File:Fundraising animate 2013 fr.gifWikimedia Canada is financed by the membership fees of its members, and most importantly by donations from users of Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. Once a year, usually from mid-November to early January, Wikimedia Canada, in partnership with the Wikimedia Foundation and other Wikimedia national chapters, launches a major fundraising campaign.
Your donations help ensure the viability of the Wikimedia projects, particularly Wikipedia. With more than 420 million visits every month the need for servers, bandwidth, and maintenance personnel is considerable.
Wikimedia projects are powered by the contributions of millions of volunteers worldwide. Wikimedia Canada supports increasing content on the various Wikimedia projects, both in quantity and in quality:
By supporting projects in communities. Creating content is not only the matter of Wikipedia's editors or its sister projects, it is also supporting projects in the field at editorial or photographic events and in partnerships.
By increasing the number of pictures. What would an encyclopedia be without illustrations? Wikimedia Canada supports volunteer contributors to take pictures of newsworthy events by financing part or all of their travel expenses, and helping them to obtain accreditation.
Pictures taken with the support of Wikimedia Canada are then available in the Wikimedia Commons media repository. Placed under a free licence they serve to illustrate many Wikipedia articles, but they are also freely reusable on your website, your presentation or on your article in the news.
By providing the "sleeping content". Libraries, schools and local authorities possess works, books or other content that, for financial or practical reasons, are not available online, or not even available at all. Wikimedia Canada can help to finance their digitization, and share them on the appropriate Wikimedia project (Wikimedia Commons, Wikibooks, Wikisource, etc..).
Using all possible means. In general, and in strict accordance with copyright, Wikimedia Canada works to convince and help any custodian of works to disseminate a digitized version under a free licence on one of the Wikimedia projects.
By giving to Wikimedia Canada you support its educational mission of free and freely accessible content. You also contribute to multiple projects that create, develop and distribute quality content freely reusable by everyone. You promote the development and publication of content not only in the official languages of Canada, but also in First Nations languages and the languages of Canada's immigrant experience.
Join Wikimedia Canada to show your active support for free knowledge, notably for Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. Give Wikimedia Canada more weight in its relations with international partners. Participate in the events and meetings organized by the association, including its general meetings, where your voice helps define the direction of the association. The association can also support you in your projects (e.g. by accrediting your photo projects).
