Wikimedia Endowment reports/Financial/Form 990/2024-2025 - frequently asked questions

Executive Summary

The Wikimedia Endowment (the Endowment) began operations as a standalone tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization on September 30, 2023, with the mission to act as a permanent fund that can support in perpetuity the operations and activities of current and future Wikimedia projects.

The Endowment filed its second Form 990 with the IRS in May 2026, for fiscal year (FY) 2024-2025, which covers the period July 2024 - June 2025. The completed form is available on our website. We also published a Diff post to announce and summarize key takeaways from this year’s form.

The Form 990 is the annual informational document required by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for non-profit organizations in the United States. Every year, the Endowment completes an audit report for the previous fiscal year, and then uses that data to complete the Form 990, which is submitted to the IRS by May 15.

The Form 990 contains financials from the FY 2024-2025 Audit Report, along with information about governance, policies, and programs. The vast majority of the financial information contained in this Form 990 is a reiteration of information previously disclosed in our FY 2024-2025 Audit Report.

The Form 990 is made up of two sections: a “core form”, which includes a snapshot of financial, programming, and governance information, and additional “schedules”, which dive deeper into specific topics. The summaries from each of those sections are explained below.

The “Core Form”

The “core form” lists the Endowment’s revenue, expenses, and net assets, all of which are based in large part on the FY 2024-2025 audit report and related FAQs. The Core Form also contains a section about governance and other related topics.

Revenue (Part VIII)

During FY 2024-2025, the Endowment’s total revenue as reported in the Form 990 was $33.3M, made up of $11.9M in donations and $21.5M in investment income.

Note that in the prior FY 2023-2024, the Endowment’s total revenue as reported in the Form 990 was $132M. However, the vast majority of this revenue came from the transfer of $116.2M to the Endowment fund from the Tides Foundation, which housed the Endowment from 2016 to 2023. This was a one-time transfer to establish the Endowment as its own standalone 501(c)(3) organization.

Expenses (Part IX)

The Endowment’s expenses totaled $5.6M, made up of $3.4M in awards and $2.2M in other costs - primarily paid to the Wikimedia Foundation for fundraising and general and administrative support services provided to the Endowment through a cost-sharing agreement.

Net Assets (Part X)

Net assets are the value of assets (cash and investments) minus liabilities. At the end of FY 2024, net assets totaled $169.4M, made up primarily of cash of $19.5M and investments of $150M, net of accrued expenses of $702K. The Wikimedia Endowment’s investment policy also offers further information about our stewardship practices and management of reserves.

Governance and Related Topics (Part VI)

The other major section of the “core form” in the Form 990 covers topics related to the Wikimedia Endowment’s governance, policies, and disclosure practices. In the Form 990, the Wikimedia Endowment verifies that we follow a number of best practices (e.g., ensuring that officers and the Board of Directors do not have family or business relationships with one another, that the Endowment did not discover a major diversion of assets (which may indicate theft or fraud), that the Endowment has written policies such as a document retention and destruction policy, etc.).

Additional “Schedules”

The Wikimedia Endowment also completes various “schedules” on topics such as our public charity status, lobbying activities, and supplemental financial information.

Schedule A verifies the Wikimedia Endowment’s public charity status. Schedule B lists donor information for any donors that contributed 2% or more of the overall contributions/donations during the fiscal year.

Schedule D reports supplemental financial statement information, including a reconciliation of revenue and expenses per our audited financial statements versus revenue and expenses per the Form 990, as well as additional information on endowment funds.

Schedules F and I list regional data about our grantmaking inside and outside the United States. In FY 2024-2025, the Endowment spent $297K in funding for organizations outside of the United States for funding to Kiwix, and $3.1M in funding for organizations and individuals within the United States for funding to the Wikimedia Foundation to support Wikimedia projects.

Schedule M reports noncash donations, including stock donations received by the Endowment.

More information on the Form 990, including a full list of the additional “schedules”, can be found in the FAQ.

FAQs: General topics

What is a Form 990 and what is its purpose?

The Form 990 is the annual informational document required by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for non-profit organizations in the United States. The purpose of the filing is to provide information to the IRS and the public for evaluation purposes; this is in addition to our public financial reports and our annual audit performed by BDO.

The IRS, Charity Navigator, and other donors read the Form 990 to assess an organization's financial and governance well-being.

What time periods does the Form 990 cover?

This Form 990 is referred to as the 2024 return because the fiscal year period that the return refers to began in 2024. A fiscal year is the 12-month period around which an organization builds its budget plans and reporting. For this year’s Form 990, that covers the time period from 1 July 2024 - 30 June 2025. The financial statements cover a comprehensive range of financial activities during that time period and are meant to give the IRS and the public an overview of the organization’s financial status and conduct.

