往年11月下旬是向维基百科捐款的时间，今年我忙于准备北京马拉松和上海马拉松去了，没有留意这方面的消息，现在马拉松忙完了，去网上搜了一下，有少量的关于Wikipedia捐款的新闻报道，并有人说可以直接用人民币捐款了。
我去维基百科捐款页面看了看，有如下的呼吁消息：
来自维基百科创办者Jimmy Wales的个人呼吁
谷歌和雅虎有数以千计的服务器和职员。我们仅有约800台服务器和150名职员。
维基百科是全球第五大网站，每月为4.5亿用户提供服务，页面浏览数以十亿计。
商业本无过，广告亦非恶。但它们不属于这里。不属于维基百科。
维基百科与众不同，它像一座图书馆或者一座公园，它像一座思想的殿堂，它是我们思考、学习并与人分享知识的地方。
在维基百科初创时，我完全可以让它成为一家刊登广告的营利性公司，但是我决定做与众不同的事情。我们一直致力于保证其精简和节流。我们完成我们的使命，避免铺张浪费。
如果读到这封信的人都愿意捐出¥50，那么我们筹款一天就可维持一年的开销。但并不是每个人都有能力或者有意愿捐款。这可以理解。好在每一年都会刚好有足够多的人愿意伸出援手。
今年，请您考虑捐献¥50, ¥75, ¥100或任何您力所能及的金额，来保障和维持维基百科的运作。
感激不尽！
吉米·威尔士
维基百科创始人
我看了今年捐款的默认数额是人民币50、75、100、300、500、1000、1500元，也可以自己填写金额，我去年是用PayPal捐的100美元，今年就捐人民币500元吧，用国内带visa标志的信用卡就可以很方便支付。
一会儿已经收到感谢邮件：
Dear 祁,
Thank you for donating to the Wikimedia Foundation. You are wonderful!
It's easy to ignore our fundraising banners, and I'm really glad you didn't. This is how Wikipedia pays its bills --- people like you giving us money, so we can keep the site freely available for everyone around the world.
People tell me they donate to Wikipedia because they find it useful, and they trust it because even though it's not perfect, they know it's written for them. Wikipedia isn't meant to advance somebody's PR agenda or push a particular ideology, or to persuade you to believe something that's not true. We aim to tell the truth, and we can do that because of you. The fact that you fund the site keeps us independent and able to deliver what you need and want from Wikipedia. Exactly as it should be.
You should know: your donation isn't just covering your own costs. The average donor is paying for his or her own use of Wikipedia, plus the costs of hundreds of other people. Your donation keeps Wikipedia available for an ambitious kid in Bangalore who's teaching herself computer programming. A middle-aged homemaker in Vienna who's just been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. A novelist researching 1850s Britain. A 10-year-old in San Salvador who's just discovered Carl Sagan.
On behalf of those people, and the half-billion other readers of Wikipedia and its sister sites and projects, I thank you for joining us in our effort to make the sum of all human knowledge available for everyone. Your donation makes the world a better place. Thank you.
Most people don't know Wikipedia's run by a non-profit. Please consider sharing this e-mail with a few of your friends to encourage them to donate too. And if you're interested, you should try adding some new information to Wikipedia. If you see a typo or other small mistake, please fix it, and if you find something missing, please add it. There are resources here that can help you get started. Don't worry about making a mistake: that's normal when people first start editing and if it happens, other Wikipedians will be happy to fix it for you.
I appreciate your trust in us, and I promise you we'll use your money well.
Thanks,
Sue
Sue Gardner
Executive Director,
Wikimedia Foundation
https://donate.wikimedia.orgYou can follow us on Twitter, identi.ca or Google+, like us on Facebook and read our blog. Here is the Wikimedia Foundation annual report for 2010-11, the Wikimedia Foundation annual plan for 2012-13 and the Wikimedia Foundation's five-year strategic plan. You can also now buy Wikipedia merchandise at shop.wikimedia.org.
For your records: Your donation on 2012-12-05 was CNY 500.00.
This letter may serve as a record of your donation. No goods or services were provided, in whole or in part, for this contribution. The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit charitable corporation with 501(c)(3) tax exempt status in the United States. Our address is 149 New Montgomery, 3rd Floor, San Francisco, CA, 94105. U.S. tax-exempt number: 20-0049703
这是我个人连续第5年向Wikipedia捐款了。
评论