meaning they have such a huge pile of stocks, that just the interest generated off of it can pay for everything.
From what I remember, their parent company also has a fat stack of liquid cash that it’s just sitting on, so even if the economy implodes tomorrow and their endowment stops paying out enough, they can still run the servers as long as there’s electricity.
Don’t bother donating money to already rich organizations. Wikipedia asking me for money is like if one of the Rockefeller kids started panhandling after getting choppered to the street corner. They have enough money to last them practically forever. While I value their contribution to knowledge, i also know my money can better help other organizations like the internet archive, who don’t have the benefit of an obscene endowment and are currently facing very serious lawsuits.
Wikipedia is one of the great achievements of humanity and the Internet. Ofc I donate. If their management’s salary is high – that’s good. It should be a well-paid job. Everyone should be compensated appropriately for their time. With money or (preferably: and) with the satisfaction that their job is important and appreciated.
I’ve donated once, but never again after i found out how they hoard the money and use it for all kinds of politically motivated stuff.
50 euro a year. I was terrible in school and Wikipedia allowed me to learn independently and has enabled me to become who I am now.
I’ve been donating to the Wikimedia foundation regularly since 2016 since I believe it’s a resource everyone should have access to.
The Wikipedia is not perfect but, for several topics, it’s a great starting point or recap. I’ve used it for science related queries and, even if the style is not uniform and some entries are hard to read, it is an amazingly useful project which doesn’t get old (and the phone app is fantastic)
I did a few times but not in the recent years. I don’t know exactly why.
I do regularly.
Knowledge, bitch!
Yes. As a frequent user, I donate $10 from time to time. I also use my editing rights to fix mistakes when/if I see them.
