Grants:APG/Proposals/2019-2020 round 2/Wikimédia France/Proposal form

Overview edit

1. In order to support community review, please provide a brief description of your organization's work in the upcoming funding period.

After the year 2019-2020 which allowed us to develop new programs and integrate the new strategic plan, the new impacts and some major reflections initiated for the 2030 strategy, the year 2020-2021 will be devoted to consolidatiing our achievements but also to experiment new projects that we think are relevant for the association, the volunteers but also the global Wikimedia movement.

2. Name, fiscal year, and funding period.
  • Legal name of organization: Wikimédia France, association pour le libre partage de la connaissance
  • Organization's fiscal year: 01st July - 30th June
  • 12-month funding period requested: 01 July 2020 - 30 June 2021
  • Currency requested: €
  • Name of primary contact: Rémy Gerbet


3. Amount requested.

Table 1

Currency requested US$
Total expenses for the upcoming year €1 189,100 $ 1 310,388
APG funding requested for the upcoming year €425 000 $ 468 350
Amount of funding received from WMF for the current year €450 000 $495 900


4. How does your organization know what community members and contributors to online projects need or want? Does your organization conduct needs assessments or consult the contributors and volunteers most involved with its work?

In order to prepare this 2020-2021 annual plan, we organized a specific work meeting, bringing together the board and the staff in January 2020, after huge preparatory work by the staff in December 2019. Several discussions took place within some local groups. These also helped collect the expectations of volunteers in France. To bring this planning phase to a conclusion, we published a community oriented survey on french-speaking projects in order to collect, opinions, ideas and other proposals. Some results and suggestions have been collected and published on the annual plan page on Meta-Wiki :

5. Please provide a link to your organization's strategic plan, and a link to your separate annual plans for the current and upcoming funding periods if you have them.
  • Strategic plan WMFr 2019-2022 (fr) (en)
  • Annual plan WMFr 2019-2020 (fr) (en)
  • Annual plan WMFr 2020-2021 (fr) (en)
  • Annual report 2018-2019 (fr)


Annual plan summary edit


Strategic context edit

Wikimedia France would like to apply for an APG of €425,000 from the Wikimedia Foundation for the period 1st July 2020 to 30th June 2021. Wikimedia France supports the free sharing of knowledge and recognizes a fundamental right to information. We share the idea of a world in which every single person on the planet is given free access to the sum of all human knowledge. We are committed, within the Wikimedia movement, to breaking down the social, political and technical barriers that prevent people from accessing and contributing to Wikimedia projects. Wikimedia France supports the strategic direction and participates in the process of developing the 2030 strategy. We will welcome people from every background to build diverse communities, and we are fully committed to making the Wikimedia movement the essential infrastructure of the free knowledge ecosystem.

The values of Wikimédia France are :

  • Transparency
  • Openness
  • Mixity
  • Diversity
  • Accessibility

Our operating principles are as follow:

  • We recognize that the contribution of volunteers is central to our activities
  • We promote the values inherent in the concept of free knowledge
  • We support using licenses and formats that allow the free sharing of knowledge
  • We encourage diversity in our community
  • We learn from, share and exchange with the entire Wikimedia movement
  • We are transparent in all our operations

We share with the global Wikimedia movement this desire to build a sum of knowledge that is comprehensive, reliable and high quality - knowledge that is collected collaboratively, openly and accessible to all. Wikimedia France is committed to achieving the following outcomes:

  1. Supporting access and contribution to free and open knowledge
  2. Promoting the values of the Wikimedia movement in France
  3. Changing the uses and practices of professionals and institutions
  4. Working to improve Wikimedia projects by reducing participation and content biases.

Our strategic aims for 2019-2022 are to :

  1. Increase the quality and quantity of knowledge available on Wikimedia projects by supporting projects that promote openness and content/data sharing
  2. Ensure a fair representation of human, cultural and social diversity in the chapter and on Wikimedia projects.
  3. Advocate for a change in practices within public or private organizations to support the free sharing of knowledge.


