Wikimedia Foundation INC

Tax-deductible

San Francisco, CA501(c)(3)Since 2003EducationEIN 20-0049703

The mission of the wikimedia foundation is 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. (see schedule o)in coordination with a network of individual volunteers and our independent movement organizations, including recognized chapters, thematic organizations, user groups, and partners, the foundation provides the essential infrastructure and an organizational framework for the support and development of multilingual wiki projects and other endeavors which serve this mission. The foundation will make and keep useful information from its projects available on the internet free of charge.

501(c)(3) charity; gifts are tax-deductible.
77¢ of each $1 spent went to programs.
Run by 265,188 volunteers and 394 employees.
Mission: Form 990 Part I, line 1 · Status: IRS Pub. 78 · Programs: Part IX · People: Part I, lines 5–6

Before you give

FY2024 · Form 990Independent: from IRS data, not the org
Download 990
IRS status
501(c)(3)
not on the IRS revocation list
Looks good: listed by the IRS and not on the revocation list.
IRS BMF · Auto-Revocation List
Tax-deductible gifts
Yes
Donations are tax-deductible
Looks good: the IRS lists gifts to it as deductible.
IRS Pub. 78 · IRS BMF
Latest return
FY2024
latest Form 990
Looks good: the latest return is for FY2024, 2 tax years back; within 2 tax years.
IRS e-file · Filing history
Surplus or deficit
5 of 5
filings with a surplus
Average surplus $20.1M a year · 12% of revenue · last 5 filings
Looks good: a surplus in 5 of the last 5 filings.
Pt I · Ln 19 · 5 filings
Spent on programs
77%
of spending
Looks good: 77% of spending went to programs; 75% or more.
Pt IX · Ln 25 · col B
Pay to officers and key staff
$4.5M
to officers and key staff · 2% of spending
Top officer’s pay lower than 57% of similar orgs
Looks good: pay to officers and key staff is 2% of spending; 15% or less.
Pt VII · Sec A
Cash reserves
5 mo
of spending, in cash
Looks good: 4.6 months of spending in cash; 3 or more.
Pt X · Ln 1–2 · Pt I · Ln 18
Named funders
42
named funders · $117K
Looks good: 42 funders name it on their filings; 3 or more.
Funders’ Sch. I, 990-PF
Liabilities
$14.2M
5% of total assets
Looks good: liabilities are 5% of assets; 50% or less.
Pt X · Ln 26
Independent board members
12
of 12 voting members
Looks good: 12 of 12 voting members are independent, a majority.
Pt VI · Ln 1a–1b
Looks goodFineWorth a lookConcernNo data yetTap a box for the reason.
Revenue
$205.4M
+11% vs prior year
Spent
$189.7M
To programs
77%
Net assets
$296.6M
By yearFY2020–FY2024
Revenue
$205.4M
FY2024▲ +11%
Revenue by fiscal year
FY2020$124.6M
FY2021$159.0M
FY2022$167.9M
FY2023$180.2M
FY2024$185.4M
FY2024$205.4M
Expenses
$189.7M
FY2024▲ +6%
Expenses by fiscal year
FY2020$112.2M
FY2021$111.7M
FY2022$145.8M
FY2023$168.3M
FY2024$178.6M
FY2024$189.7M
Net assets
$296.6M
FY2024▲ +9%
Net assets by fiscal year
FY2020$180.3M
FY2021$231.2M
FY2022$239.4M
FY2023$255.0M
FY2024$271.6M
FY2024$296.6M

From the FY2024 Form 990 · figures checked against the IRS filing · see the original

Give Claim

Is it real?

Yes. Never revoked by the IRS. Latest filing on record: FY2024. IRS ruling in Mar 2005.

IRS Pub. 78 · IRS Auto-Revocation List · IRS Business Master File

Where the money goes

77 cents of each dollar spent went to programs.

Program services 77% · $146.3M Management & general 11% · $21.6M Fundraising 11% · $21.8M

Form 990 Part IX, line 25, columns B–D. Every line is in By the numbers.

Who runs it and what they're paid

26 people listed on the 990; $4.5M paid to officers and key staff.

