Wikimedia Europe/Fundraising

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Wikimedia Europe organises and conducts fundraising activities to support free knowledge where the required efforts exceed capacities of the members as individual entities in the Wikimedia Movement.

Fundraising activities are aimed both to support the members in their fundraising efforts and raise funds for ensuring the organisation can carry out its statutory objectives as mandated by the members.

All fundraising activities are conducted in accordance with Wikimedia Europe's fundraising policy .

2030 Fundraising strategy

(forthcoming)

2026-2027 Fundraising priorities

The purpose of these priorities is to help partners and funders understand where WMEU is focusing its energy, development, and capacity-building efforts over 2026–2027.

PRIORITY 1. Peer learning, exchange and capacity-building of free knowledge communities


Focus	Facilitating Wikimedia communities access to exchange, peer learning and other capacity-building opportunities that reinforce their ability to advance free knowledge on the long term
Areas of interest	communication leadership fundraising advocacy

PRIORITY 2. Research on community-led knowledge initiatives and democracy


Focus	Generating evidence on how Wikimedia and similar communities create, verify, and govern free knowledge and how this contributes to participation, digital and media literacy, and democracy
Areas of interest	Wikimedia communities dealing with disinformation during high-stake moments such as elections contribution of Wikimedia initiatives to democratic participation and resilience through media and digital literacy

PRIORITY 3. Analysis of European policy frameworks relevant for free knowledge


Focus	Understanding how European regulation affects people’s ability to participate in, contribute to, and govern free knowledge
Areas of interest	Digital Services Act (DSA) AI regulation anti-SLAPPs directive child protection policy information integrity frameworks

PRIORITY 4. EU-level advocacy to promote and protect free knowledge


Focus	Translating Wikimedia community experiences into policies recommendations, and advocate for frameworks that protect free expression and access to information in Europe
Areas of interest	platform governance and algorithmic power online safety and protection of vulnerable users information integrity and public discourse transparency, civic space and resilience of public-interest actors

PRIORITY 5. Community mobilisation for free knowledge advocacy


Focus	Supporting Wikimedia communities and partners to actively contribute to, and shape policy and advocacy processes nationally and at the European level
Areas of interest	see PRIORITY 3 and PRIORITY 4

HORIZONTAL PRIORITY Organisational sustainability


Focus	Ensuring Wikimedia Europe can coordinate, support, and deliver across all priorities
Areas of interest	establishing project manager and communication officer positions

Fundraising support for members

We do our best to help our members and friends access new funding sources. Our offering currently include tailored support (e.g., advice on funding strategy), a monthly newsletter with curated funding opportunities ("Moneypot"), and periodic capacity-building activities on selected topics (e.g., bootcamps).

For more details, take a look at our Fundraising support for members and Fundraising collaboration framework in Wikimedia Europe's fundraising policy .

Highlights of 2025

We supported our members in familiarising themselves with new relevant EU programmes, including the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme and Creative Europe.
We launched Moneypot, the monthly newsletter with curated fundraising opportunities for our members and friends, focused on transnational collaboration opportunities from institutional sources (e.g., the EU), foundations, and other sources.
We ran the Masters of Grants bootcamp, our pilot fundraising capacity-building initiative to bring external experts’ insights into the Movement. Curious to see the materials and learn more about how it went? Consult the dedicated page: Masters of Grants Bootcamp .
We developed the 2030 fundraising strategy (fortcoming).

The year in numbers:

(forthcoming)

Highlights of 2024

We launched an initiative to support Wikimedia affiliates in Europe with accessing European Union funding, especially the Erasmus+ programme. This effort was driven by members’ requests to explore possibilities within the EU funding framework.
We Introduced our fundraising policy and members support framework.

The year in numbers:

45 hours advising affiliates 1-on-1 on fundraising and proposals in 2024
21 structured conversations with members on their needs and experiences
10 affiliates and movement structures received assistance in their fundraising questions and proposal development

Financial transparency

Wikimedia Europe is committed to rely on steady, diversified and ethical funding to ensure its independence, safeguard its reputation and maintain donor trust.

Check out our 2024 financial transparency report to learn more about our sources of funding