Just because a site is free to use and features a comprehensive database of accessible content doesn’t mean they don’t need money to keep going. In fact, the opposite is true.

Just ask the Internet Archive.

Much like Wikipedia, the folks at Archive.org are also looking for funding, but they aren’t going about it with creepy images of editors that stare at you for the duration of your visit. Sure, there are prompts over at the Internet Archive asking people to donate, but the manner in which they go about asking isn’t anywhere near as intrusive as other sites. To put it another way, the way in which the Internet Archive is asking for donations has not become a Reddit meme where people poke fun at the monetary requests.

While I mention bandwidth in the article’s lede, it’s not the only reason for the donation requests, something the Internet Archive blog post reveals quite well:

In the last year, the number of people using the Internet Archive has increased to two million people every day, and our collections of free books, music, video, and web pages have also grown by twenty to twenty-five percent. This is great news, but we are doing it all on a shoestring budget.

This year we need your help.

The word “help” is linked and when clicked, visitors are taken to a donation page where you can contribute as much or as little as you can. Considering the role the Internet Archive provides, asking for a little funding is perfectly acceptable, especially for a site/service that offers this description as its primary goal:

We digitize books, collect video, music and the World Wide Web, and take contributions of digital media from anyone who would like their materials preserved.

We provide access to these vast collections to millions of people each day. All for free. {Emphaisis added]

So yeah, asking for donations to keep bringing such content to the masses is understandable, especially when the service is free. With that in mind, perhaps Archive.org could look into official sponsorship, or, who knows, maybe sell themselves to Google or Microsoft. Considering their massive amount of content, there could be some great opportunities for targeted advertisements.

If you’d like to donate to the Internet Archive’s cause, you can do so here.