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Ask HN: Is Wikipedia in trouble (December 2023)?
Wikipedia is displaying banners stating that:
"Wikipedia still can't be sold - We're sorry we've asked you a few times recently, but it's Wednesday, December 20, and it will soon be too late to help the nonprofit behind Wikipedia in this end-of-year fundraiser in the United States. Wikipedia is free and doesn't rely on ads. Just 2% of readers donate, so if Wikipedia has given you $2.75 worth of knowledge, please give. Any contribution helps, whether it's $2.75 or $25."
Is Wikipedia in dire financial straits?
- slater 3y agoNo.
- boplicity 3y agoNo. They're just being dramatic with their sales copy. Note, they're not saying it will be too late to help Wikipedia. Rather, they're saying it will be too late to help with the "end-of-year fundraiser in the United States."
- s1artibartfast 3y agonot at all. They are just getting more and more scummy in their advertising. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation#/media/File:WMF_Support_and_Revenue,_Expenses_and_Net_Assets_at_Year_End.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation#/media/Fi... Not included in this graph is their endowment, which also grew by 100million in 2022 alone. Hosting costs of wikipedia are somewhere around 3 million per year. salaries have gone from ~3 million in 2010 to 60 >100 million in 2022. edit: bases on 2022 audit report https://wikimediafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Wikimedia_Foundation_FS_FY2022-2023_Audit_Report.pdf https://wikimediafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/W...
- h2odragon 3y agoHolidays are a prime fundraising season. They got enough they're making grants. > The Wikimedia Foundation's Equity Fund Committee has announced a community call concerning the upcoming third round of grantmaking from the controversial, $4.5 million Knowledge Equity Fund that provides grants to charitable and advocacy organizations. Concerns have focused on the fact that Wikipedia donors may not be aware that the Wikimedia Foundation spends several million dollars funding organizations outside the Wikimedia movement https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2023-10-03/News_and_notes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2...
- willcate 3y agoThey literally do this every December