Wikipedia’s $3M donation from Sloan Foundation: Nice but not enough
“Wikipedia, the people’s encylopedia, has trousered a $3m donation from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, to be paid in equal chunks over three years. Which is nice. Even nicer, the money hails from a charity, and not from philanthropic venture capitalists, who may or may not have commercial designs upon Wikipedia’s ads-unsullied pages.” - The Register.
The TeleRead take: The Sloan money is to go to boost Wikipedia’s quality—already better than commercial encyclopedias’ in some cases—and raise the number of full-time employees from 15 up to 25.
Now, here’s the real outrage: the fact that Wikipedia hasn’t received more from philanthropies, whether in the U.S. or elsewhere. Too many Silicon Valley billionaires confuse good causes with businesses and expect projects to be self-sustaining. Alas, $3M is not enough for Wikipedia for the long run—when will Wikipedia get a major endowment? Libraries and schools have ‘em. Why shouldn’t Wikipedia? Otherwise, yes, ads may well pop up sooner or later.
Attention Larry Ellison: I’m not expecting Sloan alone to donate to Wikipedia. Care to pitch in? I doubt that Bill Gates would contribute—here’s a great chance for one-upmanship to show who’s the real cyber-age Carnegie when it comes to content, not just “wiring up the schools.” Of course, I’d love for Gates to prove me wrong.
Related: Techmeme news roundup on the donation.
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