Duncan Riley reported yesterday that the Wikimedia Foundation is insolvent.  The Chairwoman of the foundation that runs Wikipedia indicated that the organization would run out of money in three to four months.  Of course her goal is to get you to donate money to her foundation, but I think it might be time to rethink how the Wikipedia is funded and controlled.

The current stewards are obviously failing.  The fact that Ms. Devouard has run this asset to the brink of insolvency is almost unbelievable.  The property is worth hundreds of millions of dollars and yet her team cannot think of a better way to fund the website than begging Lift07 conference attendees for more money.

I propose that the foundation publish its financial situation publicly and then build an all-star board to help turn this ship around.  I am certain that together we can come up with a neutral, non-commercial model that will ensure the survival of Wikipedia forever.  Duncan suggests, “I smell a begging bluff on this one…”  I suspect so, but I think it might be time to stabilize my favorite property on the web.