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Wikimedia Foundation 149 New Montgomery Street Wikimedia Foundation San Francisco, CA 94105 USA 2012–13 Annual Report

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Wikimedia Foundation 149 New Montgomery Street Wikimedia Foundation San Francisco, CA 94105 USA 2012–13 Annual Report Wikimedia Foundation 149 New Montgomery Street Wikimedia Foundation San Francisco, CA 94105 USA 2012–13 Annual Report +1 415-839-6885 wikimediafoundation.org blog.wikimedia.org Ten years of FOUNWikimediaDATION Foundation sharing and learning In 2013 the Wikimedia Foundation celebrated a decade of supporting Wikipedia, its sister projects, and a global community of tens of thousands of volunteer contributors. The free knowledge contributed by our community is accessed by over half a billion readers every month, in more than 280 languages. It takes a movement to make something this extraordinary happen. To celebrate our tenth year, we wanted to share some of the passionate voices of the people who make it happen. Your support The Wikimedia Foundation is supported the same way Wikipedia is written: with millions of contributions. That keeps us independent and able to deliver what readers need and want from Wikipedia. Which is exactly as it should be. Financial contributions in 2012–13: More than two million people donated the equivalent of more than $50 million US dollars in over 82 currencies. Volunteer contributions in 2012–13: Individual contributors made 160.2 million edits, added 4.9 million Wikipedia articles, and uploaded 4.3 million images, audio files and Almost everybody who contributes to video files. Wikipedia does so completely for free. No one makes money on Wikipedia's Total expenditures in 2012–13 millions of articles and images. $35.7 million, USD And yet, it works. Wikipedia keeps growing, and it keeps getting better. In a world filled with half- Wikipedia editors are people of hearted tweets, self-serving every age and every walk of life: status updates and a painfully businessmen, artists, housewives, This position is perfect for me. pessimistic news media — students. They come from all over It combines my academic passion Wikipedia is a refreshingly the world. They share one thing in for history, archives, open source selfless take on something we common: they love learning, and they advocacy and technology. I see my all take for granted. love sharing what they've learned. role as a facilitator, helping to bridge — Chelsea, donor, Ohio, United — Gereon, Writer and translator, the gap between those who have States Germany the content and those who have the technical skills to make that information accessible to the whole world. — Michael Barera, Wikipedian in Residence In January 2013, Michael Barera was appointed the first-ever Wikipedian Ultimately, the Wikimedia Foundation in Residence at the Gerald R. Ford represents a path-breaking example Presidential Library & Museum in Ann of what an NGO can achieve in the Arbor, Michigan. Since 2010 more Internet era. Working with relatively than 50 residencies have been created meagre resources and committed to a funding model based on mass Wikipedia is a very useful website at galleries, libraries, and museums private donations as opposed to large especially for us students. For me as around the world. institutional grants, the organization an individual it has helped me a lot continues, through an innovative for my school assignments, projects, application of new technologies, to research and many more that I can have a deep and abiding impact on go further and make mention of. I am a 17 year-old boy staying with the lives of millions around the world. a single mother, sister and a brother Honestly speaking, my marks at not forgetting my cousin and her school have increased from good to — Global Journal, January 2013 child. We stay in a small shack with excellent because of Wikipedia. This In late 2012 Global Journal placed the no one working, surviving with only is the exact reason me and my fellow Wikimedia Foundation as the number R1100 ($100 USD) supporting grant classmates wrote a letter of plea that two NGO in the world, in the company in each and every month. When I would allow free access to Wikipedia. of exceptional nonprofits and NGOs. pass my grade 12 I want to do BSc With the help from Wikipedia, great The Foundation ranked number one Degree in Geology and work here change could be seen in the world as in 2011. This is the second year the in South Africa. Wikipedia can be a whole. Journal has published the ranking. very useful to me in such a way that when I am doing my assignments and — Sinako, learner at Sinenjongo High projects I just go to Wikipedia and School, Joe Slovo Park, Cape Town, I've always wanted to learn more it provides every information I need. South Africa about my family’s roots, but it's tough. Every term my marks are improving If you look at the map or ask the Wikipedia Zero