Every single time, for the last two years, I have come across a “personal appeal” asking for money on Wikipedia. First from the founder, now from one of their programmers.
They should get it the old fashioned way, through advertising.
If I wanted to pay for an encyclopedia, I would have paid for Encarta back in the day.
They should be embarrassed for themselves; what respectable trove of information asks for donations from visitors to their interface?