Template:2011FR/appeal-maryana-0930-3/en

Let’s build something beautiful together.

Humanity’s main instinct isn’t to destroy each other or get as much money as possible out of one another -- it’s to build, to share knowledge, to work together to make something beautiful. And Wikipedia is a testament to that human goodness.

To me that’s the most revolutionary thing about Wikipedia. It’s a conduit for creating a narrative about the world for everyone, and by everyone. And it’s free.

Freedom is central. Wikipedia isn’t restricted by boundaries or borders. It’s knowledge, unchained from any one language or one culture or one context and made available to all in a really pure, unadulterated, uncommercialized form.

And it’s all driven by passionate and dedicated volunteers. Nobody makes them do it. Nobody pays them or controls the content. It’s collaboration that’s not motivated by money or sponsors who would run ads on articles that involve their products.

But Wikipedia still needs money to spend on technology, and the people who make that technology work. There’s no amazing corporate office; it’s completely bare bones. I mean, compared to the other top ten websites, Wikipedia is this ant crawling around that all the big guys are sort of wondering how they can step on.

That’s why I’m asking you to help support this indispensable part of our lives with $5, $10, $20 or whatever you can afford to give. That’s all it takes to show you care and want this thing to exist and to keep going.

Without ordinary people editing the encyclopedia, there would be no content. And without ordinary people forking over some spare change to support this amazing, revolutionary project, there wouldn’t be any Wikipedia.

And because Wikipedia runs on a shoestring, every cent you give will go right back into our community.

Wikipedia is the 5th most popular site online, but it’s not made by some committee of paid academics who write these fancy articles for a profit. It’s just a kid down the street who’s really, really into airplanes. It’s a retired schoolteacher who writes articles on history. And if you’re passionate enough about something, it could be you.

We’re all connected in this really basic way and we’re all curious and passionate and want to seek out knowledge and learn something. Ultimately that’s what unites everyone in the world.

Wikipedia is the backbone of your life and it runs on the change that you scrape out of your couch cushions.

Doesn’t it feel great to learn something instead of being sold something?

Thanks,

Maryana Pinchuk Wikimedia Foundation Staffer