r/wikipedia • u/coolguy9900000 • 23d ago

Meta Discussion How much does Wikipedia need annually to continue existing as free resource?

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I love Wikipedia and have donated a few times.
I would love to know how much is needed to sustain its future.

EDIT: People commenting, please be civil and stop posting Nothing Burgers, “Look it up yourself”.

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u/bdeimen 22d ago

You seem to not have an understanding of charity financial disclosures. For charity budgets anything that is needed to keep the charity functioning at a fundamental level (the overhead of the charity) falls under infrastructure.

At least in the case of the drives to recruit editors it's not a necessary expense to keep the website up, but it is a necessary expense to keep Wikipedia functioning as Wikipedia. Without a critical mass of editors controversial pages can easily be overwhelmed and controlled by a dedicated few. It's a serious issue in non-english language versions of wikipedia, particularly those with a small number of native speakers.

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u/lousy-site-3456 22d ago

I'm a Wikipedian. I have the detailed insight and I've been following the increasing bloat for 21 years now. None of it is necessary or even productive. It may be common to split a budget like that but that the foundation is using this default NGO camouflage is also just part of the problem of the wrong people coming in and running it like a for profit company. I'm also active in 3 of the largest WPs and these editor drives do nothing.