*Dear Wikimedia colleagues and friends,The effective use of Wikimedia
movement resources, including the grants made by the Wikimedia Foundation,
is critical to our collective effort toward becoming the essential
infrastructure for free knowledge.[1] As we look ahead, the Wikimedia
movement will be developing a new approach to resource allocation, in order
to support this new strategic direction. Developing a new approach requires
careful consideration and collaboration, and commitment to our values of
sharing power in decisions, transparency, and accountability.To that end,
the Community Resources team has made some temporary changes to our
grantmaking programs to free up staff and community time to do engage in
Phase 2 of the movement strategy work on issues of resource allocation,
while still meeting essential support commitments. In order to ensure we
have the capacity in our upcoming fiscal year (July 2018 - June 2019) to
work effectively on the big questions around movement resource allocation,
we have made temporary changes to our grant programs. While many of you are
aware of these changes, I’m writing to ensure everyone has the best
information and to address some concerns we have heard. What’s changing?
These changes are designed to make the processes lighter and free up
resources for everyone involved in the grant processes. This means that the
Community Resources team, staff and volunteers in grantee organizations and
committee members will benefit from lightened processes. We hope these
changes will support all involved to direct their energies in the coming
year toward participation in the movement’s strategic planning. The main
changes for 2018-2019 fiscal year are as follows: Annual plan grants: -
Application processes will be simplified for all APG grantee-applicants.
Reporting requirements will stay the same.- The APG programs will review
proposals from new applicants in November of 2019 (for funding starting
January 2020). Program officers will continue to work with organizations
looking at entering the APG program to make sure they're ready to apply in
2019.- Current grantees will be able to apply for the same amount of
funding that they are receiving this year.- Increases may be considered for
emerging communities in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Rapid grants: -
Proposals will be accepted from the 1st - 15th of each month.- Eligible
proposals have a minimum of $500 USD and a maximum of $2,000 USD. We seek
to reduce administrative overhead for a more effective use of our shared
resources. Project grants: - Project grants proposals will be accepted
during one grant cycle, likely November 2018. Since there will only be one
grant cycle, applicants will need to prepare in advance. - Proposals
between $2,000 USD and $100,000 USD will be accepted. - Please reach out to
the Program Officer well in advance to discuss your ideas and questions.
Conference grants: - There will be two rounds of funding (likely to
September 2018 and February 2019). - We anticipate continued grant funding
for the annual regional conferences (Iberoconf, Indaba, CEE, Arabia) as
well as thematic conferences already under development (education, ICT and
gender in Africa, Wikidata).- Proposals from emerging communities for
national/local conferences up to $10,000 USD will be accepted. For more
information on these changes, visit our Meta page, where you will find
links to all eligibility information.[2] Please direct your comments and
questions there, or reach out to the program officer overseeing the
relevant grant program. What happens next? In collaboration with Wikimedia
communities, including current grantees, grants committees, the Wikimedia
Foundation staff and Board, and the forthcoming working group on movement
resources from the movement strategy, we will participate in Phase 2 of the
movement strategy. This temporary phase will be critical to defining how
our movement can direct resources more effectively towards our shared goal
of becoming the essential infrastructure for free knowledge. We expect that
there could be major changes to our funding processes in the long term, and
that these changes will reengineer the roles of participating organizations
(the Wikimedia Foundation, committees, and grantees alike). This is why it
is important for everyone interested to participate, and that what comes
next derives from a collective effort. Kindly direct any questions or
comments to the discussion page on Meta wiki.[2] Best wishes,Katy
LoveDirector, Community Resources team[1]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2017/Direction
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2017/Direction>
[2]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Resources/Annual_Plan/Temporary_c…
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Resources/Annual_Plan/Temporary_changes_to_grants_programs>
*