Dear Friends/Wikimedians,
The Community Resources team is reviewing its current grants programs
(Annual Plan Grants, Simple Annual Plan Grants, Project Grants, and Rapid
Grants) to ensure we are aligning with the strategic direction, with a
focus on equity and building a thriving movement. The redesign process will
take into consideration the Movement Strategy recommendations and
discussions around the recommendations. It will integrate direct feedback
from applicants and grantees that we have received over the past five
years. It will also continue to seek feedback from community members as it
is developed.
We want to move towards implementing and learning new models for grant
programs that will feed into the broader resource allocation discussion of
the Global Council.
In this redesign process, we are examining:
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Our role as a team to support communities and the movement
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Our processes: applications, reporting, metrics, and participatory
decision-making processes and their alignment with equity
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Our programs and understanding which are the needs we are addressing,
and what elements are missing to achieve the strategic direction.
We invite all of you to join us on this journey. On the Meta-Wiki page [1],
there is an overview and timeline for the grants redesign process. We are
hosting office hours for multiple time zones in January 2021 to answer any
questions about the redesign process [2].
In February 2021, we will post a proposal for the new grants strategy. We
will invite you to review the proposed ideas. You will be able to provide
feedback on proposed grant programs on-wiki and through other channels.
Information about participating will be shared on the Meta-Wiki page [1].
When the feedback period is over, the Community Resources team will review
all community input and make final adjustments to complete the redesign.
In March 2021, the Community Resources team will review and incorporate
suggested changes and send a final proposal for endorsement and approval by
the leadership of the Wikimedia Foundation. Working together with you is
essential so that together we create grant programs that are useful and
address real needs for our communities. We look forward to engaging in this
next step and to hearing your ideas.
On behalf of the Community Resources team,
Rupika
*Rupika Sharma*
Junior Program Officer
Wikimedia Foundation Grants
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>