Bringing Wikimedia's raised funding for 2010 to a cool $10 million

Feb 17, 2010 08:33 GMT  ·  By
Google's donation brings Wikimedia's raised funding for 2010 to a cool $10 million
   Google's donation brings Wikimedia's raised funding for 2010 to a cool $10 million

Wikipedia is such an integral part of the web that most people don't even give it a second thought anymore. And much like everything else online, the site is completely free and available to anyone. Unlike most other sites, Wikipedia doesn't have advertising, there isn't a Wikipedia Pro, and has no other revenue than donations, not exactly the most reliable of sources for one of the top 10 websites in the world. While the site manages to raise the funds it needs every year, a little extra doesn't hurt, which is why Google's donation of $2 million to the Wikimedia Foundation, the group that runs Wikipedia, comes in quite handy.

"Google has donated $2 million to the Wikimedia Foundation! Formal announcement tomorrow," Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales tweeted. As the tweet implies, no announcements have been made yet by either the Wikimedia Foundation or Google but they should be coming later today. The $2 million adds to the $8 million already raised in last year's funding campaign for 2010 to make a very nice round number for the non-profit group that, besides Wikipedia, runs Wikimedia Commons, Wikitionary, Wikisource, Wikiquote, Wikibooks, Wikinews, and Wikiversity.

The foundation runs a fund-raising campaign every year to make sure it can operate in the next. The funds have risen steadily since its inception and the site manages to outdo itself each year. In 2009, it succeeded in raising $500,000 over the initial goal of $7.5 million. This was already a boost over 2008, when it had set a target of $6 million, which it exceeded by $200,000.

The money is used to pay for the day-to-day operations of the Wikimedia Foundation, with the vast majority going to Wikipedia. This year, the group has also said it plans to start several longer term projects. Google is known for its philanthropic projects and donates quite a bit of money each year. $2 million is change for a company that brings in several billion dollars in profits each year but it is quite a lot of money for Wikipedia.