往年11月下旬是向維基百科捐款的時間，今年我忙于準備北京馬拉松和上海馬拉松去了，沒有留意這方面的消息，現在馬拉松忙完了，去網上搜了一下，有少量的關于Wikipedia捐款的新聞報道，并有人說可以直接用人民币捐款了。
我去維基百科捐款頁面看了看，有如下的呼籲消息：
來自維基百科創辦者Jimmy Wales的個人呼籲
谷歌和雅虎有數以千計的服務器和職員。我們僅有約800台服務器和150名職員。
維基百科是全球第五大網站，每月為4.5億用戶提供服務，頁面浏覽數以十億計。
商業本無過，廣告亦非惡。但它們不屬于這裡。不屬于維基百科。
維基百科與衆不同，它像一座圖書館或者一座公園，它像一座思想的殿堂，它是我們思考、學習并與人分享知識的地方。
在維基百科初創時，我完全可以讓它成為一家刊登廣告的營利性公司，但是我決定做與衆不同的事情。我們一直緻力于保證其精簡和節流。我們完成我們的使命，避免鋪張浪費。
如果讀到這封信的人都願意捐出¥50，那麼我們籌款一天就可維持一年的開銷。但并不是每個人都有能力或者有意願捐款。這可以理解。好在每一年都會剛好有足夠多的人願意伸出援手。
今年，請您考慮捐獻¥50, ¥75, ¥100或任何您力所能及的金額，來保障和維持維基百科的運作。
感激不盡！
吉米·威爾士
維基百科創始人
我看了今年捐款的默認數額是人民币50、75、100、300、500、1000、1500元，也可以自己填寫金額，我去年是用PayPal捐的100美元，今年就捐人民币500元吧，用國内帶visa标志的信用卡就可以很方便支付。
一會兒已經收到感謝郵件：
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
這是我個人連續第5年向Wikipedia捐款了。
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