The Wikimedia Endowment is a permanent fund designed to generate income in perpetuity for the Wikimedia projects, safeguarding their future for generations to come. Since 2023, the Endowment has operated as a standalone nonprofit, working independently from the Wikimedia Foundation but toward the same free knowledge mission. As its own 501(c)(3), the Endowment now issues its own annual financial statements. This post highlights key insights from the Endowment’s audited financial statements (“audit report”) for fiscal years 2024 and 2025, covering the period from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025. It provides context behind the numbers and explains what they mean, offering donors and community members a clearer understanding of how the fund is performing and evolving over time.
Key takeaways from the Endowment’s fiscal year 2024-2025 audit report
The Endowment’s 2024-2025 Annual Plan laid out financial goals for the fiscal year. Below are key takeaways from the audit report related to those goals:
- Clean audit opinion: The external auditors, BDO, issued their opinion that the Wikimedia Endowment’s financial statements for fiscal year 2024-2025 are presented fairly and in accordance with U.S. GAAP.
- Donation revenue in line with target; investment revenue higher due to portfolio rebalancing: The total revenue for the fiscal year was $33.1M, of which $11.9M was donations and $21.2M was investment income. Donation income slightly outperformed the Annual Plan revenue target of $10M due to better than expected results in realized planned gifts, though there was a relative underperformance in grassroots giving. Investment income came in significantly higher than the Annual Plan’s $1.6M projection, due to a portfolio rebalancing following the updating and approval of the Endowment’s Investment Policy Statement. In order to align holdings with the target asset allocation outlined in the new policy, the Endowment bought and sold positions. Some of these positions had accumulated significant unrealized gains, and selling them resulted in the realization of these gains. These funds were immediately reinvested as new positions were bought. $17.7M in investment income came primarily from realizing unrealized gains, while $3.5M came from interest and dividends, net of investment management fees, earned from the Endowment’s diversified investment portfolio.
- Funding to support Wikimedia projects made up the majority of expenses: During FY 2024-2025, movement funding increased 18% to $3.4 million. This funding supported five key projects aligned with the Endowment’s long-term mandate to support technical innovation on the Wikimedia projects: $1.0M for improved tooling for editor workflows, as well as other developments like improved reader navigation, using machine learning, $1.0M for Wikidata, $950K for Abstract Wikipedia, $150K for Wikimedia Commons, and $297K for Kiwix. These investments help ensure Wikimedia projects can grow and evolve, continuing to serve people around the world even in a rapidly evolving technology landscape. For more information on the impact of Endowment funding, see the annual reports.
- Strong financial position: the Endowment’s net assets grew $25.1M from $144.3M as of June 2024 to $169.4M as of June 2025. Our net asset balance is made up primarily of endowment investments of $169.7M, which will allow the Endowment to sustain its mission as a permanent fund that can support in perpetuity the operations and activities of current and future Wikimedia projects. Other balance sheet items include $410K in contributions receivable and $702K in accrued expenses.
- Changes in auditor and in asset classification. To better set up the Endowment for future operations, the Board opted to make two changes.
- Change in auditor: As the Endowment has continued to grow, the Board felt it would be best to select an auditor that specializes more specifically in endowment operations and nonprofit organizations. The Board thoroughly reviewed multiple auditors specializing in nonprofits, looking at past work, ethics compliance, professional standards, and reasonable pricing. They selected BDO as the Endowment’s new independent auditor.
- Change in classification to donor-restricted endowment: The Board reviewed the Endowment’s operations and mission, and determined that classifying the Endowment as donor-restricted better reflects how it has always operated in practice. The Endowment’s purpose is to support the operations and activities of the Wikimedia projects in perpetuity – it is a fund for which the principal is not intended to be spent, but is instead used to generate income which can then be invested in the Wikimedia projects far into the future. Since its inception, the Endowment has operated in this way, applying a formal spending policy that focuses on generating long-term investment returns. This means it has operated in practice as a donor-restricted fund. To bring the Endowment’s classification in line with how it operates, certain balances and activities were reclassified from “without donor restrictions” to “with donor restrictions” and cash balances were reclassified as part of endowment investments. This reclassification is a presentation change only and does not affect total net assets, financial performance, cash flows, or the Endowment’s operations or spending practices, including granting up to 4% of the Endowment’s value to support Wikimedia projects each year.
You can read the full audit report, review the frequently asked questions on Meta-Wiki, or ask any additional questions on the FAQ talk page.
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