activities · 12
what they do
direct service · 2
- Hosts and maintains Wikimedia projects Free Knowledge Platform InfrastructureHosts and maintains 14 free knowledge projects, including Wikipedia and Wikidata, by managing servers, developing software, and designing supporting technology, enabling billions of monthly visits and hosting over 65 million articles in more than 300 languages.
- Hosts and maintains free knowledge projects Free Knowledge Platform InfrastructureHosts and maintains 14 free knowledge projects including Wikipedia and Wikidata by managing servers, developing software, and designing supporting technology, enabling billions of monthly visits and hosting over 65 million articles in more than 300 languages.
advocacy · 3
- Conducts legal and policy advocacy for free knowledgeEngages in legal and advocacy efforts globally to protect the right to free knowledge, including defending access to information and digital rights.
- Produces transparency reports Annual Impact & Transparency ReportingProduces and publishes transparency reports twice annually, detailing government and third-party requests for information and actions taken, with reports published for multiple periods including 2012–2014, 2024, and 2025.
- Produces transparency reports and conducts legal advocacy Annual Impact & Transparency ReportingConducts legal and advocacy efforts to protect the right to free knowledge and publishes biannual transparency reports detailing requests for information and actions taken, with reports published for multiple periods including 2012–2014, 2024, and 2025.
capacity building · 7
- Leads collaborative knowledge equity initiativesCo-founded and organizes major collaborative initiatives such as the Women in Red project, which added over 200,000 biographies of women, and the first African Librarians Week, resulting in nearly 28,000 Wikipedia improvements.
- Leads collaborative knowledge equity initiativesCo-founded the Women in Red project, which has added over 200,000 biographies about women to English Wikipedia, and organized the first African Librarians Week, resulting in nearly 28,000 improvements on Wikipedia.
- Manages internal operations and organizational oversight Financial Reporting & Compliance ManagementOversees departments, internal teams, and staff within the Wikimedia Foundation and files annual financial reports and Form 990s as a US 501(c)(3) nonprofit, with annual reports highlighting financial accountability.
- Manages internal organizational operations Financial Reporting & Compliance ManagementOversees internal departments, teams, and staff within the Wikimedia Foundation, including compliance with U.S. nonprofit requirements such as filing annual financial reports and Form 990s.
- Provides grants and capacity-building support to the Wikimedia community Free Knowledge Platform InfrastructureProvides funding and capacity-building support globally through grants totaling over $9 million to individuals, affiliates, and nonprofit organizations for editathons, outreach, events, and conferences, and supports a global community of over 265,000 contributors across 170 countries.
- Provides grants and funding to expand knowledge Free Knowledge Platform InfrastructureProvides funding to individuals, affiliates, and nonprofit organizations globally to support editathons, outreach, events, and conferences, having awarded over $9 million in grants.
- Supports global volunteer contributor community Free Knowledge Platform InfrastructureSupports a global network of hundreds of thousands of volunteer editors—averaging nearly 265,000 contributors per month across 170 countries—since 2003, through infrastructure, tools, and community initiatives.
strategies · 15
how they think
Theories of action extracted from this org's own source material. Click any to see the full field of orgs running the same approach.
- Centralized executive leadership for organizational management centralized leadership modelUses centralized executive leadership to manage internal structure and operations, ensuring coordinated decision-making and organizational stability.
- Centralized executive leadership with transparent governance centralized leadership modelUses centralized executive leadership to manage organizational operations while employing transparency reporting and annual public reporting to document responses to legal demands, demonstrate financial responsibility, and maintain trust.
- Community-based conflict resolution to maintain neutrality conflict_resolution_through_community_processesUses structured, community-developed processes to resolve editorial disputes, preserving content neutrality and community self-governance.
- Community-driven content creation via global volunteer network community_driven_content_creationRelies on a decentralized, global community of volunteers to generate and maintain content, ensuring broad participation and collective ownership.
- Community-driven knowledge creation with structured conflict resolution community_driven_content_creationRelies on a global volunteer community to create and maintain content, using structured community processes to resolve editorial disputes and ensure content neutrality and reliability.
