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== What is Wikipedia? ==
 
[https://www.wikipedia.org Wikipedia] is an online collection of knowledge. Volunteer editors from around the world write Wikipedia. It is a collaborative creation created in 2001: anyone can edit it, at any time. Editors collaborate to write about virtually any topic, from ancient history to science to the arts. Wikipedia is available in hundreds of languages and has over 4559 million articles. Wikipedia is completely non-profit, independent, and maintained by everyday people like you. You do not require approval or special qualifications to edit.
 
== How does Wikipedia stay reliable and neutral? ==
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== How is the Wikimedia Foundation funded? ==
 
The Wikimedia Foundation is funded primarily through single or monthly [https://donate.wikimedia.org/?uselang=en&utm_mediumwmf_medium=donatewiki_page&utm_campaignwmf_campaign=donate_link&utm_sourcewmf_source=FAQ donations] from millions of individuals around the world. The average single donation is about $15 USD and the average monthly donation is about $4 USD, and we are grateful that so many people find value in Wikipedia and want to sustain its future. We also receive donations through institutional grants and gifts (please see our [https://wikimediafoundation.org/support/benefactors/ benefactors page] for more information). A small portion of revenue is also earned through the services operated by Wikimedia Enterprise ([[#What is Wikimedia Enterprise?|more information]]).
 
The Wikimedia Foundation has 501(c)(3) tax exempt status in the United States. Donations made from other nations may also be tax deductible (see [[tax deductibility]] for more details). See [[Ways to Give]] for details on how to make a donation via credit or debit card, PayPal, Amazon and several other methods. If you have any questions, please contact us at [mailto:donate@wikimedia.org donate@wikimedia.org].<ref name="zd">Due to the volume of inquiries we receive, we use [[w:Zendesk|Zendesk]] as a donor response platform. By emailing donate@wikimedia.org, you understand that your information will be processed by the Zendesk Group in accordance with Zendesk’s [https://www.zendesk.com/company/customers-partners/privacy-policy/ terms]. Users from the following countries should consult Section A of Zendesk’s [https://www.zendesk.com/company/customers-partners/master-subscription-agreement/#region-specific-terms privacy policy] for more information about Zendesk’s country-specific practices: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and Singapore.</ref>
 
== Why should I donate and where does my money go? ==
 
Over the past 20 years, Wikipedia has become a trusted source of information that millions of people rely on every day. With more than 6,700 pageviews every second and more than 350345 edits a minute, Wikipedia is one of the top 10 websites in the world, and the only major website run by a nonprofit organization, the Wikimedia Foundation.
 
Unlike other top websites, Wikipedia is not funded through advertising, nor does it rely on selling data about users for profit. Instead, Wikipedia is supported by its readers - people who find value in Wikipedia and want to continue to support its success, with the average single donation being about $15 USD and the average monthly donation about $4 USD. This financial model enables Wikipedia to remain neutral, trusted, and free from commercial interests.
 
Here are just some of the ways we use donations to sustain Wikipedia and free knowledge:
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== Wikipedia’s fundraising requests seem urgent, despite the Wikimedia Foundation’s sizable reserve. Why do you need additional funding? ==
 
Sustaining healthy financial reserves and having a working capital policy is considered a [https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/operating-reserves-nonprofits best practice] for organizations of all types. The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees recently defined our [https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Resolution:Setting_Working_Capital_Reserve_Target working capital policy] that is designed to sustain our work and provide support to affiliates and volunteers in the event of unplanned expenses, emergencies, or revenue shortfalls. It also enables us to have sufficient cash flow to cover our expenses throughout the year.
We are fortunate to have a reserve. These are not funds that we use on a day-to-day basis; they can only be accessed in exceptional circumstances, such as an economic crisis. Wikipedia and its projects are critical resources that the world relies on daily. Our reserve funds are intended to ensure that we can remain sustainable even if the worst eventuality occurs. Our operating budget and annual plan are developed through an open, transparent process, subject to feedback from Wikipedia volunteers and Board approval. The details of our budget and plan are always available to the public for further review.
 
