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submitted 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) by Valmond@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

I have donated in the past, but then there were wild accusations, people saying it's not needed, it's to fund other things, and so on and so forth.

Yesterday I got the popup begging for a couple of euros, so what's the status? Should I donate or is it a waste of time and money?

Cheers

Edit: Thanks for all the insightful posts! I'm jobless at the moment so just ten bucks this time:

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[-] jxk@sh.itjust.works 172 points 1 week ago

Remember that there is a lot of anti-Wikipedia propaganda going around these days. Most "outrage" against Wikipedia is created and pushed artificially.

[-] ComradeMiao@lemmy.world 19 points 1 week ago

It’s just that one dude here

[-] ripcord@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago

Ia it the.dude that's downvoting everything here?

[-] Blubber28@lemmy.world 89 points 1 week ago

In the current day and age of misinformation I think donating is more important than ever. It doesn't need to be much.

[-] null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 86 points 1 week ago

Reddit users and now lemmy users seem to have a riotous distaste for non-profits generally.

Wikipedia is one of the last, good parts of the internet, and it's under increasing threat.

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[-] DeadPixel@lemmy.zip 74 points 1 week ago

I’ve increased the amount I donate since the campaign to discredit them has been in effect.

Maybe they aren’t perfect, but I don’t like the idea of a world without such a wonderful resource being freely available to everyone no matter their background or financial status.

I used it a lot as a student but couldn’t afford to donate then. I don’t use it directly a lot these days, but I’m sure indirectly it contributes to articles I read, & I can afford to donate now, so I try to pay it back & some.

Information is power, & those in/with power seem to currently be trying their best to bring everyone else down. Any small thing I can do to help prevent that is a win in my book.

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[-] Sunshine@lemmy.ca 73 points 1 week ago

If Elon doesn’t like it then you know Wikipedia is good.

[-] Humanius@lemmy.world 64 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Wikipedia, being a free source of information, is an incredibly important resource and a net good for humanity. But since Wikipedia is free for all they rely on donations to keep the lights on.

There are groups who would prefer it if that free access to information did not exist, or could be more easily be controlled and/or manipulated. It is in their interest to convince people not to donate to Wikipedia

I'm convinced that this "don't donate to Wikipedia" messaging that has cropped up in recent years is a psyop, set up by these groups with the goal to starve Wikipedia of income.

Don't fall for it. Support one of the last truly good places on the internet.

[-] abbadon420@sh.itjust.works 36 points 1 week ago

I never donated. Until the fascists told me not to donate. Now I donate regularly.

[-] gi1242@lemmy.world 51 points 1 week ago

DONATE!

Wikipedia made a conscious choice to remain free, ad free and neutral.

They get my money! Even if they don't need it.

[-] Kovukono@pawb.social 39 points 1 week ago
[-] ayyy@sh.itjust.works 11 points 1 week ago

Your analysis only addresses the income vs. expenditure being relatively balanced. It doesn’t address the criticisms OP was hearing about. The primary criticism is that the foundation only needs a fraction of their current expenditure if all they did was run Wikipedia.

[-] MHLoppy@fedia.io 36 points 1 week ago

I simultaneously believe that Wikipedia is valuable and that it's not clear that WMF needed $185 million dollars.

As far as I can tell the situation has not significantly changed since "the last time(s)" this was discussed. Wikipedia remains a valuable resource, and WMF continues to aggressively increase both spending and fundraising revenue. Whether you think that means you should donate or not is probably the same answer as it was several years ago for most individuals based on personal preferences.

edit: typo

[-] Aatube@kbin.melroy.org 14 points 1 week ago

I think the answer has changed a bit since they got a much better CEO who’s doing a lot more communication and engagement with the community, which dictates what Wikipedia looks like

[-] MHLoppy@fedia.io 9 points 1 week ago

Before posting I read the recent annual reports which she advertises having a hand in as part a push for greater transparency, but was still left very unsatisfied personally (half the budget -- over $90 mil -- just hand-waved away as "infrastructure" spending? Really?). So despite being an improvement, I didn't feel that the CEO change has had much effect on the scales of "donate vs not". Perhaps for others it might, but my comment still reflects my best judgement.