Program Overview 2020-2021 edit

After the year 2019-2020 throughout which our association redefined its programs to integrate the new strategic plan, impacts and some major reflections initiated for the 2030 strategy, the next year will be devoted to consolidating our achievements but also experimenting with new projects that we think are relevant for the association, the volunteers but also the Wikimedia movement. The three main programs remain unchanged but some internal projects within these programs will be merged or redesigned:

In program A, a key role is given to the development of e-learning. Thanks to our experience conducting the WikiMOOC, developing specific modules dedicated to archives and the board members training but above all, thanks to our desire to develop a MOOC dedicated to Wikidata, we will launch in September 2020 a MOOC and SPOC platform which will aim to collect and bring together all the training modules developed by Wikimedia France or in cooperation with other actors. This desire is fully in line with recommendation number 7 of the Wikimedia movement 2030 strategy. Program A also brings together two other strong ambitions for Wikimedia France. First, the GLAM project, with our desire to inaugurate a national Observatory of open content and open data in collaboration with other associative actors and cultural partners. This Observatory will also be a certifying organization which will be able to award a label recognizing cultural institutions' commitment in favour of the free sharing of knowledge. On the education aspect, we will strengthen our support model by launching an educational platform dedicated to teachers in order to streamline conversations and exchanges between peers but also to provide them with necessary support. We will then develop online educational courses for students thanks to the expertise of a key partner.

Program B continues to revolve around the effort to bridge the content and participation gap (gender, languages, territories). We will put particular emphasis on the structuring of WikiFranca in partnership with all the French-speaking affiliates of the movement. The objective is to build an organization capable of effectively supporting the emergence and development of new French-speaking wikimedian communities around the world by providing these communities with the resources and tools necessary for their structuring. We will continue to work closely with the User group les sans pagEs to reduce the gender gap on French-speaking projects and will also continue the work started this year around Occitania and on the graphic overhaul of the Lingua Libre tool in order to make it more user-friendly.

Program C should focus even more on the community than the previous year, extending the training program initiated in 2019-2020, developing more precise procedures for welcoming new members, creating a mentoring and regional coordination programm, but also developing new volunteer committees aimed at fostering engagement, skills development and the growth of the Wikimedian volunteer base in France.

Priority projects edit

→ Developing an e-learning platform edit

Wikimedia France has successfully developed a Wikipedia MOOC. The three editions of this MOOC have given us valuable experience in the field of e-learning within the Wikimedia movement. Wikimedia France is already recognized for this work and provides advice to other movement affiliates. Wikimedia France has even already committed to supporting the production of other MOOCs (MOOC Tamazight, WikiMOOC Arabic). If the MOOC project faced many technical and human challenges, we have also learned from our mistakes and many of these challenges and problems are now behind us. The Wikimedia movement is resolutely turning to e-learning as far as strengthening community members' capacitiies but also to increase our training potential. Recommendation number 7 “Invest in Skills Development” refers to this need to develop e-learning for the movement. This is why Wikimedia France must respond at least partially, to these challenges for the movement. Thanks to an external service provider, Wikimedia France has developed its own MOOC instance, on which the WikiMOOC will be hosted, as well as the other distance learning projects dedicated to Wikimedia projects or training sessions dedicated to the volunteers. We plan to integrate other languages to this platform which is already developed and on which several programs are in progress or will be installed in the upcoming months:

  • WikiMOOC (Wikipedia)
  • Why should archivists work with Wikimedia projects? (SPOC)
  • What are the roles and responsibilities of a board member?
  • WikiMOOC Arabic
  • MOOC Wiktionary Tamazight

→ Strengthening the French-speaking community within the Wikimedia movement edit

Although the cooperation of French-speaking affiliates officially started at Wikimania in Washington, the informal organization Wikifranca took an important turning point when it set up the first French-speaking WikiCon in Paris in 2016. In addition to the French-speaking editing month, this international meeting allowed many French-speaking wikimedians to meet and exchange for the first time. During the last edition in Brussels in 2019 and in addition to the two day conference event, we organised learning days for French-speaking affiliate administrators. Those days marked an additional step towards more cooperation and made it possible to note a strong will among participants to move towards an increasingly close collaboration. Because the language barrier is an important obstacle to the development of a structured community within our movement, all of the French-speaking affiliates are committed to strengthening WikiFranca as a supporting structure using French as a common denominator and a necessary common tongue but promoting projects in any other language spoken by its members - i.e. Arab, Tamazight, Fon etc. This future organization would be responsible for ensuring cooperation between French-speaking affiliates. It would oversee the Wikiconvention and support all emerging national French-speaking structures. It would offer tools and resources to its members so that French-speakers can easily interact with the other linguistic communities of the movement. Wikifranca would actively support isolated Wikimedians seeking to build affiliated groups. It would support them in project management, and offer an international capacity building network. Wikimedia France, in close collaboration with Wikimedia CH, wishes to actively engage in the development of Wikifranca and put human and financial resources in favour of the development and strengthening of new Wikimedian communities.