Part VII, Section A · reportable compensation
Chief Executive Officer
$530,923Pt VII · Sec A
Chief Prod & Tech Officer
$475,965Pt VII · Sec A
CFO & Treasurer
$416,641Pt VII · Sec A
Chief Adv Officer
$410,807Pt VII · Sec A
Chief People Officer
$401,190Pt VII · Sec A
Gen Counsel & Secretary
$376,705Pt VII · Sec A
Chief Communications Officer
$351,306Pt VII · Sec A
VP of Data Science & Engineering
$341,090Pt VII · Sec A

Maryana Iskander’s $531K as Chief Executive Officer is at the 43rd percentile of top reported officer pay among 674 $100M+ education nonprofits. Peer set: organizations in the same NTEE major field of work and revenue-size band, compared on each org’s own highest-paid officer/key-employee, from Form 990 Part VII / 990-PF Part VIII. Descriptive placement, not a verdict on whether the pay is appropriate.

Compensation history total reportable pay by year · 8 named individuals · Part VII

NameFY2024FY2024FY2023FY2022FY2021FY2020
Katherine Maher———$789,495$406,339—
Maryana Iskander$530,923$472,629$512,179———
Janeen Uzzell———$503,844$314,718—
Selena Deckelmann$475,965$437,941$173,623———
Jaime Villagomez$416,641$391,202$374,813$386,433$308,943—
Lisa Seitz$410,807$387,568$364,257$368,301$281,713—
Courtney Bass Sherizen$401,190—————
Amanda Keton—$383,048$376,362$396,514$315,364—

Total reportable compensation (Form 990 Part VII column D / Schedule J column E) by filing year, matched by name within this organization. The Schedule J base / bonus / deferred breakdown is not parsed into this dataset.

See Wikimedia Foundation INC executive salaries →

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Questions the 990 asks

The form asks each of these directly. These are the filed answers.

  • Family or business ties among officersPt VI · Ln 2No
  • Top official's pay set by an independent reviewPt VI · Ln 15aYes

Programs and updates

Supports Wikipedia and its sister projects by providing grants, resources, and volunteer support to help the world share free knowledge.

Provided by the organization

This section is blank until Wikimedia Foundation INC claims this page.

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2 program services account for $146.3M of program spending, described in the organization's own filed words · FY2024.
01

Technology

Our core functions include support for the technology that makes wikipedia and other wikimedia projects possible, which together is one of the world's most popular web platforms, and the world's largest collaborative free knowledge project.

$85.8Mprogram expense
02

Support for Volunteers

The wikimedia foundation support for volunteers focuses on sustaining and growing the wikimedia projects and contributor communities around the world. Grantmaking provides funding to wikimedia affiliate organizations, as well as other mission-aligned organizations and individuals for programmatic work that advances wikimedia's free…

$60.4Mprogram expense

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Funders

Who pays for it.

From grant filings on record. Receipts are incomplete: individual donors are never listed.

Grants

Schedule I · received and paid
Grants received · FY2025
See all 42 funders →
Grants paid · 110 grants · $37.6M · 2019–2024
Wikimedia EndowmentCA · FY2024$1,490,207
Wiki Education FoundationCA · FY2024$500,000
Artfeminism INCMD · FY2024$404,689
Wikimedia New York CityNY · FY2024$305,340
Black Lunch Table FnpIL · FY2024$289,000
Whose Knowledge Question MarkCA · FY2024$216,300
Wikitongues INCNY · FY2024$170,913
Writing Downtown INCNV · FY2024$163,100
Internews NetworkCA · FY2024$150,000
Fractured Atlas INCNY · FY2024$150,000
Hacks HackersDC · FY2024$55,250
Cornell UniversityNY · FY2024$52,500
WikijournalMN · FY2024$14,867
See all 110 grants →

By the numbers

The FY2024 990, line by line.

