SAN FRANCISCO, June 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist, announced today he has donated $1 million to the Wikimedia Endowment. Newmark's gift, made as part of his online initiative craigconnects, is the largest donation yet to the endowment fund which was announced earlier this year as a permanent source of funding for Wikipedia and its sister projects.
"Wikipedia is where facts go to live," said Newmark. "And everybody can access it for free. That's really important."
Newmark — whose craigconnects initiative champions accuracy and transparency in media — also noted the Wikipedia model requires verifiable sources and allows for misinformation to be corrected quickly and easily. "Access to reliable, timely information is a requirement for informed communities. Unfortunately, information online can be biased, incomplete, or false, even information as reported by the news media. With today's vast amount of information of varying reliability, the world needs Wikipedia more than ever."
"Craig has been a long time supporter of the Wikimedia Foundation, and was one of the first to pledge his support to the Wikimedia Endowment. His commitment to Wikimedia's vision to share free knowledge with everyone everywhere is inspiring. His gift today will help ensure that Wikipedia and the other Wikimedia projects continue to bring free knowledge to the world for many years to come," said Jimmy Wales, cofounder of Wikipedia.
The Wikimedia Foundation's goal is to raise $100 million over the next 10 years, to aid in further empowering people around the world to create and contribute free knowledge, and to make that knowledge accessible to every person on the planet.
Additionally, Newmark has pledged an additional $100,000 to support Wikipedia's efforts to enhance the diversity of its community of contributors. "Wikipedia is unique in its timely presentation of the facts based on many different sources and voices," he said. "That can only be enhanced by increasing the diversity of its contributors."
The Wikimedia Foundation is the non-profit organization that supports and operates Wikipedia and its sister projects. Based in San Francisco, California, the Wikimedia Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charity that is funded primarily through donations and grants.
Craigconnects is Newmark's personal online initiative to promote civic engagement and philanthropy through technology.
For more information on the Wikimedia Endowment visit the website.
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