[-] passepartout@feddit.org 33 points 1 week ago
[-] ripcord@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago

Also donate to Kiwix

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[-] 9point6@lemmy.world 28 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Always fund Wikipedia if you have the ability to

It may not need a donation at any given time, but given how volatile things are in the USA right now, there's every chance they might find themselves needing to suddenly spend a lot on lawyers

It's arguably one of the most important resources we have as humanity. It's imperative we protect it.

[-] RacerX@lemmy.zip 27 points 1 week ago

I give small monthly donations to three things:

  • Wikipedia
  • EFF
  • Internet Archive
[-] AmidFuror@fedia.io 26 points 1 week ago

It's good to see Fediverse people actually supporting paying for something. Sometimes I think they want everything for free.

[-] BrainBow65@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago

I don't think people here mind paying for stuff I think it's more that enshittification and subscription based business models should not be supported.

Exactly. We don't just flatly refuse to spend money on anything. We expect a certain level of service and value for money. Wikipedia, though not perfect, is probably one of the most useful tools on the internet.

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[-] last_philosopher@lemmy.world 25 points 1 week ago

I give through my employer which matches donations. You should look into whether that's available since it'll double the amount.

Decentralized truth is essential to human freedom. It's not enough to just run wikipedia as a bare bones site, they need to be able to adapt to the times and maybe even fund new projects with the same goals. For people who actually care about the future, it's hard to think of a better use of the money.

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[-] RBWells@lemmy.world 22 points 1 week ago

I give them a little every year, and do not consider it a waste at all. I give $ each month to the community radio station with local news on it too.

Those free nonprofit media companies are important. They are the voice of the people.

[-] eatyourglory@piefed.social 21 points 1 week ago

If the only non-profit you care about is the Wikimedia Foundation, then yeah donate.
But otherwise, go donate to other non-profits as Wikimedia is the least needy of the foundations (they are one of the most "well off" of the non-profits in the world afterall

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[-] peoplebeproblems@midwest.social 20 points 1 week ago

Do you use it?

Donate. I donate $5/mo. Gonna bump it up to $10/month soon.

[-] DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works 18 points 1 week ago

Usually its the far right or tankies that hate wikipedia, it seems pretty neutral for the most part.

[-] Tollana1234567@lemmy.today 14 points 1 week ago

they hate it, because it has all the info of everything bad that a republican/conservative, far right government did, and its very hard to deflect/ or deny the amount of evidence from it.

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[-] Havatra@lemmy.zip 16 points 1 week ago

I'm also curious about this. If there are any transparency reports, I'd love to read through that.

The Wikimedia Foundation are trying to implement some AI solutions (for helping humans, not write articles/information), which is likely quite costly, unless someone donates it. However, I imagine many others' scrapers for AI are constantly demanding a lot from the Wikipedia servers since some years ago, probably resulting in increased costs. Hopefully the AI builders use a local copy of the torrent instead, but I fear they don't...

I'm still happily donating though, as I think the Wikipedia Foundation are still doing a solid job, despite me not always agreeing with their decisions.

[-] dfyx@lemmy.helios42.de 16 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Next time you think about donating to a foundation, look at their CEO‘s salary, then think again.

[-] Archer@lemmy.world 41 points 1 week ago

513k seems pretty low compared to most private sector CEOs

[-] a4ng3l@lemmy.world 8 points 1 week ago

That sort of remuneration isn’t compatible with their yearly donation pleadings… and that’s not even looking into the benevolent work of all authors which actually drives the value of that supposedly non profit. Other private sector CEO at least aren’t pretending…

[-] Archer@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago

If you don’t have good leadership then it doesn’t matter what the fundraisers do. It seems like the metric to look at here should be the average and median 501(c)3 CEO total compensation for similarly sized orgs and for whatever city they are headquartered in

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[-] null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com 26 points 1 week ago

Sorry, what is the actual thinking here? Anyone who earns more than you shouldn't exist?

