This press release is also available online here:
https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Wikimedia_Foundation_la…
*Wikimedia Foundation launches year-end contribution campaign*
- *Wikipedia appeals to readers to support the world’s largest free
knowledge resource*
On December 2, 2014, Giving Tuesday, the Wikimedia Foundation kicked off
its year-end contribution campaign on English Wikipedia, requesting
donations to support the operating expenses of the Wikimedia sites and
global outreach programs. Wikipedia is overwhelmingly supported by small
individual donations averaging $15. It is a unique campaign that relies on
the power of individuals to keep knowledge free and accessible for the
world.
Wikipedia is written entirely by a community of volunteers who have a
passion for sharing and expanding the world’s knowledge. The Wikimedia
Foundation is the non-profit organization that supports Wikipedia, its
sister free knowledge projects, and that community of volunteers. Every
year, we ask those who value the site to make a contribution to ensure
Wikimedia projects are freely available to everyone around the world, in
their own language.
Wikipedia attracts nearly half a billion unique visitors and more than 20
billion monthly page views each month. Every month roughly 70,000 people
edit Wikipedia, collectively creating, improving, and maintaining its more
than 33.5 million articles in 287 languages. From articles on national
revolutions <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Ukrainian_revolution>
to feathered
dinosaurs <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feathered_dinosaur> and comet
landers <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philae_(spacecraft)> to football
tournaments <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_FIFA_World_Cup>, the world
trusts Wikipedia. Together with its sister free knowledge projects such as
Wikimedia Commons, Wikipedia is one of the most popular websites in the
world.
This year, hundreds of millions of people turned to Wikipedia to not just
understand but also shape the world around them. Here are just a few ways
people used Wikipedia:
- This year the article on the Ebola virus disease
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ebola_virus_disease> on the
English-language version of Wikipedia received 17 million visits in one
month alone, and remained among the most visited articles on Wikipedia
throughout the year. Wikipedians at the WikiProject Med Foundation worked
with volunteer translators to make the article on Ebola available in more
than 50 languages.
- This summer more than 2,000 of the volunteer writers, readers, and
users of Wikipedia met in London at Wikimania
<http://wikimania2014.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimania>, to share and
discuss the future of knowledge. Among them was 17 year old Jack Andraka
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Andraka> who, as a high school
student, used knowledge found on Wikipedia to develop a new test for
pancreatic cancer.
- This autumn, a group of Wikipedia’s volunteer editors were recognized
by *Foreign Policy* magazine as among the world’s 100 top leading global
thinkers
<http://globalthinkers.foreignpolicy.com/#chroniclers/detail/evans-mabey-man…>
for
their project, Art+Feminism, designed to advance understanding of the
contributions of the world’s female artists and innovators.
Small donations allow the Wikimedia Foundation to cover the costs of
operating Wikipedia, including electricity, servers, and staff. These
contributions also allow us to invest in improvements to the technology
behind Wikipedia, such as this year’s introduction of a free, fast, native
Wikipedia app for iOS and Android, and ongoing improvements to Wikipedia’s
search functions and speed.
Donations also support Foundation initiatives to bring knowledge to people
around the world, such as Wikipedia Zero. Wikipedia Zero is a program that
enables people who can’t afford mobile data charges to access or contribute
to all knowledge on Wikipedia for free on their mobile phone. An estimated
400 million people now have free access to Wikipedia, thanks to 40
operators in 34 countries. This includes users of MTN in South Africa,
which introduced Wikipedia Zero after receiving an open letter from grade
12 students at Sinenjongo High School, in the township of Joe Slovo Park,
as featured in this short film
<https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Wikipedia_Zero>.
As with previous campaigns, this year the Wikimedia Foundation will use a
variety of banner formats to reach the movement’s diverse global audience.
“We are always looking for new ways to reach our readers while minimizing
interruption of their experience on Wikipedia,” said Megan Hernandez,
Director of Online Fundraising at the Wikimedia Foundation. “This year, our
goal is to reach our target more quickly, in order to limit the total
number of banners each reader sees. We thank all our contributors for their
support and our volunteers who help make these campaigns a widely localized
and internationalized effort.”
“Wikipedia content is growing every year, and it is growing most where it
is needed the most. From Cape Town to Naypyidaw and Cairo to Kyiv,
Wikipedia is there with free, uncensored content. Individual contributions
from ordinary users all over the world are what makes it possible to share
knowledge beyond languages, borders or generations” said Lila Tretikov,
Executive Director of the Wikimedia Foundation.
“All knowledge gathered on Wikipedia is being shared freely and for
everybody to edit, change and use as they will. It has been created by the
work of hundreds of thousands of people, for the use of millions more.
Wikipedia relies on the contributions of many people -- in the form of
edits and small donations -- to maintain this independence. It’s always a
testament to how much Wikipedia matters that so many people come out to
support it every year!” said Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia.
The online fundraising campaign aims to raise $20 million in December. The
remainder of the Wikimedia Foundation’s funding comes from individuals
gifts given outside the year-end campaign, and from a handful of foundation
grants.
To make a donation, click the fundraising appeal on Wikipedia, or go
directly to donate.wikimedia.org.
*About the Wikimedia Foundation*
- https://wikimediafoundation.org
- https://blog.wikimedia.org/
The Wikimedia Foundation is the non-profit organization that operates
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Wikipedia consists of more than 33.5
million articles in 287 languages. Every month, roughly 80,000 active
volunteers contribute to Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects.
According to comScore Media Metrix, the projects operated by the Wikimedia
Foundation receive 460 million unique visitors per month on desktop alone,
making them one of the ten most popular web properties worldwide (October
2014). Based in San Francisco, California, the Wikimedia Foundation is an
audited, 501(c)(3) charity that is funded primarily through donations and
grants.
