Wikipedia, part of the Wikimedia Foundation is raising funds. They don’t have any advertisements or sponsors, so they need to make their operating costs somehow! They have a site all set up with options to donate using PayPal/Credit Card, Moneybookers, Check, or Direct Deposit. Recently, a transaction from an “anonymous friend” appears on the live contributions for $286,000! It also appears that each day, a new organization is matching the donations that is received. That means that the one donation could potentially have brought Wikipedia over a half million dollars.

Most donations range from $5.00-$50.00, so this donation really stands out. I love Wikipedia and find it very useful. Sure, the content isn’t 100% accurate all the time, but there’s a lot of good reliable information. If you find it as useful as I do, you can head on over and make a donation. Today, any donation that is received will be matched by Virgin Unite. You can view the live contributions here.

Any guess on the “anonymous friend” who happened to have $286,000 to give away?

News Source: Digg

  1. The anonymous donation is from Google! ;)

  2. We noticed that as a possible guess in the Digg comments… but I’m sure it’s just speculation. Although, it does seem feasible that it would be Google…I think they have the funds to do something like that ;)

  3. I was going to say Google as well. :mrgreen:

  4. Anonymous WikipedianDecember 28, 2006 at 3:49 pm

    It wasn’t google.

    Industry: Tech

    Not a search engine, not MS. Nor IBM.

  5. Any credible proof to that Mr. Anonymous Wikipedian?