Boasting thousands of volunteers with a quirky assortment of interests and competencies, the Wikipedia Foundation's flagship project is a new kind of web-based reference tool that is constantly undergoing expansion, revision, and public scrutiny.  The project has inspired many critics to question the quality of a collaboratively edited reference tool, but has also engaged fiercely loyal volunteers who have created an international online collaborative subculture that focuses on aggregating knowledge in the public interest and making it available in as many languages as possible.  As the Wikipedia Foundation has evolved into a
philanthropic organization and Wikipedia's sister projects have taken
on tasks such as citizen journalism (Wikinews), free access to
publications (Wikisource and Wikibooks), and the promotion of open
source applications (MediaWiki), the possibilities increase for nonprofit organizations to make common cause with this mission-based
community.