    Program A : Raising awareness and training to Wikimedia projects

A.1 GLAM Project edit

Wikimedia France pursues its ambition to unite all of the cultural players wishing to move towards a policy of free sharing of data and content. After the overhaul of the training plan and the organization of Culture and Digital Days at the National Archives, a new step will have to be taken in 2020-2021 with the creation of an open content observatory bringing together the key players in the field in France in order to act jointly, through the production of studies and reports on political decision-makers and on cultural institutions still reluctant to open up cultural content.

  • Activities :
    • Creating an Open Content observatory in France
    • Developing a certification program for good practices in favor of the free sharing of knowledge (label)
    • Training professionals from cultural institutions to contribute to Wikimedia projects
    • Organizing Culture and Wikimedia Days

A.2 Wikipedia in the classroom edit

The Education project is entering a restructuring phase. The high school Wikiconcours is starting to run out of steam and we also have to face an increasing demand for personalized support requested by the teachers. This is why we have launched an exchange platform dedicated to educational staff. We are also in the process of relaunching the doctoral program by extending the successful trial from the University of Lille to other universities in France and particularly in Paris. We also plan to make a connection with Vikidia, the encyclopedic project dedicated to children in order to develop activities in middle schools.

  • Activities :
    • Organizing the High school Wikiconcours 2020
    • Launching the education platform around educational uses of Wikimedia projects
    • Training teachers and education professionals in Wikimedia projects
    • Vikidia

A.3 E-learning project edit

Since it first launched the WikiMOOC in 2016, Wikimedia France has developed expertise in building and deploying e-learning tools around Wikimedia projects. Being limited by the previous platform as far as monitoring learners went, but also for the development of new supports, the construction of learning paths or on the development of training for target audiences, the association has chosen to set up its own e-learning platform. This platform will welcome the initial WikiMOOC but also new media such as a Wikidata MOOC, SPOCs for archivists or a skills upgrading program for affiliate administrators. This platform was built to accommodate formats in various languages and can be used by other affiliates if need be.

  • Activities :
    • Setting up a multilingual e-learning platform online (September 2020)
    • Creating a Wikidata MOOC
    • Cooperating with other affiliates to pool resources

Summary edit

  • What we continue doing this year and why?

We will continue our training program for our target audiences (teachers, cultural professionals). Our new training catalog, backed by a succession of increasingly efficient indicators, allows us to visualize the impact of our work at national level. The organization of professional days will also be continued as they allow to unite all public and cultural actors around Wikimedia projects. We will continue to support content and data release projects, particularly in the context of our partnership with Paris-Musée.

  • What we intend to do that is new and why?

Several new features are planned in this program next year, including the creation of an open content and open data observatory in France. Namely, launching certification program for leading cultural institutions in sharing knowledge freely. In the educational field, we are going to launch a platform for exchanges and discussions around teaching practices including Wikimedia projects. Finally, we will inaugurate an e-learning platform which will host a MOOC dedicated to Wikidata.

  • What we wish to discontinue and why?

The program of public conferences, presented last year in addition to e-learning, will be redesigned for donors. E-learning becoming a project in its own right. Similarly, the open data project, which could also target public authorities, is mainly refocused on cultural institutions, which concerns Wikimedia projects much more.


    Program B: Diversify participation in the Wikimedia movement

B.1 WikiFranca edit

Since the first French-speaking Wikiconvention in 2016, linguistic cooperation within the French-speaking world has been strengthening and has enabled the emergence of new French-speaking affiliates within the Wikimedia movement. As a common language, French allows the development of a joint program in favor of increasing the skills of user groups in Africa. Today, Wikimedia France and Wikimedia Switzerland collaborate closely to finance, support and assist French-speaking users. However, given the challenges facing our French-speaking partners and in the spirit of the 2030 strategy, we will devote the year 2020-2021 to build, with all of our partners, a strong French-speaking linguistic hub which will act in favour of diversity within the Wikimedia movement.

  • Activities :
    • Building a Wikifranca organization with the help of its other 14 members
    • Developing a common French-speaking knowledge base and capacity building network
    • Supporting the development of Wikimedian communities in the Francophone world
    • Co-organizing the francophone month of contribution
    • Supporting the organization of the French speaking Wikicon 2020

B.2 Gender gap edit

In 2020, the Sans PagEs association was officially recognized as an affiliate of the Wikimedia movement. Wikimedia France will continue and intends to deepen its close collaboration with the Sans PagEs. A partnership agreement uniting the two organizations was signed during the Wikimedia France General Assembly on November 16, 2019. We will also support other initiatives similarly aimed at reducing gender bias on Wikimedia projects. We will also work to reduce gender bias within our association by ensuring a better distribution of roles and responsibilities between genders, by creating safe and welcoming spaces, by implementing internal processes aimed at fighting against harassment and more directly supporting women wishing to invest in the Wikimedia movement.

