Wikimedia Foundation
The Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. (WMF) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in San Francisco, California, and registered as a charitable foundation under local laws. It is best known as the host platform for Wikipedia, the largest crowdsourced online encyclopedia and the seventh most visited website in the world, but also hosts other related projects and MediaWiki, a wiki software.
| Abbreviation | WMF |
|---|---|
| Founded | June 20, 2003, St. Petersburg, Florida, US |
| Founder | Jimmy Wales |
| Type | 501(c)(3), charitable organization |
| EIN 200049703 | |
| Focus | Free, open-content, multilingual, wiki-based Internet projects |
| Location | |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Wikipedia, MediaWiki, Wikibooks, Wikidata, Wikifunctions, Wikimedia Commons, Wikinews, Wikiquote, Wikisource, Wikispecies, Wikiversity, Wikivoyage, Wiktionary |
Membership | Board-only |
CEO | Maryana Iskander |
Revenue |
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| Expenses |
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| Endowment | > $100 million (2021) |
Employees | > around 700 staff/contractors (as of November 2022) |
| Website |
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| ASNs | 14907, 11820 |
The Wikimedia Foundation was established in 2003 in St. Petersburg, Florida, by Jimmy Wales as a nonprofit way to fund Wikipedia, Wiktionary, and other crowdsourced wiki projects that had until then been hosted by Bomis, Wales's for-profit company. The Foundation finances itself mainly through millions of small donations from Wikipedia readers, collected through email campaigns and annual fundraising banners placed on Wikipedia and its sister projects. These are complemented by grants from philanthropic organizations and tech companies, and starting in 2022, by services income from Wikimedia Enterprise.
The Foundation has grown rapidly throughout its existence. By 2022, it employed around 700 staff and contractors, with annual revenues of $155 million, annual expenses of $146 million, net assets of $240 million and a growing endowment, which surpassed $100 million in June 2021.