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The Foundation mostly relies on support from individuals. Please consider making a donation today, be it time, money or hardware. The Benefactors page is dedicated to some of the companies and individuals helping to sustain the Wikimedia projects. The Wikimedia Foundation does not necessarily endorse the activities of its Corporate Benefactors.

The Wikimedia Foundation has 501(c)(3) tax exempt status in the United States. Donations made from other nations may also be tax deductible. See deductibility of donations for details. Please see our fundraising page for details of making donations via PayPal, MoneyBookers, postal mail or direct deposit. For all other types of donations, please contact us.

Did you know?

Did you know Wikimedia Commons is a multimedia repository which hosts over 2,000,000 multimedia files?

Wikimedia volunteer Brianna Laugher introduces Wikimedia Commons to you:

Welcome to Wikimedia Commons.

Founded just three years ago as a way to avoid uploading the same image to 200 different wikis, Wikimedia Commons began as a central media repository, making life more convenient for Wikimedia editors. Since then it has grown rapidly into a multilingual community of photographers, illustrators, scanners, audio editors, translators, organisers and annotators.

Read more...

Corporate details

The Wikimedia Board of Trustees is the ultimate corporate authority in the Wikimedia Foundation Inc., and has the power to direct the activities of the Foundation. The Foundation bylaws may be seen at Wikimedia Foundation bylaws. Other policies set by the Board may be seen at policies.

The Foundation manages the budget, which pays primarily for computer equipment and hosting. Other costs include human resources necessary to the running of the Wikimedia projects, though most people are volunteers. This site includes a list of notes from Board meetings .

The latest Board decisions may be found at resolutions.

Latest news

Wikis Go Printable
New open source technology will bring content from Wikipedia, WikiEducator, and other wikis to the world of paper
The Wikimedia Foundation today announced a partnership that will make it possible to obtain high quality print and word processor copies of articles from Wikipedia and other wiki educational resources. The development of the underlying open source software is supported by the Open Society Institute (www.soros.org) and the Commonwealth of Learning (www.col.org), and led by PediaPress.com, a start-up company based in Germany. Read more (13 December 2007)

Wikimedia Foundation improves performance and reduces costs by peering at AMS-IX
Direct interconnection with hundreds of networks in Amsterdam
The Wikimedia Foundation, the international non-profit organization behind Wikipedia, and the Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX) have joined forces for “the good of the Internet.” As part of this joint program, AMS-IX will give Wikimedia a Gigabit Ethernet connection at no cost, which will enable Wikimedia to deliver up to 10,000 requests per second directly to hundreds of other networks, including many major internet service providers. Read more.(12 December 07)

Analysis Indicates that German Language Wikipedia Better than Brockhaus Online
The German language version of Wikipedia is better than Brockhaus, Germany's commercial encyclopedia, according to an analysis commissioned by Stern Magazine. The popular German publication hired WIND research institute to compare 50 articles from Wikipedia and the Brockhaus online encyclopedia based on their 15 volume edition. On a scale where 1 is the best and 6 is the worst, Wikipedia's average rating was 1.7, while Brockhaus average rating was 2.7. Read more.(6 December 07)

Sue Gardner Hired as Executive Director

The Wikimedia Foundation today announced the appointment of Sue Gardner as its Executive Director, effective immediately. Gardner has worked with the Foundation since July 2007, when she was brought in as a consultant and special advisor to the board of trustees. Prior to joining Wikimedia, Gardner was head of CBC.CA, the website of Canada’s national public broadcaster, and that country’s largest and most popular news site. Read more

Wikimedia Foundation has been selected as Technology Pioneers 2008

The World Economic Forum announced 39 visionary companies selected as Technology Pioneers 2008 and the Wikimedia Foundation has been selected as one of these Technology Pioneers. Technology Pioneers 2008 are invited to participate in the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2008 that will be held in Davos, Switzerland, from 23-27 January and in the Annual Meeting of the New Champions that will be held in Tianjin, People’s Republic of China from 25-27 September 2008. Read more (29 November. 07)

Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales leads South African Wikipedia Academies in Johannesburg
The Wikimedia Foundation will co-host with iCommons the Wikipedia Academy workshops in various locations throughout South Africa on November 10 and 11, 2007 to be lead by Jimmy Wales. Read more (31 Oct. 07)

Library of Alexandria to Host Wikipedia's Annual Conference in 2008
The Wikimedia Foundation announces that it will stage its 2008 Wikimania conference at the Library of Alexandria in Egypt. The event will take place next summer. Read more or visit official site (31 Oct. 07)

Wikimedia Foundation Begins Search for New Treasurer
The Foundation is looking for a new treasurer to serve on its Board of Trustees. Details (24 Oct. 07)

Wikimedia Foundation Opens Positions
Due to its move to San Francisco, CA, the Wikimedia Foundation is opening several positions. Apply now (15 Oct. 07)

Wikimedia Foundation to Relocate to San Francisco
The Wikimedia Foundation will be relocating its headquarters from St. Petersburg, FL to San Francisco, CA. The move will take place this winter. Read more (9 Oct. 07)

Wikipedia Reaches 2 Million Articles
On September 9, 2007, at 8:21 UTC, the English-language Wikipedia published its two millionth article with the entry "El Hormiguero," about the popular Spanish TV show of the same name. The article was created by registered Wikipedia contributor Zzxc. Read More

See also current events for more information.