The Wikimedia Foundation's three-week fundraiser began on Saturday, its first public fund drive in nearly a year. The Foundation hopes to exceed its record total from the previous fundraiser, held last year around the same time (a goal of US$1,500,000 was discussed in connection with possible matching donations, but the Board of Trustees decided not to set a formal goal). As of press time, over $83,000 had been raised.

The drive is the first to include matching gifts from participating corporations; the matching gift program has not yet begun, but reports indicate that it may begin on Wednesday. The Foundation is still soliciting corporations to participate in the program for this fundraising drive, and potentially, future drives; if you know a corporation who would be interested in participating in such a program, please contact Danny.

The drive also is the first to incorporate the new contribution system, Wikimedia Fundraising C.O.R.E. (Central Online Reporting Engine). The site provides real-time donation data, with optional comments from donors. It also allows for the easy statistical breakdown of data. During the first three days of the drive, for example, 58.4% of the money donated in the drive was made in American dollars, while 23.8% was made in Euros, and 7.2% was made in British pounds.