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How does Wikipedia Work?

Every day I’m on the computer and a question arises, so I quickly go to Google on my web browser and type in a search phrase. Then the magic happens, I receive pages of results that help to quickly answer my question. Most often at the top of page one is at least one article from Wikipedia, that famous online encyclopedia of free information written by volunteers.

But wait, it isn’t really free because there are real costs to running such a web site, so this year I decided that since I use Wikipedia daily that it has real value to my business and personal life, so I made a donation. What about you?

Wikimedia

After donating, here’s the nice email response that I received:

Dear Daniel,

Thank you for your support of Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Foundation. Your contribution of $ 25.00 supports Wikipedia and helps secure the future of free knowledge for everyone.

Wikipedia is possible because of a powerful idea: that people, like you and me, can participate in building the world’s knowledge and making it freely available to everyone, everywhere.

Today, thanks to the support of millions of volunteer contributors and supporters, you can wander Wikipedia for hours. With more than 40 million Wikipedia articles and 35 million freely licensed images, Wikipedia can answer almost any question, and take you places you’ve never been.

Your donation supports the creation and sharing of free knowledge in real, practical ways. It helps us make Wikipedia fast, secure, and accessible to everyone in the world. It helps us bring free access to Wikipedia in places where high mobile data costs prevent people from going online. It helps us support people who are digitizing knowledge currently locked away in analog archives. It protects Wikipedia from threats to free knowledge and the open internet.

Your support means that you can find the information you need now, wherever you may be—to settle a bet with a friend at a dinner party, or to understand the world around us.

Donating to Wikipedia makes you the champion of a powerful idea.

Wikipedia will continue to evolve, grow, and meet new challenges. We’re excited and eager to meet these and more. Your donation will help us get there. We can’t thank you enough for your support. On behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation, thank you for investing in our future and taking this journey with us.

Katherine Maher
Executive Director, Wikimedia Foundation

Many employers will generously match employee contributions: please check with your employer to see if they have a corporate matching gift program. For your records: Your donation, number CNTCT-22812562, on 2017-10-31 was $ 25.00.

This letter may serve as a record of your donation. No goods or services were provided, in whole or in part, for this contribution. Please send mail to: Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 98204, Washington, DC 20090-8204, USA. U.S. tax-exempt number: 20-0049703

 

Join me and consider making your donation today.

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