*Wikimedia Foundation Press Contact*
Katherine Maher
- +1 415-839-6885 ext 6633
- katherine(a)wikimedia.org
(To be unsubscribed from this press release distribution list, please reply to communications(a)wikimedia.org with 'UNSUBSCRIBE' in the subject line)
The WMNL report on October is available on meta:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_chapters/Reports/Wikimedia_Nederl…
It is also included in this message as plain text.
*COMMUNITY: supporting and mobilising volunteers and editors*
- Wiki-Saturdays
In October there were two Wikisaturdays, one devoted to last-minute
preparations for the annual Wikimedia Nederland Conference on November 1.
Writing event Naturalis
*WORK: content, collaboration and activity development*
- Project Nature
The writing event in cooperation with the natural history museum Naturalis
took place on October 5, around the theme of nature in the Netherlands.
Around 11 new and existing editors participated in the editing event. This
event was also the awards ceremony for Wiki Loves Earth NL 2014 (jury
report) where 17 visitors attended.
- Project World War II
The Worldwar II projectpage on Wikipedia was remodelled and revitalised. It
now includes a list of articles missing and to be improved. We will use it
as a platform for online writing events.
- Wiki loves libraries
The monthly local training in the public library of Amersfoort were
continued in October by volunteers of WMNL.
- Wikipedia awareness campaign
WMNL will launch a Wikipedia-awareness campaign in January 2015. Aim of the
campaign is to make the general public more aware of the fact that
Wikipedia is a volunteer project. The campaign will not focus on
fundraising or membership recruitment for WMNL. In October, we choose the
agency that will help us develop and run the campaign. We selected MV, a
two-woman company with a track record in working for non-profits.
- Wikipedia in the Museum
Thanks to a donation from a private grant making foundation earlier this
year, WMNL could start developing an application that will allow visitors
to a museum to directly access Wikipedia-articles related to the exhibits
they are seeing. At this stage, it is a pilot with one or two museums.
*GLOBAL*
- GLAMout Global
WMNL organised the global GLAMout in October, the hangout is available on
youtube. The next global GLAMout will be organised by WMSE.
*GOVERNANCE*
Board meeting
The WMNL Board met on October 8.
Q3 report
We submitted our report on the third quarter of 2014 to WMF.
*UPCOMING EVENTS*
- Wikimedia Nederland Conference, Utrecht, November 1.
- Wikipedia beginners course, Zeeuwse Bibliotheek, Middelburg, November
11.
- GLAM Hackathon, Amsterdam, November 14 - 16.
- workshop Wikidata for GLAMs, Amsterdam, November 14.
- Wikipedia intermediate course, Zeeuwse Bibliotheek, Middelburg,
November 25.
- Writing event on World War II at NIOD, Amsterdam, November 29.
- New Years Reception and Presentation year plan 2015 to partner
organisations, January 17.
- GLAMwiki Conference 2015, tbd, April 10-11-12 2015
*OTHER EVENTS*
*These events are relevant to the Netherlands and/or Dutch language
Wikimedia-projects but were not organised by WMNL*:
- Writing event Nature, Utrecht University, October 4 - organised by
User:Spinster for the expeditions project
- Lecture by Hay Kranen, National Archives of the Netherlands, October 5
- organised by User:Husky
- Writing event Scientific expeditions, Technical University of Delft,
October 18 - organised by User:Spinster for the expeditions project
-
Sandra Rientjes
Directeur/Executive Director Wikimedia Nederland
tel. (+31) (0)30 3200238
mob. (+31) (0)6 31786379
www.wikimedia.nl
*Postadres*: * Bezoekadres:*
Postbus 167 Mariaplaats 3
3500 AD Utrecht Utrecht
Hi Wikimedians!
The Wikimedia Board of Trustees will have a board meeting on November 21 at
the Wikimedia Foundation office. This meeting has the following agenda:
== November 21, 2014 ==
* Welcome and Introduction
* Updates from Board Committees
* Update on the Board Candidate Search
* Housekeeping: Review of Updates to the Board Handbook
* Operational Updates from Staff
* Executive Update from Fundraising
* Legal Presentation
If you have additional comments or questions please feel free to leave a
message on the Board noticeboard:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_noticeboard
--
Patricio Lorente
Vice Chair
Wikimedia Board of Trustees
Dear all,
The Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees is currently looking for an
additional appointed trustee to fill the seat currently held by Bishakha
Datta, who has announced that she plans to step down at the end of her term
in December 2014. The Board Governance Committee is leading the search to
fill the position on behalf of the Board. Please spread the word to those
you would like to see on the Board!
The Board functions as a governance body that is ultimately responsible for
the Wikimedia Foundation and its activities, supervises the disposition and
solicitation of donations, and oversees the management of the organization.
To find out more about the responsibilities and workings of the Board you
can have a look at the Board handbook.[1]
We are seeking a trustee who is a leader in their field and who is
committed to Wikimedia's values.[2] We are also particularly looking for
someone with technical experience, who can bring expertise with strategic
development and technical organizations to the Board. As always, the Board
values diversity in its members.
Appointments are for a two-year term and involve 3-4 in-person meetings
throughout the year, at least two in San Francisco, as well as online work
and participation in a Board committee.
If you would like to suggest a name or nominate someone, please contact
Ewen McAlpine at emcalpine(a)wikimedia.org, who is handling initial contact
for the committee.
Kind regards,
María
Chair, Board Governance Committee
[1] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_Handbook
[2] http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Values
