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http://blogs.forbes.com/kerenblankfeld/2010/12/19/wikipedia-fans-use-facebook-and-twitter-to-ask-billionaire-eike-batista-for-help/
BILLIONAIRES
Wikipedia Fans Use Facebook And Twitter To Ask Billionaire Eike Batista For Help
Dec. 19 2010 - 6:42 pm | 1,074 views | 1 recommendation | 2 comments
A Web site created by Wikipedia enthusiasts is asking Brazilian
billionaire Eike Batista for a donation.
Four enterprising Wikipedia fans have launched a full-fledged social
media campaign to try to convince Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista
(the world’s eighth richest man) to donate some cash to the nonprofit
organization.
Wikipedia, a volunteer-authored online encyclopedia, claims nearly 400
million people surf its pages each month. It’s celebrating its tenth
year anniversary in January and apparently having trouble reaching its
fundraising goal (it doesn’t charge users or sell advertising).
The organization is trying to raise $16 million through its Wikimedia
Foundation to “pay for staff salaries and technology.” According to
its fundraising site (last modified December 17), it’s still $5.1
million away from reaching that goal for 2010.
The Wikipedia enthusiasts’ approach to help the organization get some
cash from Batista is simply to use Twitter and Facebook to promote a
dedicated Web site — Eikepedia.com. The campaign has already garnered
national media attention in Brazil but the social pickup seems to be
lukewarm (as of this posting Eikepedia.com boasts 146 tweets and 150
Facebook “likes”).
According to Eikepedia.com:
The purpose of our campaign is to make this business-savvy man aware
of the importance of Wikipedia, in the hopes that he will make a
generous donation to the foundation.”
Why target Eike Batista? The group behind the effort told Brazilian
newspaper Folha de São Paulo that they recalled Batista’s announcement
last year to donate to Madonna’s charity and thought he’d deem
Wikipedia to also be a worthy cause.
Batista, worth $27 billion as of our latest tally, supports a variety
of philanthropic causes in addition to Madonna’s charity. His
financing helped Rio de Janeiro win its bid for the 2016 Olympic
Games; he’s pledged $5 million toward nature conservation and all
together donated some $35 million in 2009. (Read Batista’s profile
here.)
An email’s out to find out Batista’s thoughts on making a donation to
Wikipedia; no word back from the billionaire’s camp yet.
http://eikepedia.com/index.html?lang=en
#eikepedia
Let's return the effort of millions who have contributed to Wikipedia
by requesting a generous donation from the Brazilian businessman
@eikebatista.
Spread this project with the hashtag #eikepedia on social networks.
Jimmy Wales is an American Internet entrepreneur who became known to
the public in 2001 as a co-founder of Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
project. The nonprofit organization that maintains the encyclopedia --
Wikimedia -- does not rely on traditional forms of revenue. Thus, to
maintain this invaluable, free resource, Wikimedia holds an annual
fundraising campaign. This year's target is to reach 16 million
dollars in over two months.
An ambitious goal, yes, but essential considering every month nearly
400 million people access over 17 million articles in over 270
languages! Join us, #keepitfree! Read more about Wikipedia and this
fundraising.
Eike Batista is a Brazilian businessman who works in several
industries, particularly in the areas of mining and petroleum. He is
known for his daring feats in the world of business, and he himself
has often been labeled as adventurous. He is the head of an estate
valued at 27 billion dollars, and in 2010 Forbes Magazine listed him
as the 8th richest person in the world.
The purpose of our campaign is to make this business-savvy man aware
of the importance of Wikipedia, in the hopes that he will make a
generous donation to the foundation.
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