Wikipedia saved by $6 million in donations

by Stevie Smith - Jan 2 2009, 13:15

It may not always be the most accurate or reliable source of online information, but the undeniable scope of Wikipedia and its free encyclopaedic content is certainly something the Internet masses don’t wish to part with any time soon.

Specifically, beyond inviting visitors to participate in the evolution of its ever-expanding pages, Wikipedia has also been holding out a begging bowl in the hope of receiving some $6 million USD in monetary contributions required to ensure its ongoing yearly operation.

A week ago funds donated to the site by its 275 million monthly users stood at a little less than $4 million USD, which prompted a personal plea for increased generosity from Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales.

Looking to inspire a final push toward the vital $6 million USD annual target, Wales posted an open letter to the Wikipedia site on December 23, imploring visitors to dig a little deeper into their festive funds to keep the encyclopaedia, “free to use by anyone for any purpose.”

That plea, which also outlined how the target sum would help Wikipedia keep intrusive advertisements off its pages, seems to have done the trick.

Moreover, a number of donation totals have appeared on the site since January 01 of 2009, all of them showing that the $6 million USD target has not only been met, but even surpassed, which means Wikipedia will remain free to all – for now.

Of course, the donation process continues and the $6 million USD figure necessary to cover the cost of managing Web traffic and improving Wikipedia’s structural software has been reset.

Wikipedia is run by only 23 paid members of staff and is supported by non-profit organisation the Wikimedia Foundation. Currently, Wikipedia relies on some 150,000 volunteers who have thus-far created more than 11 million articles in 265 languages.

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