Funding: Difference between revisions
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#REDIRECT [[Fundraising]] |
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'''Funding''' is a very important aspect of the survival and growth of the Wikimedia infrastructure and mission. |
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In the early days of Wikipedia (the first project that would later come under the auspices of the [http://wikimediafoundation.org Wikimedia Foundation]) after it was created in January 2001 by [[User:Larry_Sanger|Larry Sanger]] with instrumental financial and tech support from [[User:Jimbo_Wales|Jimmy Wales]], Wales was Wikipedia's sole benefactor. He paid for Wikipedia's bandwidth and for its domain names (which were relatively inexpensive, considering the small size of the early project), and as processing needs increased, he bought a new $3,000 server solely dedicated to Wikipedia and its related projects, rather than co-sharing space on a [[w:Bomis|Bomis, Inc.]] rack. On the other hand, Wales was prone to set policies unilaterally and didn't seem that interested in governance -- although he offered to set up competing projects with the same software. |
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Around early 2003, however, plans emerged to form a non-profit organization to manage Wikipedia's and Wiktionary's finances. Such an organization would be able to accept donations legally. And it could also recruit [[ideal Wikipedia board|"ideal" Wikipedia board]] members. Thus, on July 19, 2003, the WikimediaFoundation.org domain was created. |
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==History of success== |
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Since then, every year the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) has successfully increased its previous year's fundraising goals. First, budgets were in the few hundreds of thousands of dollars, then a million, then a few million, and most recently (2009-2010) the Foundation raised well over $10,000,000. A significant portion of every year's budget is set aside in a savings account for longer-term planning. For more information on WMF funds, see the [http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Fundraising organization's fundraising] page. |
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==Business sponsors== |
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Past and continuing corporate sponsors of the Wikimedia Foundation include the Ford Foundation, the Ruth and Frank Stanton Fund, France Telecom, Omidyar Partners, and Google. Future potential sponsors are enumerated at [[List of potential business sponsors]]. |
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==Criticism of funding== |
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Wikimedia Foundation funding has periodically come under criticism regarding its financial management: |
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*''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2009-08-31/News_and_notes#Omidyar_Network_gives_.242M_grant.2C_new_board_member_to_the_Wikimedia_Foundation Omidyar Network gives $2M grant, new board member to the Wikimedia Foundation]'', '''Wikipedia Signpost''', August 31, 2009. |
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*''[http://akahele.org/2009/08/omidyar-venturing-out/ Omidyar venturing out]'', '''Akahele.org''', August 31, 2009. |
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*''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2008-03-13/Scandal_fallout_continues Scandal fallout continues]'', '''Wikipedia Signpost''', March 13, 2008. |
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*''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Signpost/2008-03-03/Wales%27_relationship_with_journalist Wales' relationship with journalist]'', '''Wikipedia Signpost''', March 3, 2008. |
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*''[http://www.mywikibiz.com/Top_10_Reasons_Not_to_Donate_to_Wikipedia Top 10 Reasons Not to Donate to Wikipedia]'', '''MyWikiBiz.com''', August 12, 2007. |
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[[Category:Wikimedia finances]] |
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[[Category:Wikimedia history]] |
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Latest revision as of 15:09, 20 September 2024
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