About Wikimedia Foundation
To empower and engage people around the world to collect and develop educational content under a free license or in the public domain, and to disseminate it effectively and globally.
Focus Areas
open knowledgeeducationtechnology infrastructurecommunity capacity buildingcultural heritageresearch and partnerships
Who They Fund
Wikimedia community members and local chapterslanguage and Indigenous-speaking communitiesjournalists and media professionalswomen and gender-focused arts communitiesspecialist volunteer groups (e.g., WikiProject Medicine)regional user groups (e.g., AfroCrowd)
About Wikimedia Foundation
The Wikimedia Foundation Inc backs the infrastructure and community work that keeps free knowledge expanding, with grants that range from recurring support for movement organizations to targeted awards for language revitalization, journalism, and cultural heritage. Its recent giving includes substantial support for the Wiki Education Foundation, Art+Feminism, Black Lunch Table, and Whose Knowledge, showing a mix of institutional capacity building and project-based grants tied to Wikimedia’s mission. The foundation’s grantmaking also reaches specialized volunteer groups and affiliate organizations. Recent awards supported Wikimedia New York City, Wikimedia DC, Wikitongues, and the Wiki Project Med Foundation, alongside fellowship and partnership-oriented funding such as a legal and research fellowship program at Yale University. Across these grants, the common thread is support for people and organizations producing, improving, and organizing knowledge on Wikimedia projects. A separate part of the portfolio is tied to community-led programming and rapid-response support, with grants for editathons, outreach, events, conferences, and other activities that grow Wikimedia participation. That pattern places the foundation among funders that combine movement support, content quality work, and specialized knowledge communities rather than relying on a single program model.
What Wikimedia Foundation Funds
Language work is a visible theme. The foundation gave $160,665 to Wikitongues Inc for evaluation and planning tied to scaling the Language Revitalization Accelerator, enhancing Indic oral culture on Wikimedia projects, and building the Language Diversity Hub. Cultural heritage and underrepresented histories are another clear focus. Black Lunch Table received $304,850 for a multi-year grant supporting its annual plan for calendar year 2024, and earlier awards to the same group point to continued investment in history archiving work. The foundation also funds journalism and knowledge equity. It supports the Open the Knowledge Journalism Awards with the International Center for Journalists, including an Africa-focused track that invites African journalists to self-nominate stories expanding knowledge about Africa on Wikipedia. Specialist knowledge improvement appears in medicine as well: Wiki Project Med Foundation received $145,000 to scale its team, tech, reach, and impact.
How Wikimedia Foundation Gives
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$4.4M
Total Assets
$310.8M
Total Revenue
$205.4M
Total Expenses
$189.7M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $52K and $290K, with a median of $123K.
25th Percentile
$52K
Median
$123K
75th Percentile
$290K
Geographic Reach
National11 states funded
About 22% of grants go to recipients in NY.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
JAIME VILLAGOMEZ
Accepts unsolicited proposals
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