wikipedia-donation.md (2169B)
1 # I donated 100€ to Wikipedia 2 3 Yesterday I was looking something up on Wikipedia and I was presented 4 with a message like this: 5 6  7 8 I am sure you too have seen this kind of message before, about once 9 a year. 10 11 Despite them begging me not to scroll past, this is exactly what I 12 usually do. When I don't, I may read the whole thing, but I have never 13 donated any money. 14 15 Until last night. I sympathize with Wikipedia's mission - in fact, 16 I believe Wikipedia is one of the best things that happened to the 17 Internet. I have already expressed how I feel about free access to 18 knowledge in [an earlier post](../2023-01-11-aaron-swartz). And they 19 are asking just for 2€, so what is my excuse? 20 21 I usually dismiss this question and keep scrolling, but this time, for 22 no particular reason, I decided not to. Instead of donating a small 23 sum and facing the same moral dilemma again next year, I decided to give 24 50x the suggested amount and be good for 50 years. 25 26 A little bit from everyone is enough, and I feel I have done my part. 27 28 This is the email I received after my donation: 29 30 31 *Dear Sebastiano,* 32 33 *Thank you so much for the one-time gift of €100.00 to support Wikipedia 34 and a world where knowledge is free for everyone.* 35 36 *Every single donation helps us to improve people’s access to accurate and 37 reliable information, especially in a rapidly changing world. I’m truly 38 grateful for your support in enabling billions of people to experience the 39 gift of knowledge through Wikipedia.* 40 41 *We are determined to extend this access as far as possible to make sure 42 that no matter where you are born or where you live, the ability to access 43 free knowledge is always within your reach. I hope you will continue to 44 support us in building a future where Wikipedia exists everywhere, with 45 people across the world contributing to the sum of all knowledge.* 46 47 *Thank you again for supporting this remarkable mission; it is a privilege 48 for me to be part of the largest collaborative project in human history. 49 Wikipedia will always belong to you.* 50 51 *With gratitude, 52 Maryana* 53 54 *Maryana Iskander 55 CEO, Wikimedia Foundation*