  • Activities :
    • Support les Sans PagEs' activities
    • Develop partnerships and actions to reduce gender bias on Wikimedia projects (AFF)
    • Set up an internal support program for women volunteers

B.3 Linguistic and territorial diversity edit

Diversifying participation and content on Wikimedia projects also involves pursuing and improving two projects initiated several years ago within the association: the “Languages ​​of France” project since 2015 and the “Oversea territories project ”since 2018. After two photographic competitions which took place on all the overseas territories, we will start a closer collaboration with the University of Guyana, in particular with the aim of developing the participation of young people on this French territory in Latin America. Regarding the languages ​​of France, an effort was made last year towards the Occitan community, several preparatory meetings led to the decision to organize an Occitan Wikimedia convention at the end of the summer 2020. Supporting oral contribution, in order to diversify the types of content on the projects but also to break down the writing barrier on Wikimedia projects, remains one of the axes of work of Wikimedia France. After a year, developing and redesigning Lingua Libre, next year will be devoted to opening discussions within the movement on orality and on what minority language communities need in order to thrive in our movement.

  • Activities :
    • Supporting contribution activities in the oversea territories
    • Occitan Wikimedian Community Development Project
    • Developing oral contribution on Wikimedia projects (Lingua Libre)

Summary edit

  • What we continue doing this year and why?

We are going to develop and strenthen several of our projects this year. The collaboration between French-speaking affiliates in favor of building Wikifranca should deepen. Likewise, the relationships established with the Sans Pages will allow us to continue the work undertaken in the fight against gender biases on Wikimedia projects. Finally, on linguistic and territorial diversity, we will continue the initiatives launched last year and around Occitania and the overseas territories. Finally, we will continue the reflection started this year on the future of Lingua Libre.

  • What we intend to do that is new and why?

Launching a monitoring process on the presence and activity of women within our association will be something new for us. Similarly, we are engaged in a new approach within WikiFranca which, in our opinion, will bring many benefits to the movement?

  • What we wish to discontinue and why?

We do not intend to stop specific projects this year in this program.


    Program C: Support, animate and strengthen the community

Last year, Wikimedia France engaged in an important voluntary plan in order to respond to the needs expressed by the community and the members of the association but also to respond to some issues raised during the exchanges around the 2030 strategy. Wikimedia France has a volunteer program that strives to answer the following three questions detailed in program C :

  1. How can we better welcome, orient and hire new volunteers?
  2. How to strengthen the dynamics and effectively support voluntary initiatives?
  3. How to facilitate capacity building for Wikimedians?

During 2019, several tests helped to structure our vision of volunteering, in particular by developing a complete volunteer plan ranging from the reception, renewal, promotion and training of volunteers. A new training program was initiated in early 2020, notably seeing the creation of two training courses dedicated to the subjects of time management for volunteers and how to commute volunteer experience and skills into assets that can make a difference on the job market or in their professional life. After this year of testing, we are now ready to roll out this volunteer program more widely.

C.1 Welcoming new volunteers edit

  • Activities:
    • Develop a welcoming policy for new members
    • Support volunteers taking on new responsibilities with the creation of regional coordination missions
    • Develop clear and precise volunteer missions to facilitate involvement
    • Organize an annual hosting event
    • Develop a mentorship program within the association

C.2 Support and strengthen volunteer dynamics edit

  • Activities :
    • Support and accompany the development of local groups of contributors.
    • Strengthen the volunteer-run and transparent micro-finance commission
    • Improve interactions with the online community
    • Support voluntary contribution initiatives (WLM)

C.3 Capacity building for volunteers edit

  • Activities:
    • Train a group of volunteers and staff members specializing in conflict management
    • Train a group of volunteers specialized in welcoming and supporting newcomers
    • Strengthen the association's governance committees with suitable programs
    • Regularly offer training to ensure the well-being of volunteers and the promotion of skills acquired in the context of their Wikimedian activities.

Summary edit

  • What we continue doing this year and why?

We will continue to support the activity of local groups while improving coordination between the national chapter and local volunteers. We will continue the volunteer training program initiated at the end of 2019 by strengthening it with the organization of training in the regions and by deploying a wider training offer for the skills development of volunteers.

  • What we intend to do that is new and why?

We will initiate a mentoring program for new members of the association in order to support them more closely in their discovery of Wikimedia projects and association activities. We will also develop volunteer missions in order to allow volunteers to identify opportunities for clear and precise commitments.

  • What we wish to discontinue and why?

We do not intend to stop specific projects this year in this program


Correlation table edit

This correlation table allows us to show the connections that we establish between our programs, our strategic plan, the 2030 strategic recommendations to which our projects respond and the expected impacts.

