[Wikimedia-l] FDC Letter of Intent process and schedule for 2013-14

[Patricio Lorente]

Dear friends and colleagues,

We want to share with you information about the Letter of Intent process
and the FDC schedule for next year (July 2013 - June 2014). As you may
remember, the *Letter of Intent (LoI)* is the first step towards applying
for funds from the FDC, as discussed in the FDC framework [1]. This was not
part of the first year's process, but is meant to be an integral part of
the FDC calendar from this next round (Round 1, 2013-14) onwards. *The
Letter of Intent asks all entities who intend to apply for Round 1 (or
Round 2) to formally state their intention to do so.* In addition, the LoI
now asks applying entities to include a notional dollar figure (or local
currency figure) in the Letter of Intent. Applying entities will be able to
update this amount in their final FDC proposals. The updated Letter of
Intent template will be available on the FDC portal [2] by May 1, but the
sample is here for reference [3].

With the Letter of Intent, the FDC staff can support applying entities in
their proposal process well before the deadline for proposals. We hope this
will remove some of the challenges faced by applicants in the first year of
the FDC process. The FDC can also plan better with a clear understanding of
who intends to apply, and an estimation of the funds requested.

The FDC framework originally stated that the deadlines for the LoI were
June 1 for Round 1 and November 1 for Round 2. However, we are pushing back
the deadline *by one week*, since the community review period was also
extended by two weeks. *The LOI deadline will now be June 8 for Round 1,
and November 8 for Round 2. *

For your reference, here is the updated 2013-2014 Round 1 proposal process
schedule:


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


The schedule for the 2013-14 Round 2 proposal process:

   - *Letter of Intent deadline for Round 1: 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 - 31 March 2014
   - Staff assessment deadline: 8 April 2014
   - FDC recommendation due: 1 May 2014
   - Board decision due: 1 June 2014


It is our hope that the Letter of Intent process will help in planning for
both the entities and the FDC, and ensure that the FDC and FDC staff are
supporting the applying entities significantly ahead of the proposal
deadlines.

As always, do not hesitate to let us or the FDC support staff (
FDCsupport en wikimedia.org) know if you have any questions or concerns about
this important process.

Warm regards,
Patricio and Jan-Bart
(Board representatives to the FDC)

[1]
http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Funds_Dissemination_Committee/Framework_for_the_Creation_and_Initial_Operation_of_the_FDC#Process_overview
[2] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal
[3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/FDC_portal/Sample_letter_of_intent


-- 
Patricio Lorente
Blog: http://www.patriciolorente.com.ar
Identi.ca // Twitter: @patriciolorente