Wikipedia asking for donations isn't any better. It is well documented that Wikipedia is less than forward in their donation requests about how much money they actually need. Wikipedia is not starving for money.
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.