aims to make our because of the information that I get United Nations, my country doesn't projects’ free knowledge accessible on Wikipedia. exist. Somaliland isn't recognized by at no cost to hundreds of millions If you follow the news, you probably many international bodies. — Lutho, learner at Sinenjongo High of mobile phone users, particularly remember reading about the Arab spring. For young people like me and School, Joe Slovo Park, Cape Town, in the Global South. Partnering with But when you read about Somaliland my friends, it was the beginning of South Africa over 23 mobile carriers, the program on Wikipedia, it's so amazing and a new era. As momentous events provides Wikipedia access to over 280 detailed. I feel I'm represented. I can The learners of Sinenjongo High School happened, we were obsessed with the million mobile customers in Africa, the study history, politics, geography, from Joe Slovo Park, South Africa sent news, following up second by second. Middle East, and Asia. even folktales and myths. I learned so One of the things that's surprised a letter to the region’s mobile carriers We were checking our phones, much about my own community, just me most about my involvement with to urge them to make Wikipedia Facebook, Twitter. from reading Wikipedia. Wikipedia is the sense of community. freely accessible via mobile phones. It's an attitude of creativity and And I was writing on Wikipedia. I The letter has kicked off an online — Amina, donor, Nairobi collaboration I’ve experienced love Wikipedia because it's impartial; movement to increase the visibility and nowhere else. If one person wants it's the best source for up-to-date growth of Wikipedia Zero throughout to start something, other people will information from a neutral point of Africa. jump onto it and say, “I can help you view. I looked at CNN, Al Jazeera with this.” and the BBC, searching for the most reliable sources. Then I added updates — Q Miceli, Vegan baker, New Jersey, in real time. United States — Ravan Jaafar Altaie, Telecom Engineer, Iraq Consistent with the DNA of Wikipedia, it is critical to employ imagery and symbols that are sensitive to many cultures, while conveying complex It is the goal of Wikidata to collect concepts, some of which might be the world’s complex knowledge in a uncommon to the rest of the Web 2.0 structured manner so that anybody The purpose of the Wikivoyage world. can benefit from it. Whether that’s Association is to promote education readers of Wikipedia who are able to — Vibha Bamba, Interaction Designer, and knowledge of all countries be up to date about certain facts or Wikimedia Foundation and regions in the world, as well engineers who can use this data to as understanding among nations. create new products that improve the We’re very excited about the launch way we access knowledge. of Wikivoyage as a Wikimedia project, and about the future role — Denny Vrandecˇic´, Wikidata Project of the Association in supporting the Director, Wikimedia Deutschland Wikivoyage community through its If only my grandfather could have Launched in 2013, Wikidata is the programs. seen Wikipedia, he would have Wikimedia community’s effort to create We are creating software that will let loved it. He considered the center of — Stefan Fussan, Chairman of the an open, free, and massive database users load, edit and save Wikipedia the world to be our little village in board, Wikivoyage Association of any form of cataloged, digital articles visually, bypassing the existing northern Italy, Esino Lario. And after information. The project will have a system that requires our users learn The Foundation’s newest project, the second world war, he started profound impact on how Wikipedia and “wikitext,” a complex markup code. Wikivoyage, set sail in 2013, bringing collecting Esino’s local history — its sister projects organize and share Instead, the articles they’re editing a thriving community of free knowledge documents and archives dating all information across languages and topic will look the same as when they’re travel writers to the Wikimedia the way back to the 14th century, areas. reading them, and any changes community. Also supported by the even some incredible photos of the they make will be obvious in their Wikivoyage Association, Wikivoyage’s mountains nearby and the whole Lake effects before they press save — just mission is to build a free, multilingual Como area. like writing a document in a word and worldwide travel guide that anyone On Wikipedia, you've got to present Today, I’m carrying on his life work processor. can edit. a balanced view in your article. You and his passion for recording local can't be biased, and you can only — James Forrester, Product Manager, history and heritage. The difference is use reliable sources. Wikipedia helps VisualEditor, Wikimedia Foundation I have a tool my grandfather did not people get to the truth of things.
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