Please read this appeal from our founder and then donate to Wikimedia UK using the form opposite. Your donation will go towards supporting the global projects as well as activities in the UK.

I got a lot of funny looks ten years ago when I started talking to people about Wikipedia.

Let’s just say some of the business types were skeptical of the notion that volunteers from all across the world could come together to create a remarkable pool of human knowledge – all for the simple purpose of sharing.

No ads. No profits. No agenda.

A decade after its founding, more than 380 million people use Wikipedia and its sister sites every month - almost a third of the Internet-connected world.

It is the 5th most popular website in the world. The other four have been built and maintained with billions of dollars in investment, huge corporate staffs and relentless marketing.

But, Wikipedia isn’t anything like a commercial website. It is a community creation, written by volunteers making one entry at a time. You are part of our community. And I’m writing today to ask you to protect and sustain Wikipedia.

Together, we can keep it free of charge and free of advertising. We can keep it open – you can use the information in Wikipedia any way you want. We can keep it growing – spreading knowledge everywhere, and inviting participation from everyone.

Each year at this time, we reach out to ask you and others all across the Wikimedia community to help sustain our joint enterprise with a modest donation of $20, $35, $50 or more.

If you value Wikipedia as a source of information – and a source of inspiration – I hope you’ll choose to act right now.

All the best,

Jimmy Wales

Founder, Wikipedia

P.S. Wikipedia is about the power of people like us to do extraordinary things. People like us write Wikipedia, one word at a time. People like us fund it, one donation at a time. It's proof of our collective potential to change the world.

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I can't quite believe he's simply going for the cash this time (and didn't we have a donation push just a while back?)

You must be new to Wikipedia. There was indeed a donation push a while back -- one year ago. And the year before that. And the one before that.

It started a couple of weeks early this year, I think. But nothing really earthshattering to see this now. Really, I view it as the standard fare. Why do you seem so perplexed about it?

You say it started earlier this year - is it more of a sustained one this year, or has he suddenly decided to up the anti mid-campaign? It looks to me like he's suddenly changed tack and gone for a bigger hit.

The Foundation's plan is to go for $16 million this time around, up from $10.6 million last year, $7.4 million the year before that, and $4.6 million the year before that. This isn't exactly hugely groundbreaking news.

As far as size of banner ads go, this doesn't look that much bigger than usual. Perhaps it is the increased use of images, or using the Jimmy banner ads earlier? In years past, they haven't run the Jimmy banner ad + letter until later in the fundraising drive, even though it generally does much better than any other banner. Perhaps they are trying a different tactic this year, now that they are aiming for a ~50% increase in revenue?

The money they collect, the more attractive Wiki media org is to sue and the more likely Wiki media org will be sued.

The Foundation's plan is to go for $16 million this time around, up from $10.6 million last year, $7.4 million the year before that, and $4.6 million the year before that. This isn't exactly hugely groundbreaking news.

As far as size of banner ads go, this doesn't look that much bigger than usual. Perhaps it is the increased use of images, or using the Jimmy banner ads earlier? In years past, they haven't run the Jimmy banner ad + letter until later in the fundraising drive, even though it generally does much better than any other banner. Perhaps they are trying a different tactic this year, now that they are aiming for a ~50% increase in revenue?

The Foundation's plan is to go for $16 million this time around, up from $10.6 million last year, $7.4 million the year before that, and $4.6 million the year before that. This isn't exactly hugely groundbreaking news.

As far as size of banner ads go, this doesn't look that much bigger than usual. Perhaps it is the increased use of images, or using the Jimmy banner ads earlier? In years past, they haven't run the Jimmy banner ad + letter until later in the fundraising drive, even though it generally does much better than any other banner. Perhaps they are trying a different tactic this year, now that they are aiming for a ~50% increase in revenue?

There's no question the adverts have got slicker this year - I wish I could copy the adds and post them here. I've seen 3 now - the blue-eyed 'trust me' close-up, the casual bank manager in the bright blue shirt, and the down an dirty 'loading bay' style snap (still posey and casual). They are tall adds to get those images in. It's a politician's slickness, and I've not seen him go for the personality cult so obviously before.

These are as slick as car ads.

The full set to be used in this campaign are here. I agree that compared to the risible Wikipedia Forever! drive last year, this is at a whole new level.

