Can't you just add in Wikipedia-style donation request popup/banners for everyone in general? I reckon plenty of people will be willing to spare some change even multiple times when they log on, just like they do with Wikipedia.
Also it's a subtraction from the legitimacy bank account. It's well known that Wikipedia doesn't need those donations.
Endless telethons for public television in America annoy 100 people for every one that donates. Despite that you see ads on public TV for the Archer Daniels Midland corporation all the time even though, allegedly, there is no advertising on public TV.
> It's well known that Wikipedia doesn't need those donations.
I disagree. Wikipedia is similar to Exercism on that count. A tiny fraction of expenses are hosting the encyclopedia. It's also necessary to pay people to program the software underlying MediaWiki.
People aren't bothering to edit anymore either. Search engine summaries, voice assistants, and now large-language models repackage information from Wikipedia in a way that discourages people from going to the website itself. Most low-hanging fruit is gone, and the standard of quality has increased.
There's a whole project dedicated to helping undergraduate students edit Wikipedia as a part of their coursework now. It's a great learning opportunity because a Wikipedia editor will check your sources more than the average TA. The flipside is that an undergraduate degree in the liberal arts isn't necessarily enough to write at a Wikipedia level, which is a problem.
These external factors are decimating the volunteer community and the visitor population. Spending on outreach, staffing, and grants to local affiliates is much costlier than having people wander onto Wikipedia and contribute, but that's no longer the era we live in.
I don't know enough about Wikipedia, though I have heard this point made before.
I do know a lot about noncommercial broadcasting in the US though, and your comments appear superficial.
A sponsorship message is different from a call-to-action advertisement. The former is permitted, the latter is not. They are not different enough, in my opinion, but they are discernible.
Public TV and radio station finances are public information. Audience fundraisers are a meaningful portion of their operating budget (~25-50%), though it varies by market. As are program underwriting (up to 50% in strong markets), and often CPB funds contribute a few points (this is highly politicized and if you overindex on it, your news sources are likely polluted).
the only way is to lower your operating costs but you are correct ppl on the internet simply do not like paying for stuff even donating is a tough ask.
even getting people to click on affiliate links that won't cost them anything I find is tough as most people remove the referral link or purchase on another device probably out of privacy concerns.
