Wikipedia is one of the most popular sites in the world and one of the most heavily trafficked. Yet, it doesn’t have much of a revenue stream, in the traditional sense, and sticking to its core principles with all the content being available for everyone for free and with no advertising. Instead, it’s making most of the money it needs to operate through a yearly fund-raising campaign. This year the goal was to bring in $7.5 million in donations and Wikipedia announced just as 2009 came to a close that the sum has been reached.
“As of December 31, 2009, we have reached our campaign goal of 7.5 million USD. Thank you to all who have donated! Your continued donations will support Wikimedia’s long-term operations and growth, cover contingencies, and allow us to fund new projects and activities,” Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales wrote updating his personal plea for donations.
The 2009 campaign has been running for a few months now and the sum has been gradually building up towards the set goal of $7.5 million. This was the highest goal set by the Wikimedia Foundation, which oversees Wikipedia and other related sites, to date in the series of fund-raisers which has been running for a few years now.
After the success of last year’s campaign which saw Wikipedia get $6.2 million from donors… (read more)