Last week I won a catered holiday dinner for 8 people as part of my spoils from the AIPMM Blogger Battle. The catch was that I would have to pick it up from the Fairmont Hotel in San Jose and I live in Toronto. As much as I like the idea of flying to San Jose and inviting a random group of people to eat roast beef with me in my hotel room, I decided someone local could make better use of it than I could. So I’m giving my dinner to The Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit organization that supports Wikipedia.
My friend Sue Gardner is the executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation and before she took the job, even though I was a frequent Wikipedia user, I never really thought about who or what was keeping the lights on over there. In case you didn’t know, The Wikimedia Foundation is a non-profit organization that supports Wikipedia as well as the Wikimedia Commons, Wikinews, Wikibooks and a set of other projects all aimed at accomplishing their mission of the free and open sharing of knowledge. The Wikimedia Foundation depends entirely on donations. They do not sell information, nor do they accept advertising.
When Sue joined the Wikimedia Foundation in 2007, it was operating on a shoestring budget. While they were certainly keeping the servers running, it did not have the resources it needed to pursue partnerships, oversee new projects and most importantly raise the funds needed to safeguard the work of hundreds of thousands of volunteers for the future.
Since then, the Foundation has undergone a transformation that has included improving the operations of the organization with proper revenue targets, annual plans and board-approved budgets, as well as focusing on projects such as the Bookshelf project, aimed at encouraging new volunteers to contribute to Wikipedia and other projects that are bringing information to communities without internet access. This change has also been accomplished with openness and respect for the voices and opinions of a massive group of passionate volunteers who (rightfully so) feel a great deal of ownership of the content of the projects. With a tiny team (only 33 full time staff, half of which are focused on technology) and a small budget this group is doing an amazing job maximizing the potential of Wikipedia and the other projects.
The Wikimedia Foundation has just kicked off its annual fundraising campaign. The goal is to raise $7.5 million. I’ve donated (and not just the roast beef either) and if you’re a frequent Wikipedia user like I am, so should you. Click here for more info and to donate.
Hey that’s a great idea to give the meal to the wikipedia folks. I had no idea they were a charity. Do you know if Canadians get a tax receipt?
Dave
Hi Dave,
Here’s what I found on their site with respect to Canada:
Because of the Wikimedia Foundation’s 501(c)3 status in the United States, Canada’s tax code will generally permit deductibility of donations to the WMF from the donor’s US taxable income only. A useful reference may be Article XXI, Paragraph 6 of the US-Canada tax treaty. Please contact a tax professional for the details of deducting such a donation.
See here for more deets:
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Deductibility_of_donations
Thanks
April
You got me on that one. I thought Jimmy Wales ran Wikipedia.
It’s amazing that these folks have never caved to the idea of running advertising. With such a high levels of traffic, I’m sure they could raise more than $7M if they went that route. Some folks are idealistic I guess but I don’t see the harm in running a few ads.
Randy Eckler
I think Jimmy sits on the board of the Foundation…
I’m sure there’s been discussion over the years about accepting advertising. I think it’s great that they don’t go that way. The content afterall is produced by volunteers. It would be difficult to generate revenue in a traditional for-profit manner while at the same time asking folks to give their time and expertise freely without compensation. You would also introduce the whole issue of bias which is just a big can of worms. I for one am glad they’ve never accepted ads.
Thanks for the comment.
April
Blog post: I'm donating dinner to Wikipedia http://bit.ly/5km69t #pmec #prodmgmt
Great idea! RT @aprildunford: Blog post: I'm donating dinner to Wikipedia http://bit.ly/5km69t #pmec #prodmgmt
That is a really nice thing to do April. And that organization would be on my list — they do a good thing. You rock.
-mike.