When did you file the 2024 Form 990, and where can I find it?

The 2024 Form 990 was filed with the IRS on May 15, 2026 and has now been posted on the Wikimedia Endowment website. The IRS reporting will also eventually propagate to other websites such as Charity Navigator.

Who is responsible for filling out the Form 990 for the Wikimedia Endowment?

The Form 990 is the responsibility of the management of the Wikimedia Endowment. BDO provides guidance, helps create the Form 990 in the proper IRS format, and reviews the final product for accuracy and completeness.

What is the process for completing and reviewing the Form 990 for the Wikimedia Endowment?

All accounting and management work supporting the Wikimedia Endowment is performed by employees of the Wikimedia Foundation under a cost-sharing arrangement as the Endowment does not have its own employees.

Wikimedia Foundation accounting and management staff compile and provide the necessary data to BDO, which prepares the initial draft of the Form 990. There may be several draft iterations, which are reviewed internally by Wikimedia Foundation staff, as well as by the Wikimedia Endowment Treasurer and President.

Once a final draft is prepared, it is presented to the Wikimedia Endowment Audit Committee for detailed review. Following Audit Committee approval, the Form 990 is shared with the Wikimedia Endowment Board and then officially filed with the IRS by BDO.

What are the due dates for filing the Form 990?

The Form 990 is due on the 15th of the 5th month following the fiscal year-end, so in our case, November 15 after the June 30 fiscal year end. However, the IRS grants a six-month extension to anyone who requests it, thus moving the Form 990 deadline to May 15.

We requested an extension because the Form 990 includes financial information that is not finalized until the Endowment’s financial audit is finalized, which is typically in November each year. It would be less efficient to try to work on the Form 990 before those numbers are finalized. The Form 990 also has additional information requirements beyond the audited financial statements and requires analysis with BDO.

It is best practice to request the extension from the IRS so that the Endowment can be as efficient as possible with its release of the Form 990 (and other important financial documents) without compromising the accuracy of its contents. This timeline is consistent with the timelines of other comparable organizations.

What are your legal responsibilities for posting the Form 990?

By law, we must submit the full Form 990 to the IRS, and if members of the public request, we must also provide copies for their review for the last three years. As part of the Wikimedia Endowment’s commitment to accountability and transparency, and to make it easy for people to find, we post the Form 990 as a PDF on the Wikimedia Endowment website.

This return is 40 pages long - can you give a quick overview of how it is organized?

The Form 990 consists of the core return form with parts numbered from Part I to Part XII.

• Part I (Summary) provides a snapshot of the core form, including the organization’s mission, activities and current and prior years’ financial results;
• Part II is for the signature of the Wikimedia Endowment officer verifying the accuracy and completeness of the information in the Form 990;
• Part III is a summary of the main program service accomplishments (i.e., what are the main focus areas of our work);
• Part IV includes a checklist to determine which additional schedules need to be completed outside of the core form (see list below for the schedules we are required to complete);
• Part V includes statements regarding other IRS filings and tax compliance (this answers questions related to other tax filings that may be required, for example, federal employment taxes);
• Part VI includes questions/statements regarding governance, management, and disclosure (this explains our governing body and management policies);
• Part VII includes compensation information (note that the Endowment does not have any personnel cost);
• Part VIII includes revenue information (this includes primarily donations and grants, as well as other sources of revenue such as investment income);
• Part IX includes the functional expense statement (i.e., expense details split out by functional categories of programmatic, management & general administration, and fundraising);
• Part X includes balance sheet information (this is a snapshot of our assets, liabilities, and net assets);
• Part XI includes the reconciliation of net assets (i.e., how our net assets changed in the year); and
• Part XII includes the financial statements and reporting method (this explains that we use the accrual method of accounting and that our financials were audited).

Additional schedules that the Wikimedia Endowment completes include:

• Schedule A – Public Charity Status and Public Support (this includes the test to make sure that we are properly considered a 501(c)(3) public charity as opposed to a different type of charity);
• Schedule B - Schedule of Contributors (this is required to be completed if any one donor gave 2% or more of the organization’s overall contributions).
• Schedule D – Supplemental Financial Statements (this includes a reconciliation of revenue and expenses per our audited financial statements versus revenue and expenses per the Form 990, as well as information on endowment funds);
• Schedule F – Statement of Activities Outside the U.S. (this includes operational activities as well as grants or assistance to organizations and/or individuals outside of the United States);
• Schedule I – Grants and Other Assistance to Organizations and Individuals in the United States (this includes detail on funding we gave within the United States and information on our overall process);
• Schedule M – Noncash Contributions (this includes stock donations received by the Endowment); and
• Schedule O – Supplemental Information (this includes information on process and policies and continuation of items that don’t fit completely on the standard form pages such as the full mission statement which is asked for in Part III but does not fit in its entirety in the dedicated space).

