As you may know, a number of us are trying to get a two-year NEH grant for the Wikimedia Foundation. This is a grant for anything from $80-700,000 for the development of resource materials. Gentgeen has spoken with them, they are familiar with Wikipedia, and they encouraged us to apply for the grant.
We are asking for $500,000. This is a lot of money, but we believe that it will cover our operating costs for 2 years, including the purchase of new servers, etc. We can do some amazing things with half a million dollars, and really help Wikipedia and the other projects to soar.
To do this, however, requires a lot of help. The grant deadline is July 15, and it is already July 3. It must be in their office by then, so that means it will have to go out by Fedex from somewhere by July 13 at the latest. The proposal is complicated, and requires all sorts of documentation. No one will just give us money for the asking, and the complete proposal has to be written and approved by the community.
That said, I appeal to everyone to give us a hand with this. Pick a section you want to write or edit, submit ideas, help Mav with the budget, argue about it, discuss it. This is a chance to take Wikipedia to an exciting new stage, and it is one that we should not miss.
Looking forward to your insights and contributions to this effort,
Danny