Wikipedia Shuns Professional Fund-Raising Advice and Unleashes the Power of Its Volunteers

Wikipedia has finally started running its fund-raising appeal much the same way it compiles its online encyclopedia, relying mostly on volunteers and getting professionals out of the way.

The Wikimedia Foundation, which raises money for the popular online encyclopedia and related projects, has an ambitious goal for its year-end online fund-raising campaign. Despite tough economic times, it hopes to double what it raised last year and bring in $16-million in November and December—mostly in small gifts of about $30—from among nearly 400 million monthly readers of the online encyclopedia.

Instead of hiring a fund-raising consultant to call the shots, as it has in the past, this year’s appeal has involved about 900 individuals from around the world who edit and use the site, which now includes some 17 million entries in more than 270 languages compiled by volunteer editors.

To come up with this year’s campaign, volunteers participated in online planning sessions over the past five months. They submitted and tested online banners and tinkered with donation amounts and other campaign messages in weekly, then daily, sessions. Campaign communications that got the best test results are being used until year’s end.

“Group collaboration is the future of fund raising,” says Philippe Beaudette, a former volunteer who is now a Wikimedia Foundation staff member overseeing the campaign.

“Organizations are going to have to work harder for donor dollars, and the ones that will be successful will be the ones that do not involve professional fund raisers,” Mr. Beaudette says. “Professional fund raisers are sometimes limited by history and afraid to think outside the box. It is going to take new, creative ideas, and the best way to get that is to have a huge number of people thinking.”

The volunteer planners have challenged Mr. Beaudette and others at Wikimedia to think in new ways. For example, Wikimedia officials assumed that a message from Jimmy Wales, the founder of the organization, would do better than a solicitation from another spokesman. But, says Mr. Beaudette, “we tested another banner from a young woman in Jakarta, Indonesia, and her banner did almost as well. She had one memorable line, ‘If you have knowledge, you must share it,’” which proved to be compelling.

Volunteers have also been essential in making sure campaign messages are relevant in dozens of countries where the encyclopedia has avid readers.

“I wouldn’t know how to ask for money in Zimbabwe, but now I know where to find the volunteers who can ask for money in Zimbabwe,” he says. “The cultural influence and diversity that have come together to support this fund raiser are overwhelming. There is no question in my mind that we are better off together than alone.”

Despite the seemingly unwieldy number of participants, many of whom had conflicting ideas, Mr. Beaudette says, planning for the campaign was smooth, largely because the foundation set out clear rules for participation from the start, and everyone knew that the fund-raising drive would adopt the ideas that did the best in testing.

Even in its first days, the campaign was outpacing last year’s. In just four days, it raised close to $2-million, a total that took 29 days to achieve last year.