The San Francisco-based Wikimedia Foundation has announced that it raised more than $16 million to support Wikipedia and its sister projects in the 2010-11 fiscal year.

During the final fifty days of 2010, the organization received more than 500,000 gifts from people in nearly 140 countries, more than doubling the number of its donors. The organization's annual campaign to keep the site ad-free raised an average of $22 per donor. The funds will enable the organization to pay for technology to keep the Wikimedia sites running around the world, as well as programs that encourage more people to participate and contribute as volunteers.

"This outpouring of support by hundreds of thousands of ordinary people from all walks of life is a testament to the spirit of the Wikimedia movement," said Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales. "Wikipedia is a public resource created and maintained by hundreds of thousands of volunteers, relied on by over four hundred million people and paid for by half a million donors. It's truly user-created, supported, and maintained."