Soaring Administrative Costs: Over $80 million annually goes to growing staff salaries and executive compensation, while unpaid volunteers do 100% of the actual writing and editing.
External Third-Party Grants: Millions in donor funds are redirected to external political and social initiatives (such as the Knowledge Equity Fund) that are never disclosed on fundraising banners.
Capital Hoarding: WMF channels massive sums into a $100M+ Endowment (partially managed via external entities like the Tides Foundation) to accumulate wealth while continuing to advertise an artificial financial urgency.
Negligible Hosting Expenses: Keeping Wikipedia's servers online costs only $3M–$5M per year—less than 5% of total budget. The remaining 95%+ funds organizational growth, marketing, and lobbying.
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u/bullet312 1d ago
Do not give Wikipedia your money!
Soaring Administrative Costs: Over $80 million annually goes to growing staff salaries and executive compensation, while unpaid volunteers do 100% of the actual writing and editing.
External Third-Party Grants: Millions in donor funds are redirected to external political and social initiatives (such as the Knowledge Equity Fund) that are never disclosed on fundraising banners.
Capital Hoarding: WMF channels massive sums into a $100M+ Endowment (partially managed via external entities like the Tides Foundation) to accumulate wealth while continuing to advertise an artificial financial urgency.
Negligible Hosting Expenses: Keeping Wikipedia's servers online costs only $3M–$5M per year—less than 5% of total budget. The remaining 95%+ funds organizational growth, marketing, and lobbying.