Template:2011FR/appeal-achal-1028

Wikipedia shouldn’t work.

It’s the 5th most popular website in the world, but it’s run by a tiny non-profit -- about as bare-bones as you can get. Google might have close to a million servers. Yahoo has something like 13,000 staff. We have 422 servers and 73 staff.

The difference between the Wikipedia community and huge Internet corporations is that Wikipedia is built on the generosity of its readers, and the volunteer labor of its contributors. It’s the fulfillment of the great dream of what the Internet was supposed to be.

And it seems to me like a dream worth keeping alive.

Every year we ask our readers to pitch in $5, $10, $20 or whatever you can to pay the bills. Every year just enough people donate to keep us going. Please jump in this year and become a Wikipedia donor.

Wikipedia is a place where your donation gets multiplied and leapfrogged upon by the effort of thousands of volunteers; where the fruits of your generosity go far beyond your individual act alone.

Thanks for helping out,

Achal Prabhala Wikipedia Volunteer