1The main four
Money inPt VIII
$205.4M
Ln 12
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$187.6M
Other incomeLn 4–11$10.6M
Investment incomeLn 3$7.2M
Money outPt IX
$189.7M
Ln 25
Programscol B$146.3M
Managementcol C$21.6M
Fundraisingcol D$21.8M
Owns and owesPt X
$296.6M
net assets · Ln 32
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$72.5M
Total assetsLn 16$310.8M
LiabilitiesLn 26$14.2M
PeoplePt VI, VII
26
listed · VII A
PaidVII A12
Voting boardVI 1a12
IndependentVI 1b12
2In more detail
Revenue in detailPt VIII
Gifts and grantsLn 1h$187.6M
Noncash giftsLn 1g$148K
Fundraising eventsLn 1c$639K
Investment incomeLn 3$7.2M
Other incomeLn 4–11$10.6M
Gains on assetsLn 7−$1.3M
Total revenueLn 12$205.4M
Assets in detailPt X, end of year
CashLn 1$31.6M
SavingsLn 2$41.0M
Cash and savings togetherLn 1–2$72.5M
InvestmentsLn 11–13$213.3M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$11.8M
Other assetsLn 15$5.9M
Total assetsLn 16$310.8M
LiabilitiesLn 26$14.2M
Net assetsLn 32$296.6M
OperationsPt I, VI
EmployeesI 5394
VolunteersI 6265,188
Fiscal year endsHeaderDecember
Conflict-of-interest policyVI 12aYes
Whistleblower policyVI 13Yes
Records policyVI 14Yes
3Year over year
Balance sheet, start vs end of yearPt X · col A, B
LineStart FY24End FY24
Cash and savingsLn 1–2$84.3M$72.5M
InvestmentsLn 11–13$183.4M$213.3M
Land, buildings, equipmentLn 10c$9.8M$11.8M
Total assetsLn 16$286.8M$310.8M
LiabilitiesLn 26$15.2M$14.2M
Net assetsLn 32$271.6M$296.6M
4Every line
Statement of functional expensesPt IX · every line
LineTotalProgramsManagementFundraising
Grants to domestic organizationsLn 1$4.5M$4.5M
Grants to domestic individualsLn 2$136K$136K
Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsLn 3$24.4M$24.4M
Pay of current officers, directors and key staffLn 5$5.2M$3.2M$1.8M$247K
Other salaries and wagesLn 7$84.1M$66.3M$10.3M$7.4M
Pension plan contributionsLn 8$1.8M$1.4M$239K$172K
Other employee benefitsLn 9$13.5M$10.6M$1.6M$1.3M
Payroll taxesLn 10$4.4M$3.1M$836K$424K
Legal feesLn 11b$4.2M$4.1M$89K$29K
Accounting feesLn 11c$152K$152K
Lobbying feesLn 11d$174K$174K
Professional fundraising feesLn 11e$343K$343K
Investment management feesLn 11f$301K$301K
Other fees for servicesLn 11g$13.1M$10.6M$1.0M$1.6M
Advertising and promotionLn 12$54K$31K$13K$10K
Office expensesLn 13$1.3M$216K$347K$711K
Information technologyLn 14$7.0M$5.3M$1.6M$57K
OccupancyLn 16$133K$133K
TravelLn 17$5.3M$4.2M$610K$498K
Conferences, conventions and meetingsLn 19$1.2M$1.1M$23K$5K
Depreciation, depletion and amortizationLn 22$4.6M$3.9M$649K
InsuranceLn 23$447K$447K
Other expenses (24a–d)Ln 24$13.6M$3.0M$1.5M$9.0M
Total functional expensesLn 25$189.7M$146.3M$21.6M$21.8M

Filing history

YearMoney inMoney outIn minus outNet assetsDownload
FY2024 $185.4M$178.6M$6.8M$271.6M 990 PDF
FY2023 $180.2M$168.3M$11.9M$255.0M 990 PDF
FY2022 $167.9M$145.8M$22.1M$239.4M 990 PDF
FY2021 $159.0M$111.7M$47.3M$231.2M 990 PDF
FY2020 $124.6M$112.2M$12.5M$180.3M 990 PDF