When will the Endowment be rated on Charity Navigator?

The Wikimedia Endowment already has a profile on Charity Navigator, but the Endowment won’t be eligible for an overall rating until 2027.

Charity Navigator bases its overall ratings on multiple “beacons”. Charity Navigator’s Accountability & Finance beacon requires an organization to release a 990 for three straight years, and the Wikimedia Endowment just released its second one. We expect to release our third 990 in 2027 - so sometime after then, Charity Navigator would give the Wikimedia Endowment a rating based on that Accountability & Finance beacon.

FAQs: Specific form items

The page numbers used are based on the page numbe of the Form 990 PDF.

Volunteers: On page 1, Part I, Summary, line 6, the total number of volunteers is listed as 14 - where does this number come from?

This is the number of members on the Endowment’s Board of Directors as well as officer positions, as they are volunteer roles. The Endowment’s mission is to support Wikimedia projects. While the Wikimedia Foundation lists over 250,000 volunteers in its 990 to reflect the number of active volunteer contributors to the Wikimedia projects around the world, the Endowment does not specifically have any volunteers of its own other than the Board members.

Investment income: On page 1, what drove the increase in investment income in FY 2024-2025?

Investment income for fiscal year 2024-2025 totaled $21.5M (versus $2.4M in the prior year) and was generated from two primary sources: $3.7M of interest and dividends, net of investment management fees, earned from the Endowment’s diversified investment portfolio, and $17.8M of realized investment gains, primarily resulting from portfolio rebalancing activities during the year.

During the fiscal year, the Endowment Finance Committee updated and formally approved the Endowment’s Investment Policy Statement for the first time since the Endowment became a standalone entity in 2023. The Investment Policy Statement establishes the Endowment’s long-term investment objectives, target asset allocation, and risk management framework, with the goal of supporting sustainable payouts while preserving the Endowment’s purchasing power over time.

As part of implementing this updated investment strategy, the Endowment rebalanced its portfolio to align holdings with the target asset allocation outlined in the policy. This involved increasing our exposure to U.S. Equities while also replacing under-performing and more expensive funds within certain asset classes. Some of the positions that were sold in rebalancing dated back to the Endowment’s early years, and had accumulated significant unrealized gains over time. Selling these positions resulted in the realization of significant gains, which contributed to higher realized investment income during the year.

This rebalancing activity reflects normal portfolio management practices and supports the Endowment’s long-term investment strategy by maintaining diversification, managing risk, and aligning the portfolio with its approved investment objectives. These types of unusual realized gains from trading are not anticipated on a regular basis unless the Endowment materially modifies its investment policy (as it did this year).

Staff & Compensation: On page 1, Part I, Summary, line 5, why is the number of staff employed in the calendar year 2024 shown as zero and why does line 15 show $0 in compensation?

Per IRS requirements, line 5 is required to be the number of individuals that were issued W-2s by the organization in the calendar year 2024. The Endowment does not have any employees of its own and does not directly pay compensation.

Instead, in order to maximize cost efficiency, under a cost-sharing agreement the Wikimedia Foundation provides staffing and operational support to the Endowment, including fundraising and general and administrative services. The Endowment reimburses the Foundation for these services, including a portion of staff costs. As described in the Management Company Disclosure FAQ, this arrangement is reported as a “management company” relationship for Form 990 purposes.

Because the Endowment does not directly employ staff or issue W-2s, it reports zero employees and zero compensation on these lines. Instead these costs are reported as “fees for services - management”, line 11a, in the statement of functional expenses on page 10.

Endowment Reporting: On page 3 Part IV, Line 10, why did the Endowment answer “Yes” to holding donor-restricted endowment assets?

Part IV, Line 10 asks whether the organization holds assets in donor-restricted endowments or quasi-endowments. The Endowment answered “Yes” because its assets are held and managed as a donor-restricted endowment. This reflects the intent of donors that contributions be maintained and invested over the long term, with distributions made in accordance with an established spending policy to support Wikimedia’s mission in perpetuity.

The Endowment was reclassified as a donor-restricted endowment during the 2024-2025 fiscal year to bring its classification in line with how the fund has always operated in practice. This reclassification was 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.