== Staff compensation is part of your operating costs. Can you explain how this is determined? ==
 
Altogether more than 250400 people work on engineering and product at the Wikimedia Foundation, handling technology infrastructure for more than 2016 billion monthly pageviews. Compared to most major websites, we do a lot with a little. Additionally, approximately 100 staff work on our community support and grantmaking; partnerships with global organizations to make knowledge more freely available; and legal and policy work that helps advocate for copyright reform, prevent censorship and uphold free expression, and ensure that privacy and security policies in countries everywhere protect our readers and editors.
 
We know that salaries vary across the world and we hire in very competitive markets. At the same time, we are a non-profit. As such, we make an effort to be fair, adjusting for inflation and income inequality, while providing equitable compensation to all.
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== How can I donate? ==
 
There are several ways you can donate to the Wikimedia Foundation to support Wikipedia and free knowledge. The most common are using any major credit or debit card (VISAVisa, Mastercard, Discover or American Express), using PayPal, via bank transfer, andApple viaPay, Google Pay, and AmazonVenmo. For other ways to contribute, including via an automatic monthly gift, check or money order and payroll deduction, please visit our [[Ways to Give]] page. Many currencies are accepted.
 
== What is your donor privacy policy? ==
 
We are committed to protecting the privacy rights of our supporters and will notnever sharesell, selltrade, or traderent your email addressnonpublic withpersonal anyoneinformation. Please see our [[wmf:Donor privacy policy|Donor privacy policy]] for full details.
 
== Are my donations tax deductible? ==
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* Reason for the refund
 
All refunds will be processed as quickly as possible, but processing times may vary depending on the payment method. Please note: Some payment methods may not support refunds or require refunds to be made through the payment method (card) utilized, prompting additional information to process your refund.
 
== Why am I seeing fundraising banners on Wikipedia even though I have already donated recently? ==
 
The website doesn't have access to your prior donation history, so unfortunately it won't recognize that you have already shared your support. Donation banners are designed to show to donors that have enabled cookies on their browser, and to hide after the banner is shown a few times or after a donation. Hiding, however, depends upon a cookie that we insert in the browser. Banner hiding won't work if you clear your browser's cache, delete cookies, or change browsers or computers.
 
There are several options available to you to hide the fundraising banners in the future:
 
* If you click the "Already donated", "X" or "Close" button on a banner, it will hide for one week. Please note this behavior does not apply to the first banner you see, but every banner thereafter.
* If you return to the [https://thankyou.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thank_You/en "Thank You" page] it will give the cookie a chance to reinsert. If you read Wikipedia on multiple devices, please visit this page on each of them to suppress the banners.
* You can also create an account on Wikipedia - banners are not typically shown to users who log in to Wikipedia accounts. More information on creating an account can be found [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Why_create_an_account%3F here].
 
== Why have I received a fundraising email even though I have already donated recently? ==
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The Wikimedia Foundation '''[[m:Wikimedia Foundation Annual Plan|Annual Plan]]''' describes our budget for the current fiscal year. It contains a summary of our strategic goals as an organization, financial details on spending and revenue, and detailed explanations and risk analysis.
 
== What is the Wikimedia Endowment? ==
 
The Wikimedia Endowment was created in 2016 to serve asis a permanent safekeeping fund to generate income to support the operations and activities of the Wikimedia projects in perpetuity. DonationsIt tois thea Wikimedia501(c)(3) Endowmentcharity are heldheadquartered in athe separateUnited fundStates. andDuring investedtimes toof growprosperity, overthe time. TheWikimedia Endowment fundwill isserve managedas bya Tidesspringboard Foundationfor andgrowth overseenand byinnovation. anDuring independenttough Advisoryeconomic Board. Once fully fundedtimes, the Endowment income will behelp distributedfund tothe providemost critical fundingoperations tothat Wikipediakeep andthe its sisterWikimedia projects functioning. Based on conversations with donors, providinggrants securityfrom the Endowment currently fund technical innovation, confidenceso andthat trustthe inWikimedia Wikipedia’sProjects offeringsstay andrelevant missionin fora yearstime toof rapid technological comechange. You can learn more about the Wikimedia Endowment at '''[https://wikimediaendowment.org/ wikimediaendowment.org]'''.▼
 
== What is Wikimedia Enterprise? ==
 
Wikimedia Enterprise is a wholly-owned LLC that provides services for third party content reuse, delivered via [[w:API|APIs]] (application programming interfaces). It provides high volume, high reliability access to Wikimedia content, designed for the needs of commercial organizations, such as search engines, voice assistants, and technology startups. Having services that are optimized for commercial users and paid for by those users ensures that any money which is donated to the Wikimedia Foundation goes directly towards supporting services for our volunteer community and readers. You can learn more about Wikimedia Enterprise at [https://enterprise.wikimedia.com/ enterprise.wikimedia.com].
 