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Schedules filed Part IV

III · Programs I · Grants R · Related orgs G · Fundraising L · Interested persons A · Public support F · Foreign M · Noncash
See the full FY2024 990 (4 parts)
Part VIII · Statement of revenue $205,389,744 across 10 lines filed
Lines not itemized here account for $192,965 of total revenue; see the IRS return.
VIII-1c Fundraising events$639,375
VIII-1f All other contributions, gifts and grants$186,934,441
VIII-1g Noncash contributions (included above)$148,445
VIII-1h Total contributions, gifts and grants$187,573,816
VIII-3 Investment incomeExcluded from tax $8,477,454$8,477,454
VIII-5 RoyaltiesExcluded from tax $8,267,917$8,267,917
VIII-7 Net gain or loss on sales of assetsExcluded from tax −$1,282,877−$1,282,877
VIII-8 Net income from fundraising events$0
VIII-11a-d Other revenue, itemized rows (sum of 11a–11d as filed)Unrelated business $30,000 · Excluded from tax $2,130,469$2,160,469
VIII-12 Total revenueRelated to mission $0 · Unrelated business $222,965 · Excluded from tax $17,592,963$205,389,744
Part IX · Statement of functional expenses $189,748,442 across 23 lines filed
IX-1 Grants to domestic organizationsPrograms $4,516,868$4,516,868
IX-2 Grants to domestic individualsPrograms $136,379$136,379
IX-3 Grants and assistance to foreign recipientsPrograms $24,368,329$24,368,329
IX-5 Pay of current officers, directors and key staffPrograms $3,229,852 · Management $1,760,943 · Fundraising $247,471$5,238,266
IX-7 Other salaries and wagesPrograms $66,315,368 · Management $10,307,013 · Fundraising $7,428,332$84,050,713
IX-8 Pension plan contributionsPrograms $1,394,844 · Management $238,664 · Fundraising $171,900$1,805,408
IX-9 Other employee benefitsPrograms $10,590,366 · Management $1,572,988 · Fundraising $1,289,788$13,453,142
IX-10 Payroll taxesPrograms $3,112,604 · Management $836,400 · Fundraising $424,260$4,373,264
IX-11b Legal feesPrograms $4,065,005 · Management $88,531 · Fundraising $29,405$4,182,941
IX-11c Accounting feesManagement $151,778$151,778
IX-11d Lobbying feesPrograms $174,297$174,297
IX-11e Professional fundraising feesFundraising $343,373$343,373
IX-11f Investment management feesManagement $301,296$301,296
IX-11g Other fees for servicesPrograms $10,550,727 · Management $1,037,521 · Fundraising $1,559,989$13,148,237
IX-12 Advertising and promotionPrograms $30,544 · Management $12,703 · Fundraising $10,358$53,605
IX-13 Office expensesPrograms $215,780 · Management $347,105 · Fundraising $710,552$1,273,437
IX-14 Information technologyPrograms $5,338,971 · Management $1,601,370 · Fundraising $57,234$6,997,575
IX-16 OccupancyManagement $133,414$133,414
IX-17 TravelPrograms $4,183,503 · Management $609,921 · Fundraising $498,187$5,291,611
IX-19 Conferences, conventions and meetingsPrograms $1,125,693 · Management $22,880 · Fundraising $4,963$1,153,536
IX-22 Depreciation, depletion and amortizationPrograms $3,944,259 · Management $648,509$4,592,768
IX-23 InsuranceManagement $447,396$447,396
IX-24 Other expenses (24a–d)Programs $2,989,645 · Management $1,526,600 · Fundraising $9,044,564$13,560,809
IX-25 Total functional expensesPrograms $146,283,034 · Management $21,645,032 · Fundraising $21,820,376$189,748,442
Part X · Balance sheet $310,794,417 assets, 18 lines filed
X-1 Cash, non-interest-bearingStart of year $33,033,321$31,556,016
X-2 Savings and temporary cash investmentsStart of year $51,240,381$40,976,037
X-3 Pledges and grants receivableStart of year $1,571,657$1,549,588
X-8 Inventories for sale or useStart of year $286,784$265,439
X-9 Prepaid expenses and deferred chargesStart of year $2,512,968$3,557,710
X-10c Land, buildings and equipment, netStart of year $9,838,638$11,786,864
X-11 Publicly traded securitiesStart of year $183,365,987$213,347,452
X-14 Intangible assetsStart of year $1,987,498$1,826,610
X-15 Other assetsStart of year $2,922,704$5,928,701
X-16 Total assetsStart of year $286,759,938$310,794,417
X-17 Accounts payable and accrued expensesStart of year $11,969,140$11,961,552
X-19 Deferred revenueStart of year $2,128,750$1,298,333
X-25 Other liabilitiesStart of year $1,106,658$984,502
X-26 Total liabilitiesStart of year $15,204,548$14,244,387
X-27 Net assets without donor restrictionsStart of year $265,859,067$292,735,030
X-28 Net assets with donor restrictionsStart of year $5,696,323$3,815,000
X-32 Total net assets or fund balancesStart of year $271,555,390$296,550,030
X-33 Total liabilities and net assetsStart of year $286,759,938$310,794,417
Part XI · Reconciliation of net assets $296,550,030 net assets at year end
XI-1 Total revenue$205,389,744
XI-2 Total expenses$189,748,442
XI-3 Revenue less expenses$15,641,302
XI-4 Net assets at start of year$271,555,390
XI-5 Net unrealized gains (losses) on investments$9,069,199
XI-9 Other changes in net assets$284,139
XI-10 Net assets at end of year$296,550,030

Form 990 e-file (XML) FY2024 from the IRS · Classification, formation year and address from the IRS Business Master File

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