Dear 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:

• Our role as a team to support communities and the movement

• Our processes: applications, reporting, metrics, and participatory decision-making processes and their  alignment with equity

• 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 will host 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,