THE MONEY: Using the Internet Archive is absolutely free, on a front-end and back-end way, completely. That means it doesn't cost anything to use us (although you can always register for free), you are not shown ads, and we do not log your activity for use later or for sale.
We are a 501(c)(3) organization in the State of California. Donations of money to us are tax-free. It also means we don't have a corporate overlord or shareholders to answer to. It means we're here for you.
It means we survive with a combination of three major funding sources: Grants (that we apply for or co-apply for), our businesses (we have a scanning and a web archiving pair of businesses), and from donations, great and small.
We are, like everyone else, unsure what's about to happen economically, but we do know during times of crisis and emergency, donations are often the first thing to go - people donating to us at this time would really give us a buffer beyond what we do have.
Our donation page is archive.org/donate - Nobody's talking about laying people off or shuttering anything here, but it's really a smart idea to go into this and provide this service while also making it clear that donations make a difference. A huge one.
If you think "well, I'm not someone throwing millions, nobody cares", that's actually not true - from a tax and audit standpoint, non-profits who only have a small handful of large donors get investigated because they look like money laundering.
When tens of thousands of people donate, they both demonstrate the usefulness of the organization in question, and that it's NOT something functioning for the benefit for a few. So no, your $5 or $10 or $500 is a huge, huge difference.
So think of us if you get a chance. If you ARE someone of means, and you want to talk about a large donation, talk to me and I'll give you some people to talk to at the archive. It would really set us at ease.
