[Wikimedia-l] Comments on compliance and the FDC Round 2 decisions

[Osmar Valdebenito]

I think it is important to remember what is the main premise behind the
FDC: give resources to established chapter in some sort of "long term"
capacity. We are dealing with proposals of over 100k to more than 4m. I've
heard several times about how hard is to apply for the FDC, how terrible it
is... I know it is not an easy task applying nor reporting (we are doing
this right now) but it is not the hell that has been pictured. It is a much
easier, simple and transparent process than most of the ways any other
organization (for profit or not) does to get the level of money we are
requesting, or at least that has been my experience. Not because the
chapters have nice goals about disseminating free knowledge on local level,
we should be treated especially and not being requested to be as serious
and professional as possible. I think even the FDC is already taken in
consideration the level of professionality of each institution and probably
evaluates differently WMAR than WMDE,  but both should be able to at least
comply with the basics (like clearity in the proposals and goals of the
organization, a set of programs, etc.)

But, seriously, if we are not able to write a estructured long report or
reply answers about usage of funds, is it possible that we are able to hire
effectively and efficiently an Executive Director or run an office? The
problem of growth is not much about were to get funds but how this growth
is sustainable and makes sense. Although there is no clear path towards
professionalization (it would be great to have at least some sort of
recommendations and it is something that should be improved), most of the
successful cases happened through a smooth transition with some sort of
temporary hiring via GAC and then consolidation via FDC. And that makes
sense, because moving from a volunteer-driven association to a professional
NGO is not easy: it is not easy to find the right employee (probably all
the cases hired someone and to fire him/her a few months after), to
establish the balance between what should the Board do and what the staff,
to solve all the belated paperwork that nobody was able to do before, etc,
etc. After going through all of that, then you can think of a more
structured way to request funds like the FDC.

I think this is an interesting topic that would have been great to work
with in the past Wikimedia Conference, too bad the idea came too late.
Maybe a panel for Wikimania?

Osmar Valdebenito G.


2013/4/30 Craig Franklin <cfranklin at halonetwork.net>

> I wonder if it will be accepted to apply to GAC for temporary position
> > for the person responsible for preparation of FDC application :-)
>
>
> That's probably not as silly an idea as it sounds - having a local person
> on the ground with relevant expertise who can assist the chapter not just
> in preparing their application, but also help them set realistic goals on
> what could be achieved would no doubt increase the quality of FDC
> applications and also focus chapters on delivering useful programme work,
> without causing any bitterness about the Foundation at the same time.
>
> Cheers,
> Craig Franklin
>
>
> On 30 April 2013 20:42, Tomasz Ganicz <polimerek at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > 2013/4/30 Dariusz Jemielniak <darekj at alk.edu.pl>:
> >
> > > Many members of the community (as it was confirmed in the discussions
> on
> > > Milan conference) are e.g. uncertain about part-time employment
> > > possibilities through GAC, as well as about professionalization efforts
> > > being funded through GAC scheme (both possible to some extent). I
> believe
> > > that it is imperative that a clear guideline is prepared.
> > >
> >
> > Actually it is here:
> >
> > http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Index/Eligibility_requirements
> >
> > "Grants through this program do not fund full-time permanent staff
> > salaries and other recurring operating expenses, such as the rent of
> > an office. In some cases, WMF Grants Program grants may fund part-time
> > positions or full-time temporary positions with a limited focus and
> > scope of work related specifically to the activities of the funded
> > project. Requests for part-time staff will be accompanied by an
> > assessment of the applicant's ability to effectively manage staff, and
> > may require necessary infrastructure to support staff (such as
> > policies around travel reimbursements, and hiring). Full-time staff
> > and recurring operating expenses will only be funded via the Funds
> > Dissemination Committee (FDC) process. Note that entities receiving
> > funds through the FDC process may not receive funds through the WMF
> > Grants Program during the same fiscal year."
> >
> >
> > although it is a bit misleading, as in several cases (WM AR, WM SR, WM
> > IN, WM DC) it was accepted to pay for renting an office.
> >
> > I wonder if it will be accepted to apply to GAC for temporary position
> > for the person responsible for preparation of FDC application :-)
> >
> >
> > --
> > Tomek "Polimerek" Ganicz
> > http://pl.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Polimerek
> > http://www.ganicz.pl/poli/
> > http://www.cbmm.lodz.pl/work.php?id=29&title=tomasz-ganicz
> >
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