== What is the difference between the Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia chapters? ==
 
[https://wikimediafoundation.org/ The Wikimedia Foundation] is the nonprofit that supports Wikipedia, Wikimedia projects, and the Wikimedia free knowledge mission on a global scale. The organization hosts Wikipedia and the Wikimedia projects, builds software experiences for reading, contributing, and sharing Wikimedia content, supports the volunteer communities and partners who make Wikimedia possible, and advocates for policies that enable Wikimedia and free knowledge to thrive. As such, the Foundation runs international fundraising campaigns to serve knowledge needs globally.
 
[https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_chapters Wikimedia chapters] are independent, nonprofit organizations that support and promote Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects in a specific geographic location. While the Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia chapters collaborate in our shared free knowledge mission, they are not a legal representation of the Wikimedia Foundation and each chapter operates independently with its own staff, board of directors, and organization plan. Some chapters also run their own fundraising campaigns, and these are often tax deductible in their country.
▲The Wikimedia Endowment was created in 2016 to serve as a permanent safekeeping fund to generate income to support the operations and activities of the Wikimedia projects in perpetuity. Donations to the Wikimedia Endowment are held in a separate fund and invested to grow over time. The Endowment fund is managed by Tides Foundation and overseen by an independent Advisory Board. Once fully funded, the Endowment income will be distributed to provide critical funding to Wikipedia and its sister projects, providing security, confidence and trust in Wikipedia’s offerings and mission for years to come. You can learn more about the Wikimedia Endowment at '''[https://wikimediaendowment.org/ wikimediaendowment.org]'''.
 
== What are the plans for Wikimedia's future? Where are you going? ==
 
At the beginning of 2017, the Wikimedia Foundation launched a global discussion to define the future of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia movement by the year 2030. We call it '''[[metawikim:Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2017Wikimedia 2030|Wikimedia 2030]]'''. Throughout the process, we asked ourselves questions like, where might we want Wikipedia, and the Wikimedia movement, to go next? What opportunities and challenges lie ahead of us? What trends in technology, education, information, and access will shape our future?
 
Based on this discussion and our research, we are uniting around a direction that will help us build '''a more sustainable, resilient, and engaged movement''' that anyone who shares our vision can join. We will adapt to the shifting trends in technology, to ensure we meet the needs of our users and continue to provide reliable, transparent, and neutral information. We will invite new voices to join us and ensure that anyone who wants to share knowledge on Wikipedia and the Wikimedia sites can do so. And we will advocate for the policies and values that have allowed Wikipedia and its sister sites to thrive. This direction asks us to be bold and experiment in the future, as we did in the past, and it remains rooted in our mission of free knowledge for all.
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* You can read and use Wikipedia as your source of trustworthy information across more than 300 languages.
* You can make an edit on Wikipedia - if you want to fix a mistake on an article or add a citation to a trusted source, please do so! [[w:Help:Getting startedIntroduction|This guide]] is helpful for getting started on your first edit.
* Are you a photographer? Consider sharing your photos for anyone to reuse on Wikimedia Commons, which powers many of the images you see on Wikipedia articles. Learn more about how to upload photos [[c:Commons:First_steps/Uploading_files|here]].
* You can follow Wikipedia and Wikimedia on social media and share stories that are meaningful to you. Check out @Wikimedia on [https://twitter.com/wikimedia Twitter], [https://www.facebook.com/wikimediafoundation Facebook], and [https://www.instagram.com/wikimediafoundation Instagram] and @Wikipedia on [https://twitter.com/wikipedia Twitter], [https://www.facebook.com/wikipedia Facebook], and [https://www.instagram.com/wikipedia Instagram].
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If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to [https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/contact/ contact us]. For donation questions, please email [mailto:donate@wikimedia.org donate@wikimedia.org].<ref name="zd"/>
 
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