On Thu, May 29, 2014 at 11:49 PM, Kevin Gorman kgorman@gmail.com wrote:
other active GAC members given the relatively low bar required for UG status - we'll be paying way more attention at the details of the grant and the applicant(s) than on whether they have AffCom recognition. I'd definitely rather give a grant to four well-established Wikimedians with no official status than four less well-established Wikimedians who happen to be a recognized user group all things being equal, and I suspect the same is true of other GAC members. We definitely take people's previous histories in to account when considering whether or not to make a grant, but I don't think being an officially recognized user group would make a group of people meaningfully more likely to get a grant than a group of people with an equivalent track record without that status.
Although usually some form of history with the projects - or at least a strong endorsement from someone with a solid history with the projects - is needed to secure a sizable grant, we give out grants to individuals, groups of individuals that are not officially recognized, organizations aligned with our values that don't have Wikimedia affiliate status, and all kinds of other entities all the time, and I've never heard a GAC member express reservations about a particular grant based on whether or not a group of people were a recognized UG or not. Moreover, I'd be pretty surprised to hear someone do so.
We'd love to receive any and every solid proposal for a mission aligned grant, whether it comes from an individual, a group of three friends, a recognized usergroup, or a chapter or thorg that doesn't yet qualify for FDC funding (or that seeks funding for a project that the GAC can grant that the FDC can't - political advocacy is the only thing that comes to mind.) If anyone reading this who has a cool idea that can be facilitated by a PEG grant and advance the Wikimedia mission, Please come visit us :) We approve most grants that we deal with, and work hard with applicants to
Thanks Kevin with this explanation. I have a similar understanding of the grantmaking landscape at Wikimedia. There are groups, or individuals that every once in a while contact AffCom that are not that aware of the realities of the grants process (i.e. that only real projects get funded, but they do get funded regardless of status). While they do not reach the stage of getting to the various grants programmes, or being recognised as an affiliate, that does not mean they do not exist.
Best regards, Bence