[loeg]

They don't have to beg for donations to keep the lights on. That's kind of the problem. They are vastly overfunded for running wikipedia and mostly squander any additional income they receive on non-Wikipedia projects. This is very well documented here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:CANCER

They get more and more in donations every year and continue to ramp up their spending, mostly not on Wikipedia (neither operating costs nor "R&D" type costs).

[umvi]

Wow, if that's true their emails are really deceptive...

"About a year ago, you donated $15 to keep Wikipedia online for hundreds of millions of readers. I'm surprised by and deeply grateful for your continued support. You are part of the 2% of readers who donated to support Wikipedia. We need your help again this year ... most people will ignore this message. We have no choice but to turn to you: please renew your gift to ensure that Wikipedia remains independent, ad-free, and thriving another year."

I read that as "please donate or we might have to use ads to keep lights on if you don't"

[loeg]

Yes, I agree their fundraising messaging is deceptive and it's the primary reason I no longer give money to them.

[bawolff]

Other than wikidata and sometimes commons, most other wikimedia projects (as in websites being run by wikimedia foundation) get almost none of the money directed at them.