Wikipedia is used by millions worldwide each day, draws in billions of page views each month, and often takes the top slot on Google searches. But the truly amazing fact is that it’s stayed ad-free. This is because the mega encyclopedia and its sister sites run on borrowed time, borrowed servers, and — most importantly — public donations.
That’s why Wikpedia’s parent, the Wikimedia Foundation, has been running their annual fundraiser to support their effort to spread free knowledge. Most of their revenue comes from private individuals, with donations averaging around $25. Founder Jimmy Wales makes a personal request for donations and outlines future plans in a video below. Over the past nine days they’ve attracted over 10,000 donations (they’re also donating a lot of fan photos as well). The 10,000th one came from a contributor in Finland, who donated 10 Euros at 8:58 UTC (4.58 ET). And there’s still time for plenty more. The drive runs all the way through December 22.
You can donate money here. You can get a banner to help promote donations here.
