To all our readers in the U.S.,

We will get straight to the point: This Tuesday we ask you to protect Wikipedia’s independence. Time is running out in 2017 to help us. To maintain our independence, we will never run ads. We depend on donations averaging about $15. Only a tiny portion of our readers give.

If everyone reading this donated $3, we could keep Wikipedia thriving for years to come. The price of a coffee is all we need. It’s a little awkward to be asking this on a Tuesday as I’m sure you are busy and I don’t want to interrupt you. But there’s never an easy time to remind people that giving to Wikipedia not only supports a service you frequently use, but it helps keep a neutral internet alive and thriving.

I can’t afford to feel embarrassed, asking you to make a donation—just like you should never feel embarrassed when you have to ask Wikipedia for information. We do it in the pursuit of open knowledge that’s always ad-free, never tracks your data, and is never sold off to corporate big-wigs. That’s nothing to be embarrassed about, if you ask me.

When I made Wikipedia a non-profit, people warned me I’d regret it. Over a decade later, it’s the only top ten site run by a non-profit and a community of volunteers. The heart and soul of Wikipedia is a community of people working passionately to bring you unlimited access to reliable, neutral information.

We’re not salespeople. We’re librarians, archivists, and information junkies. We rely on our readers to become our donors, and it’s worked for fifteen years.

Please help keep Wikipedia online and growing. Thank you.

Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia Founder