As a result of the reclassification, the Endowment is required to complete Schedule D, Part V, which provides a high-level summary of endowment activity, including contributions, investment returns, and appropriations.

Management Company Disclosure: On page 6, Part VI, Line 3, why does the Form 990 indicate that the Endowment uses a management company, and what does this mean?

The Endowment has answered “Yes” to Part VI, Line 3 to reflect its operational structure. Under a cost-sharing agreement, the Wikimedia Foundation provides management and administrative services to the Endowment. These services include planning and executing the Endowment’s budget and financial operations, as well as supporting its programmatic and exempt activities.

Because the Foundation performs functions that would otherwise be carried out by the Endowment’s own officers or staff, the IRS considers this arrangement to be a “management company” relationship for Form 990 reporting purposes. This is a reporting classification and does not change the governance or oversight of the Endowment.

As part of this disclosure, the Endowment is required to report certain compensation related to this arrangement. Specifically, the Form 990 includes the portion of compensation attributable to Endowment activities for certain officers who are employed by the Wikimedia Foundation but also serve as officers of the Endowment; in this case, Endowment President Lisa Seitz and Endowment Treasurer Dhaval Patel.

These individuals are not paid directly by the Endowment. Instead, the Foundation pays their full salaries, and the Endowment reimburses the Foundation for the portion of time they spend supporting Endowment activities under the terms of the cost-sharing agreement. The amounts reported in Schedule O reflect only this allocated portion of compensation.

Please note that the full compensation of Lisa Seitz and Dhaval Patel is also reported in the Wikimedia Foundation’s Form 990. The amounts disclosed by the Endowment do not represent additional or separate compensation, but rather a portion of the same total compensation.

While Charles Roslof serves as an officer (Secretary) of the Endowment, no compensation is reported for this role because the Endowment did not reimburse the Foundation for any of their time under the cost-sharing agreement.

Governance & Documentation: On page 6, Part VI, Line 8b, why did the Endowment answer “No” to documenting committee meetings?

Part VI, Line 8b asks whether committees with authority to act on behalf of the governing body contemporaneously documented their meetings or written actions (for example, through formal meeting minutes). Committees are smaller subsets of the Board of Directors that focus on specific areas (such as audit or finance).

Formal minutes have always been prepared and maintained for full Board of Directors meetings. In the Endowment’s earlier years of operations, committee meetings were held; however, formal, contemporaneous meeting minutes were not consistently maintained. Strengthening governance and documentation practices has since been an area of focus for the Endowment. Beginning in FY 2025-2026, the Endowment implemented a process to formally document minutes for all committees with delegated authority, ensuring alignment with best practices and IRS expectations going forward.

Staff & Compensation: On page 7, Part VII, Section A, there is a list which includes officers and Board members but $0 in compensation. Why?

Per IRS requirements, this section reports W-2 compensation paid directly by the organization to its officers, directors, trustees, key employees, and highest compensated employees. Because the Endowment does not have its own employees and does not issue W-2s, all compensation in this section is reported as $0.

As noted in the Management Company Disclosure FAQ above, the Wikimedia Foundation employs the staff who support the Endowment, including individuals who serve as officers of the Endowment. These individuals are compensated by the Foundation, and the Endowment reimburses the Foundation for the portion of their time spent on Endowment activities under the cost-sharing agreement. The portion of compensation attributable to Endowment services for certain officers is disclosed separately in Schedule O, as required. This is not additional compensation, but rather a portion of the same total compensation that is fully reported in the Wikimedia Foundation’s Form 990.

Board members do not receive compensation.

Expenses: Page 10, Part IX, can you describe the allocation of Endowment expenses by functional categories?

The statement of functional expenses in Part IX breaks down the Endowment expenses by three spending categories: program services expenses, management & general expenses, and fundraising expenses. In FY 2024-2025, the Endowment spent $3.7M (66%) on program expenses related to funding to support Wikimedia projects, $770K (14%) on management and general expenses, and $1.1M (20%) on fundraising expenses.

As an Endowment with the mission to act as a permanent fund, the ratio of total spend across the three categories is different from non-profit organizations like the Wikimedia Foundation, which typically spend closer to the amounts raised each year. The Endowment is still prioritizing growing the corpus of the Endowment, which does not factor into this metric. With $1.1M in fundraising expenses and $11.9M in donations in FY 2024-2025, it cost the Endowment less than 10 cents to raise $1 in donations, which meets the benchmark for efficient fundraising set by Charity Navigator.

Net Assets: Page 12, Part XI is a reconciliation of net assets, can you describe the information it contains?