- Donor-funded nonprofit financial model donor-funded nonprofit modelOperates financially through public donations and grants, enabling independence and alignment with public mission over profit.
- Donor-funded nonprofit model with open and transparent operations donor-funded nonprofit modelOperates as a donor-funded nonprofit relying on public contributions and grants, underpinned by a model of trust, transparency, and openness to enable global knowledge sharing.
- Integration of Wikimedia projects into education systems education_integrationAdvances knowledge equity and 21st-century skills by embedding Wikimedia platforms into educational curricula for students and educators.
- Open model based on trust and transparency open modelOperates on principles of openness, trust, and transparency to enable global collaboration and knowledge sharing at scale.
- Pursuit of radical knowledge equity through inclusive participation radical_knowledge_equitySeeks to transform knowledge ecosystems by expanding diverse, equitable, and inclusive contributions to knowledge creation and sharing.
- Radical knowledge equity through education and inclusion radical_knowledge_equityAdvances radical knowledge equity by integrating Wikimedia projects into education to build 21st-century skills and by expanding diverse, equitable, and inclusive participation in knowledge creation and sharing.
- Support for a global open knowledge ecosystem support_for_open_knowledge_ecosystemStrengthens the global flow of reliable information by supporting contributors, technology, and policies that sustain open knowledge.
- Technology and infrastructure for open knowledge tech for goodDevelops technology and tools to support volunteer editors and ensure fast, safe, and private access to knowledge, while supporting the broader open knowledge ecosystem through people, technology, and policy.
- Technology development to empower editors and ensure access tech for goodBuilds and maintains tools that support volunteer editors and guarantee fast, secure, and private access to Wikipedia and other projects.
- Transparency reporting to uphold accountability transparency_reportingEmploys transparency reporting to document and communicate responses to legal and information requests, reinforcing trust and accountability in operations.
named programs · 8
what they call their work
Grants Program
Provides funding to individuals and organizations contributing to Wikimedia projects globally
Open the Knowledge Journalism Awards
Program supporting journalists in Africa who use Wikimedia projects to share knowledge with the public.
Wiki Loves Earth
Annual photography competition encouraging contributors to document natural heritage sites worldwide.
Wikidata
Free and open knowledge base that stores structured data for use across all Wikimedia projects
Wikimedia Commons
Repository of free media files used across Wikimedia projects and by the public
Wikimedia Enterprise
Service offering reliable, high-volume access to Wikimedia content for commercial and nonprofit organizations
Wikipedia
Free online encyclopedia edited and maintained by volunteers, providing reliable information in over 300 languages
Women in Red
Initiative to increase the representation of women on Wikipedia by creating biographies of notable women.
relationships · 11
who they work with
- Biodiversity Heritage Library Partner — Partners with Wikimedia to expand access to biodiversity knowledge.
- Candid Government — Awarded the Wikimedia Foundation the Platinum Seal of Transparency.
- Charity Navigator Government — Awarded the Wikimedia Foundation its highest rating of four stars.
- Google Partner — Collaborates with Wikimedia to close systemic gaps in global understanding of science, culture, language, and identity.
- ICFJ Partner — Co-sponsors the Open the Knowledge Journalism Awards in Africa for stories that expand knowledge about Africa on Wikipedia.
- ICFJ Partner — Collaborates on the Open the Knowledge Journalism Awards.
- International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) Partner — Collaborates with ICFJ on the Open the Knowledge Journalism Awards in Africa.
- KPMG Government — Audits the Wikimedia Foundation's annual financial statements.
- The Wikipedia Library Partner — Partners with top publishers to connect them with Wikipedia editors, improving access to reliable sources.
- UNESCO Partner — Collaborates with Wikimedia to advance knowledge sharing, as seen in joint initiatives such as the 2023 Wikimedia Movement event in Singapore.
- Wikimedia Commons Network — Hosts and provides files used in Wikimedia Foundation materials.