[Wikimedia-l] Reimagining Travel and Participation Support grants

[Siko Bouterse]

Hi all,
We've published an analysis of the Travel and Participation Support
Program.[1]

This program is a partnership between WMF, Wikimedia Deutschland, and
Wikimedia Switzerland to fund travel for Wikimedians to attend
non-Wikimedia events.[2]  After 2 years of operation, we wanted to learn
what's working and what's not.

Some key findings from the report include:

Opportunities:

*Travel funding provides opportunities to deeply connect participants to
the movement and each other.
*Participation Support demonstrates an opportunity to reach a range of new
Wikimedia grantees, including women and participants in the Global South.

Recommendations:

*The volume of requests and grants made in this program must be increased
in order to fully realize its potential; the scale of use is too small with
the current scope and setup.
*Program pages should be redesigned for ease-of-use and if possible with a
bit of joy.
*Publicizing the program should be a priority; blogs, social media, and
on-wiki promotional campaigns to spread awareness of the program could help
boost the number of requests.
*Simpler application methods should be investigated in order to keep the
process open to a range of applicants.
*Scope expansion for the program should be considered, particularly to
include Wikimedia events.

We hope to use the data in this report as a starting point to reimagine
if/how we can better support Wikimedians to travel and participate in
events.  Please have a look at the findings and share your thoughts and
ideas on the talk page:

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Participation_talk:Support/Analysis

Warm regards,
Siko

1. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Participation:Support/Analysis
2. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Participation:Support

-- 
Siko Bouterse
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.

sbouterse at wikimedia.org

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