If Wikipedia had no money on hand and were always at the mercy of the organizations and government programs that they receive grants from, that would be a bad situation I think.

You really do need to have some runway, whether you are a commercial business or a non-profit.

Perhaps Wikipedia is asking for too much, but I would really rather see them ask for too much than too little. Wikipedia is a very important project that is doing a great deal of good simply by continuing to exist as a free and open encyclopedia that anyone can contribute to.