I’m sure you’ve all seen the Wikipedia pop-up asking for donations. At first glance, the request seems like a humble ask to keep the community-oriented website up and running.
But, many would argue that this pop-up is not only extremely misleading but highly unethical. Even Wikipedia’s own ex-outreach officer says that he is ashamed of Wikipedia’s fundraising tactics. Why you ask? Well, the simple truth is that Wikipedia itself is not actually all that dependent on donations.
In fact, according to Wikipedia’s own founder, Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia can be run for just $5,000 per month. He made that statement a while ago, but even accounting for inflation and more traffic, the cost to keep up Wikipedia is extremely minimal.
As such, the vast majority of your donations actually end up going to efforts outside Wikipedia that you’re probably not even familiar with like grants and other Wiki products.
This video explains the controversy surrounding Wikipedia donations and why their fundraising effort may not be as wholesome as think.