A Message From the Team Behind the Wayback Machine

Dear Wayback Machine User,

Right now, we need your help. As a project of the Internet Archive—a nonprofit internet library dedicated to promoting Universal Access to All Knowledge—the Wayback Machine is continually working to ensure that the web has a memory. We currently have a 2-to-1 Matching Gift Campaign which will maximize your support of this valuable resource.

This year marks 25 years of the Internet Archive, and 20 years since the unveiling of the Wayback Machine. Just five years after our web crawlers captured their first webpages, we made our growing archive of digital culture into a publicly and freely available resource for everyday internet users.

Our work has had powerful outcomes: We’ve been instrumental in helping journalists and fact-checkers hold those in power accountable. We’ve made it possible for individuals to access their digital memories. We’ve brought dead links back to life. Now, anyone with a reason to visit the internet of the past can easily access our growing collection at no cost.

Because we remain dedicated to promoting free access to information, we will never run ads, sell user data, or charge for access to the Wayback Machine. Instead, we rely on the generosity of individuals like you to pay for servers, staff, and maintenance.

If you can’t imagine a future without the Wayback Machine, please consider supporting our work. We promise to put your donation to good use as we continue to store more than 600 billion web pages, add more than 500 million pages every day, and serve more than a half a million Patrons every day.

A little goes a long way, and right now your donation will have triple the impact with our 2-to-1 Matching Gift Campaign. If everyone who uses the Wayback Machine contributed just $5, we would be home free.

Your support will help us build the web we deserve.

Thank you for joining me.

Brewster Kahle
Founder & Digital Librarian

Please make a tax-deductible donation now.
You will receive an email confirmation that can be used for your tax records.
The Internet Archive is a California non-profit charity that is tax-exempt under section 501c3 of the Internal Revenue Code. Federal Tax ID Number 94-3242767.