# I donated $50 to Wikipedia **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 13, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-donated-50-to-wikipedia/978196 "2023-01-13T21:23:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-donated-50-to-wikipedia/978196/1 "2023-01-13T21:23:28Z")
Wiki lets someone follow links and investigate sources as far as you want. I like SD for the same reason. I would donate to SD if I knew how. I hope SD also get some $$ from advertising. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-donated-50-to-wikipedia/978196/2 "2023-01-13T23:23:11Z")
That’s very generous of you, but you should be aware of two things: first, you didn’t donate to Wikipedia, you donated to the Wikimedia Foundation, which is the organization that owns and runs the servers that Wikipedia runs on. Neither Wikipedia itself (to the extent that means anything), nor any of the people who write its content (which is presumably what matters to you), get any of the money you donated. Second, the Wikimedia Foundation is [swimming in money](https://www.dailydot.com/debug/wikipedia-endownemnt-fundraising/); they have far more money than they need to run their business despite the misleading messages they periodically send out begging for more money. I contribute the Wikipedia by using my time to edit the encyclopedia, which is far more valuable to the encyclopedia itself than giving yet more money to the cash-rich Wikimedia Foundation. Please don’t take this as criticism; obviously your intentions were good and your action was generous. It’s a bit of a sore spot among veteran Wikipedia editors that we donate our time and energy to build the encyclopedia, while the Foundation uses the goodwill generated by our work to shovel more cash into their bank account, while falsely implying that they are on the verge of going out of business unless YOU donate RIGHT NOW. There have been innumerable discussions about this on Wikipedia, like this recent one: > **[Wikipedia:Village pump (proposals)/Archive 193 | Review of English Wikimedia fundraising emails](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_(proposals)/Archive_193#Review_of_English_Wikimedia_fundraising_emails)** > > The Wikimedia Foundation has posted samples of its upcoming English fundraising emails on Meta, for community review. These are the Jimbo emails that will be used in the upcoming English email campaign, scheduled to run from September 6 to November 20. Each features a photo of Jimmy Wales, followed by texts asking past donors to donate again to "keep Wikipedia online", "ad-free", keep Wikipedia "free" (the absence of a subscription fee is mentioned), "protect Wikipedia", etc. > I've copied the te... ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-donated-50-to-wikipedia/978196/3 "2023-01-13T23:40:03Z")
From a fundraising come-on: “ **31% of your gift will be used to support the volunteers** who share their knowledge with you for free every day.” What is this “support”? Cash bonuses? Booze, imported caviar and strippers at Wiki-parties? Engraved parking place nameplates? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2023, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-donated-50-to-wikipedia/978196/4 "2023-01-13T23:51:14Z")
Interesting. I had no idea. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-donated-50-to-wikipedia/978196/5 "2023-01-14T00:03:55Z")
Yeah, I probably spend an average of more than an hour a day editing Wikipedia, but I’m still waiting for my share of that 31%. ---
**Author:** ![EastUmpqua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eastumpqua/32/6025_2.png) [@EastUmpqua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EastUmpqua)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-donated-50-to-wikipedia/978196/6 "2023-01-14T00:07:18Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > What is this “support”? Cash bonuses? Booze, imported caviar and strippers at Wiki-parties? Engraved parking place nameplates? Is it possible volunteers actually like to contribute? Maybe not that different from SD. One thing I like about wikipedia is no adverts. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-donated-50-to-wikipedia/978196/7 "2023-01-14T04:40:29Z")
> [@EastUmpqua](#): > > no adverts. Except for the dunning messages about donating. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-donated-50-to-wikipedia/978196/8 "2023-01-14T06:34:34Z")
@EastUmpqua , thank you for the donation. There are always issues with not-for-profits about how much they should hold in reserve, but a generous donation should always be praised. And I agree with you - I think Wikipedia is a marvellous thing, a free resource that we’ve never had before in world history, that so many people use everyday. For instance, back when the Covid pandemic started, the World Health Organisation partnered with Wikimedia because of the strong reputation that Wikipedia has for spreading accurate information. The WHO thought that Wikipedia (and all the other language versions) was the best way to ensure accurate information about the disease was available world-wide. So, thanks! ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2023, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-donated-50-to-wikipedia/978196/9 "2023-01-14T15:32:20Z")
> [@EastUmpqua](#): > > I would donate to SD if I knew how. We are currently not set up to take donations (or any other sort of payment). It’s been on the list of things to fix for quite some time now. I wouldn’t expect it to be fixed any time soon. If you want to discuss this further, feel free to open a thread in ATMB.