matchjake - how to help

Jake is a creative 5-year-old boy who desperately needs a bone marrow transplant. Help Jake find his match by sharing this video!

The Front Lines Against Hunger

Delhi's 'cold' reality

Letter from Wikipedia programmer Brandon Harris

I feel like I’m living the first line of my obituary.

I don’t think there will be anything else that I do in my life as important as what I do now for Wikipedia. We’re not just building an encyclopedia, we’re working to make people free. When we have access to free knowledge, we are better people. We understand the world is bigger than us, and we become infected with tolerance and understanding.

Wikipedia is the 5th most visited website in the world. I work at the small non-profit that keeps it on the web. We don’t run ads because doing so would sacrifice our independence. The site is not and should never be a propaganda tool.

Our work is possible because of donations from our readers. Will you help protect Wikipedia by donating Rs 100, Rs 200, Rs 300 or whatever you can afford?

I work at the Wikimedia Foundation because everything in my soul tells me it’s the right thing to do. I’ve worked at huge tech companies, doing some job to build some crappy thing that’s designed to steal money from some kid who doesn’t know it. I would come home from work crushed.

You might not know this, but the Wikimedia Foundation operates with a very small staff. Most other top-ten sites have tens of thousands of people and massive budgets. But they produce a fraction of what we pull off with sticks and wire.

When you give to Wikipedia, you’re supporting free knowledge around the world. You’re not only leaving a legacy for your children and for their children, you’re elevating people around the world who have access to this treasure. You’re assuring that one day everyone else will too.

Thank you,


Brandon Harris
Programmer, Wikimedia Foundation

Letter from Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales

Wikipedia is the #5 site on the web and serves 450 million different people every month – with billions of page views.

Commerce is fine. Advertising is not evil. But it doesn't belong here. Not in Wikipedia.

Wikipedia is something special. It is like a library or a public park. It is like a temple for the mind. It is a place we can all go to think, to learn, to share our knowledge with others.

When I founded Wikipedia, I could have made it into a for-profit company with advertising banners, but I decided to do something different. We’ve worked hard over the years to keep it lean and tight. We fulfill our mission, and leave waste to others.

If everyone reading this donated Rs100, we would only have to fund raise for one day a year. But not everyone can or will donate. And that's fine. Each year just enough people decide to give.

This year, please consider making a donation of Rs 250, Rs 500, Rs1000 or whatever you can to protect and sustain Wikipedia.

Thanks,

Jimmy Wales
Wikipedia Founder