Nah, the fundraiser is on worldwide, they just have national-specific message depending on where your IP geolocates to. I've already been glurged two or three times by the handful of Wikifaithful I still allow to remain on my Facebook friends list.

It looks like Jimmy may yet get his castle.

Nah, the fundraiser is on worldwide, they just have national-specific message depending on where your IP geolocates to. I've already been glurged two or three times by the handful of Wikifaithful I still allow to remain on my Facebook friends list.

It looks like Jimmy may yet get his castle.

But why do they need such an increase? Don't they have a tidy nest egg anyway?

So what kind of money are they asking from the US? Does it start around $160 USD?

So what kind of money are they asking from the US? Does it start around $160 USD?

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Hell if I know. Server space costs, I think about 30% of the WMF's annual budget these days. Greg Kohs could probably tell you more.

Can the banners be shrunk any?

I don't want to hide this year's banners, but they are so large they are pushing all the content further down the page so that it takes a conscious scrolling effort to get to the stuff I actually want to read. Perhaps it is the point for them to be so large, but could the banners be just a tad smaller? Lexicografía 00:22, 13 November 2010 (UTC)

The banners will be smaller as we get a little closer to our goal. I recognize that they are large, but we have an ambitious goal to reach! --Deniz (WMF) 00:29, 13 November 2010 (UTC)

The banners will be smaller as we get a little closer to our goal. I recognize that they are large, but we have an ambitious goal to reach! --Deniz (WMF) 00:29, 13 November 2010 (UTC)

Is that a very old version of Firefox, or just some strange skin?

I was wrong. Here is the WMF's budget plan for July 2010-June 2011.

Thanks for the explanation, Deniz Gültekin! In honor of your effort, I propose that your CC licensed photograph be adorned with one thousand white penises from the collection at commons and be distributed randomly about the internet.

The plan is here

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/foun...FOR_WEBSITE.pdf

It's important to concentrate on the absolute numbers rather than percentages, as percentages disguise the high level of dollar increases. The main increases are on slide 30.

There is an increase of $3.8m to fund a new datacentre. $2.6m for 'other staffing and stakeholder database' - what on earth is this? $1.3m for 'additional office space and support staff'. $1.1m for 'community outreach' - mostly travel expense. A million dollars for travel expenses? $400k for 'chapter development'. Chapters are essentially organisations of cultists in different countries.

Why are people donating money for this? How is this going to bring the sum of human knowledge to everyone on the planet? Why don't they spend some money on correcting the distortions and errors in their encyclopedia?

There's another page of this but I gave up. Page 44 has the total breakdown - is there any way of copying tables onto this site? For 91 staff the total salary of about $9m comes to about $100k per staff. Does US salary cost include employer contributions to pension, health and tax? Typically you would have to subtract 10-20% to get the actual salary received. And the average tells us nothing about the distribution. What was the lowest paid? What was the highest?

Note this does not include $2m on 'exernal contractors'. Developers? Consultants?

Who ever heard of a Total given as a division of 1,000, honestly.

LOLOLOL WUTS WITH THE PICTURE OF RLEVSE??????????

I THOT HE TOOK ALL HIS DOX DOWN????????

UR BAD!

she is not very hot and, unfortunately for her, i do not wish to date her

i like that other lady with the red hair

Is he asking for different money from different places?

I hope he isn't just changing the monetary symbols. I read somewhere he wants $150, $50, $20 etc (same as sterling). Those figures aint the same in UK money.

They're using http://geoiplookup.wikimedia.org/ to determine your location. Clicking on that link will return your supposed city, country, latitude, longitude, IP address and netmask.

Is that a very old version of Firefox, or just some strange skin?

Yeah, I think it's called Vector.

Speaking of personal appeals, who the hell is this "Kartika" that is on the latest banner? There is a User:Kartika (T-H-L-K-D) that was just deleted, presumably an imposter took the unused username. If so, why is there no connection made to the girl and the actual account she loves to edit with? Certainly such a fan should love the ensuing adulation.

Please read - A personal appeal from Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales

That would be stalking and harassment, according to the Wikipediot Law.

I rest my case -- 230 stalkers are snooping on her now.

Does that only happen to the female personal appealers?

I can't imagine the foundation people didn't realize the inevitability of that. I wonder if the young ladies were warned.

I can't imagine the foundation people didn't realize the inevitability of that. I wonder if the young ladies were warned.

I'm not getting these latest banners where I am. Can someone post screen grabs?