It’s four years to the day since Wikimedia UK was incorporated. In that time, we’ve achieved many great things. We’ve become a registered charity. We’ve made significant contributions to the global movement. A great many people have become engaged with our projects due to Wikimedia UK initiatives.
All of this is possible because of the hard work and dedication of our volunteers, so today is the perfect time to say a big, heartfelt thank you to everyone who has made a contribution to Wikimedia UK. There will be a celebration at the London Meetup on Sunday 11 November. We hope we to see you there!
Hi, I’ve just seen the donation appeal on Wikipedia and was wondering why Wikipedia needs donations?
Hi Rafay, thank you for your comment. Wikipedia is a not-for-profit website. It doesn’t have advertising and is entirely dependent on voluntary donations to remain online. It is supported by the Wikimedia Foundation and local chapters (of which Wikimedia UK is one).
Donations help to support our mission – sharing the sum total of human knowledge with everyone on the planet, for free. Obviously, the main way in which donations help is by supporting the hosting and technical development of Wikipedia, helping to keep the site stable and online. Donations also make a valuable contribution to allowing us to improve the site’s usability and accessibility – keep an eye out for our new visual editor, coming soon.
There is, however, more to Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia than just keeping them online. For example, Wikimedia UK is always working to come up with new ways of improving participation in our projects, we help to teach people how to edit our projects, build relationships with GLAM organisations (galleries, libraries, archives and museums) to encourage them to share materials online for free and promote, deliver and support educational projects. For more details of these projects, including information on how you can become involved, please visit our website at wikimedia.org.uk or drop us a line, either via this blog or to info-at-wikimedia.org.uk