Dear members of the Wikimedia community,

I write to remind Wikimedia-affiliated entities interested in submitting an annual plan grant proposal to the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) in Round 2 2013-2014 that they must first submit a Letter of Intent (LOI). The Letter of Intent is the first step in applying for funds from the FDC, as outlined in the FDC Framework. [1] This step has been implemented as part of the improvements for 2013-2014. In Round 1 of this year, it helped the FDC staff to work closely with interested applicants ahead of eligibility and proposal deadlines.

Entities interested in applying for funding in Round 2 must submit an Letter of Intent before submitting a proposal. For Round 2 of 2013-2014, the LOI is due on November 8. The LOI asks potential FDC applicants to state their intentions to apply and to include a notional dollar figure (or local currency figure). The LOI can be created on the FDC portal [2], and a sample is here for your reference. [3] The LOI is non-binding, but it is required.

Milestones from Round 2 can be found on the portal [4] and below:

* Letter of Intent deadline: 8 November 2013 * Deadline for WMF Staff to post eligibility: 15 December 2013 * Deadline for entities to meet eligibility requirements: 15 February 2014 * Proposal submission deadline: 1 March 2014 * Community review period: 1 March 2014 - 31 March 2014 * Staff assessment deadline: 8 April 2014 * FDC recommendation due: 1 May 2014 * Board decision due: 1 June 2014

Also, I want to bring to your attention the current Round 1 community review process for the eleven Round 1 proposals just submitted to the FDC. We ask you, members of the community, to share your thoughts and questions on the Discussion pages of the submitted proposals! [5]

Have any questions or comments? Reach out to us at: FDCsupport@wikimedia.org. The FDC staff is here to help you understand and navigate the process!

Cheers, Katy Love and the FDC support team

[1] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Funds_Dissemination_Committee/Framework_for_t... [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal#fdc-portal-start [3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Sample_letter_of_intent [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Timeline#2013-2014_Round_2 [5] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Proposals/Community/Review