Donation Surge Saves Wikipedia

Wikipedia has managed to secure enough funding to keep running for another year. In addition to maintain the site it requires $6m to pay its staff. The online encyclopedia relies on user-generated content and edits but it had raised only $3.8m of the money shortly before Christmas.

According to Jimmy Wales, the founder of Wikipedia, the advertising doesn't have place on the site. They want to keep it free with the support of thousands of users and their donations.

The site has received heavyweight backing from the US Stanton Foundation, which donated in excess of $1m last year. The British Arcadia fund donated $177,376 back in September.

A foundation bearing the name of Lotus founder Mitch Kapoor is listed among the Wikimedia benefactors. Kapoor is on the advisory board of the Wikimedia Foundation and donated $10,000 last year.

Wales's plea appears to have done the trick, with the site now reporting that it's passed the $6m mark.