Template:2010/JimmyLetterAA/en

Wikipedia is not mine.

I’m just a volunteer. Wikipedia belongs to the thousands of people who create and support it.

When a group of us got together 10 years ago to start Wikipedia, we thought of it as an interesting side project. We never expected it to be the fifth most-read website in the world, with 17 million articles in 270 languages.

Because we never expected that success, we didn’t plan for it. If we were starting over today, we’d do some things differently. But that’s not an option. Now we have to figure out how to support this crazy idea that so many people have come to depend on.

I’m going to lay out some hard realities: we’re at a critical point in Wikipedia's history. We desperately need new technology in order to ensure Wikipedia is available to you in the long run.

To do this, we need to raise $16 million. It’s a huge number, but it’s a tiny fraction of what the other top ten websites spend. We also have a fraction of the staff; we need more help on that front too.

Altogether, it's part of what I love about Wikipedia: we use the smallest amount of resources and do something amazing with them.

I’m asking on behalf of all those who’ve worked on Wikipedia over the last ten years. Can I count on you to make a donation to keep it around for another ten? Giving $10, $20, $35 or whatever you can will really help.

If just one out of every 500 people who read this letter donate, we’ll make it.

Thank you,

Jimmy Wales

Founder of Wikipedia