I got a lot of funny looks ten years ago when I started talking to people about Wikipedia.

Let’s just say some people were skeptical of the notion that volunteers from all across the world could come together to create a remarkable pool of human knowledge – all for the simple purpose of sharing.

No ads. No agenda. No strings attached.

A decade after its founding, nearly 400 million people use Wikipedia and its sister sites every month - almost a third of the Internet-connected world.

It is the 5th most popular website in the world - but Wikipedia isn’t anything like a commercial website. It is a community creation, written by volunteers making one entry at a time. You are part of our community. And I’m writing today to ask you to protect and sustain Wikipedia.

Together, we can keep it free of charge and free of advertising. We can keep it open – you can use the information in Wikipedia any way you want. We can keep it growing – spreading knowledge everywhere, and inviting participation from everyone.

Each year at this time, we reach out to ask you and others all across the Wikimedia community to help sustain our joint enterprise with a modest donation of $20, $35, $50 or more.

If you value Wikipedia as a source of information – and a source of inspiration – I hope you’ll choose to act right now.

All the best,

Jimmy Wales

Founder, Wikipedia
P.S. Wikipedia is about the power of people like us to do extraordinary things. People like us write Wikipedia, one word at a time. People like us fund it, one donation at a time. It's proof of our collective potential to change the world.

十年前，当我向人们谈起维基百科时，很多人用异样的眼神看着我。

不得不说，部分行业一直怀疑，来自世界各地的志愿者能够聚集在一起，共同创建一个人类知识的海洋 - 仅仅是为了单纯的分享。

没有广告，没有利润，没有议程。

在它成立十年后，每个月有超过3.8亿人使用维基百科，这几乎是整个互联网网民人数的三分之一。

它是全球第五大网站，其他四个是通过亿万美金的投资、庞大公司员工和不断的市场营销来建成与维护的。

但是，维基百科不同于任何一个商业网站。它是社群的创造，是志愿者们一条一条积累写成的。你是我们社群的一员，因此今天我向你写信，请求你保护维基百科，让它能够维持下去。

通过共同的努力，我们能让它保持免费和没有广告，我们能让它保持开放——你可以依你所愿使用维基百科中的信息。我们能让它持续成长——广布知识，广纳贤才。

每逢此刻，我们都会向你和维基社群的其他人求助，通过如$20、$35、$50或者更多的小额捐助，帮助维持我们共同的事业。

如果你视维基百科为信息的来源和灵感的源泉，我希望你会选择立刻行动。

祝

万事如意

维基百科创始人，吉米·威尔士
又及：维基百科展示了我们这样的人成就大事的力量。是我们这样的人，一字一句地写着维基百科；也是我们这样的人，一分一厘地资助着维基百科。这是我们的集体潜能可以改变世界的明证。