Without a highly paid CEO, wikipedia wouldn't exist.

Without donations, wikipedia wouldn't exist.

Therefore, if you want wikipedia to exist, you should donate.

[-] dfyx@lemmy.helios42.de 15 points 1 week ago

My argument is that nobody needs 500k to do their job right and there is no justification for paying a manager five to ten times as much as an engineer, especially not on donation money.

I‘d rather give to a smaller project where the money actually ends up with the people who do most of the work.

[-] lIlIlIlIlIlIl@lemmy.world 18 points 1 week ago

Then go do that and stop loudly aligning with fascist goals of tearing down the last good part of the internet, weirdo

[-] drkt@scribe.disroot.org 9 points 1 week ago

Criticizing top-down organizations where money flows up toward the least useful people being equated to fascism is fucking wild, bro. That's like the most standard left take.

[-] lIlIlIlIlIlIl@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago

Tearing down Wikipedia is in direct alignment with Fascists’s stated goals, I’m not equating anything.

If you are against Wikipedia you’re with Trump and Elon.

Make good choices

[-] drkt@scribe.disroot.org 8 points 1 week ago

No one in this comment section is against Wikipedia. You're making that shit up. We're saying they don't need your money, they can trim the fat off the top. They're also one of the most well funded orgs in the world. It doesn't take that much to host wikipedia.

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[-] khannie@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago

I think the thinking is that half a million is a disgusting amount for anyone to earn annually and I tend to agree with that.

[-] 9point6@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago

For perspective, 500k is effectively the same as zero compared to what the likes of Musk, Bezos and Ellison make from their assets.

You and this CEO are basically equivalent in wealth to those guys.

You can take issue with the remuneration here, sure, but this person doesn't have anything close to the economy breaking amount of wealth held by the actually wealthy

They are the ones we should be focusing our energy on.

Be angry at wealth, not income. That's what's fucking everything up right now.

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[-] NoneOfUrBusiness@fedia.io 21 points 1 week ago

That's super tame, though. A competent CEO is essential to an organization as important and as hated by powerful people as Wikipedia, and those cost a a pretty penny.

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[-] unexposedhazard@discuss.tchncs.de 14 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

Lets say they are being very stupid in how they handle their money. They spend as much as they get every year. If they get more money, they spend more money. From the graph you can see that donation growth is slowing down, because of course it does, it cant just grow forever. The questions is whether they can lower their expenses when the donations inevitably shrink, or if they will sacrifice Wikipedia (the thing that people actually donate for) in favor of all the other things they are spending money on.

A completely different perspective on this is that you should ask yourself whether the Wikimedia Foundation really is the organization/charity that needs your money the most. Or more bluntly, i am 100% certain that there are better things to donate to than the Wikimedia Foundation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Fundraising_statistics
Black: Net assets / Green: Revenue (Donations) / Red: Expenses

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[-] compostgoblin 14 points 1 week ago

I find it valuable and worth supporting, so I donate a dollar a month. It’s not much, but I want to contribute (monetarily, in addition to editing)

[-] cokeslutgarbage@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 week ago

I do not have the means to donate to things that I care about. Most weeks, the difference between overdrafting my bank account or not is literally a few cents. I donate the $3.10 every time the pop up shows up on Wikipedia. I'm sure there are other organizations that need the money more, but I think Wikipedia is SO important, and so far has remained earnest in their behavior. Proud of you for donating what you could, glad I could help a little bit too.

Be well, friend

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[-] midtsveen@lemmy.wtf 12 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

I donate $5 each month! ❤

People who down vote real dislikes Wikipedia!

[-] MrsDoyle@sh.itjust.works 12 points 1 week ago

I'm another monthly donor. I use Wikipedia nearly every day and appreciate the effort that goes into maintaining it.

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[-] ExtremeDullard@piefed.social 10 points 1 week ago

I'm not giving money to Wikipedia anymore until they move out of the United States personally.

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this post was submitted on 05 Oct 2025
189 points (100.0% liked)

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