Wikipedia has over 340 million users a month
Wikipedia is the fifth most popular Web site in the world with over 340 million users a month and, so far, there is no catch when using it because it’s totally free. In order for this popular online encyclopedia to remain free, its founder Jimmy Whales is asking for donations from its users on a Wikipedia Web page.
In this recent post, Whales states that the eight-year-old online encyclopedia, which millions use every day, is ran by a staff less than 35 people and has only a 10 million dollar annual budget. Whales went on to state that he aims to make Wikipedia a place where “every single person on the planet has free access to the sum of all human knowledge.” This is a daunting task for even a large commercial site, but Whales isn’t even asking for a certain dollar amount from users for their donations only that they “please make a donation today.”
Whales states that the donations will go toward Wikipedia’s staff and technology. “Your support helps to pay for the technology infrastructure (servers and bandwidth) that keep Wikipedia running and growing.” According to Whales, the majority of the staff are made of technology specialists and the rest are split among departments in public outreach, volunteer cultivation, fundraising and administration.
Donations do not have to be made by credit card or check, but can be made by Paypal and other convenient methods. Donations are also tax-deductible.
If you want to make a donation to Wikipedia, visit Wikimedia.org, which has detailed instructions.
Tags: Wikipedia, Wikipedia news