The reconciliation of net assets summarizes the change to net assets, meaning our total financial holdings including both cash on hand and the investments that make up our financial reserves, net of liabilities such as accrued expenses. It is calculated by adding the Endowment’s revenue that fiscal year (primarily from donations) and subtracting our expenses, such as funding to support Wikimedia projects.

The number is also adjusted for accounting differences between what is required in our audited financial statements and what is required by the IRS in the Form 990. This adjustment results in an ending net asset balance of $169.4M, which ties to our audited financial statements.

Per IRS rules, there is one item from our audited financial statements that are excluded from Form 990 reporting, and thus need to be included as adjustments in this reconciliation - Net unrealized gains or (losses) on investments (line 5). The Wikimedia Endowment holds our financial assets in a number of different forms, including U.S. treasuries, bonds, and stocks. The value of these investments goes up and down over time, and FY 2024-2025 was a year where the overall value went down slightly, mostly due to market fluctuations. They are “unrealized” because the Endowment did not sell the assets, and will hold them until maturity or until they realize positive returns in line with our investment policy. Unrealized gains and losses from investments are not reported within net income under IRS rules. In FY 2024-2025, the Endowment had unrealized losses of $2.7M from investments. In the audited financial statement these are reported as non-operating revenue.

Schedule B (Schedule of Contributors): Page 21, what is it and why are certain donors reported?

The Endowment, as a 501(c)(3) organization, is required to complete Schedule B (Schedule of Contributors) if any one contributor gave 2% or more of total contributions during the fiscal year. For FY 2024-2025, this threshold is $237,264.

During FY 2024-2025, six donors met or exceeded this threshold and are therefore required to be reported on Schedule B. The Endowment fundraises through a variety of channels, including many small donations from individual donors as well as larger contributions that help advance the Endowment’s long-term mission of supporting Wikimedia projects in perpetuity.

It is important to note that while Schedule B is filed with the IRS, donor names and addresses are redacted from the publicly available version of the Form 990 to protect donor privacy.

Endowment funds: On Schedule D, Part V (Lines 2a–2c), what do the percentages for board-designated, permanent, and term endowment represent?

Schedule D, Part V requires organizations to categorize their endowment into three components - board-designated, permanent, and term endowment - and report each as a percentage of total endowment net assets.

For the Endowment, these percentages are calculated based on the audited financial statements (see the endowment composition table in the audit report on page 17):

• Board-designated (quasi-endowment): This represents the portion of the endowment classified as without donor restrictions (approximately $1.0M, or ~0.6% of total endowment net assets of ~$169.7M). While unrestricted from an accounting perspective, these funds are still considered part of the overall endowment and are reported as “board-designated” under IRS terminology.
• Permanent endowment: This reflects funds classified as donor-restricted in perpetuity (approximately $141.1M, or ~83% of total). These are contributions received since inception that are intended to be maintained permanently, consistent with the Endowment’s long-term purpose.
• Term endowment: This represents accumulated investment earnings on donor-restricted funds that have not yet been appropriated for expenditure (approximately $27.6M, or ~16% of total). These amounts are available to be released through the Endowment’s annual budgeting and spending policy.

In total, these three categories reconcile to the Endowment’s total net assets and align directly with the audited financial statements.

Amended Form 990: Why was the Endowment’s FY 2023-2024 Form 990 amended?

The Endowment amended its FY 2023-2024 Form 990 to align with updates reflected in the reclassified audited financial statements for that fiscal year. As part of the reclassification, the Endowment was presented as a donor-restricted endowment to better reflect the nature of donor intent and how the fund has operated since inception.

In addition to reflecting this classification change, the amended Form 990 also incorporates certain updates to align with FY 2024-2025 reporting, including governance and disclosure items on management company reporting and committee documentation practices.

The key updates in the amended Form 990 include:

• Endowment reporting (Part IV, Line 10 & Schedule D, Part V): Updated to “Yes” to reflect donor-restricted endowment reporting, with the required endowment fund disclosures completed.
• Management company disclosure (Part VI, Section A, Line 3): Updated to “Yes” to reflect the cost-sharing arrangement with the Wikimedia Foundation, as described in the Management Company Disclosure FAQ.
• Committee documentation (Part VI, Section A, Line 8b): Updated to “No” to reflect historical documentation practices for committees, as described in the Governance & Documentation FAQ.
• Net asset classification (Part X, Lines 27 and 28): Updated to reflect net assets with donor restrictions consistent with the restated financial statements.

These updates are presentation and disclosure changes to align the Form 990 with the audited financial statements and current reporting practices. They do not impact the Endowment’s overall financial position, operations, or how funds are managed and spent.