Annual Plan 2020-2021 Strategic aims 2019-2022 Wikimedia 2030 strategy WMFr's impacts
A.1 GLAM Project 1. Increase the quality and quantity of knowledge available on Wikimedia projects by supporting projects of openness and free sharing of data and contents

3. Advocate for a change in practices in public or private organizations to support the free sharing of knowledge

Strategic direction: Service and Equity Impact 2: Support and conduct the production and dissemination of free content.

Impact 3: Act on the policies and practices of public institutions.

A.2 Wikipedia in the classroom 3. Advocate for a change in practices in public or private organizations to support the free sharing of knowledge Strategic direction: Service and Equity Impact 1: Develop access, understanding and use of Wikimedia projects.

Impact 3: Act on the policies and practices of public institutions.

A.3 E-learning project 1. Increase the quality and quantity of knowledge available on Wikimedia projects by supporting projects of openness and free sharing of data and contents

2. Ensure a fair representation of human, cultural or social diversity in the chapter and on Wikimedia projects

R7: Invest in skills development Impact 1: Develop access, understanding and use of Wikimedia projects.
B.1 WikiFranca 2. Ensure a fair representation of human, cultural or social diversity in the chapter and on Wikimedia projects R5 : Ensure Equity in Decision-Making

R6: Foster and Develop Distributed Leadership

R8: Manage Internal Knowledge

R11: Innovate in Free Knowledge

Impact 1: Develop access, understanding and use of Wikimedia projects.

Impact 2: Support and conduct the production and dissemination of free content.

B.2 Gender gap 2. Ensure a fair representation of human, cultural or social diversity in the chapter and on Wikimedia projects Strategic direction: Service and Equity Impact 1: Develop access, understanding and use of Wikimedia projects.

Impact 2: Support and conduct the production and dissemination of free content.

B.3 Linguistic and territorial diversity 2. Ensure a fair representation of human, cultural or social diversity in the chapter and on Wikimedia projects Strategic direction: Service and Equity

R11: Innovate in Free Knowledge

Impact 1: Develop access, understanding and use of Wikimedia projects.

Impact 2: Support and conduct the production and dissemination of free content.

C.1 Welcoming new volunteers 2. Ensure a fair representation of human, cultural or social diversity in the chapter and on Wikimedia projects R1: Promote Sustainability and Resilience

R7: Invest in skills development

Impact 1: Develop access, understanding and use of Wikimedia projects.
C.2 Support and strengthen volunteer dynamics 1. Increase the quality and quantity of knowledge available on Wikimedia projects by supporting projects of openness and free sharing of data and contents

2. Ensure a fair representation of human, cultural or social diversity in the chapter and on Wikimedia projects

R1: Promote Sustainability and Resilience

R4 : Provide for Safety and Security

Impact 1: Develop access, understanding and use of Wikimedia projects.

Impact 2: Support and conduct the production and dissemination of free content.

C.3 Capacity building for volunteers 2. Ensure a fair representation of human, cultural or social diversity in the chapter and on Wikimedia projec R6: Foster and Develop Distributed Leadership

R7: Invest in skills development


Budget 2020-2021 edit

INCOME Euro US dollars
Annual Plan Grant 425 000 468,350
Donations 500 000 551,000
Project Grant 227 000 250,154
Memberships 10 000 11,020
Financial income 27 100 29,864
TOTAL PROJECTED INCOME 1 189 100 1,310,388


EXPENDITURE Euro US dollars
Programme A : Raising awareness and training to Wikimedia projects 177 776 195,909
Programme B : Diversify participation in Wikimedia projects 138 855 153,018
Programme C: Support, animate and strengthen the community 100 118 110,330
Fundraising cost (processing fees) 21 760 23,980
Governance (Board of trustee and General assembly) 23 000 25,346
Premises 85 000 93,670
Other Office costs 56 463 62,222
Audit & Accountancy 29 500 32,509
Staff salary and cost 551 000 607,202
Unexpected expenditure 5 628 6,202
TOTAL BUDGETED EXPENDITURE 1 189 100 1,310,388


Evaluation and Metrics edit

Programme Participants Newly registered Content pages Volunteer hours Partners satisfactions
Programme A : Raising awareness and training to Wikimedia projects 3100 1450 11100 850 82.5%
Programme B : Diversify participation in the Wikimedia movement 700 290 91000 2450
Programme C : Support, animate and strengthen the community 570 175 30000 3200
Total for all programmes : 4370 1915 132100 6500 82.5%
Evolution compared to the previous annual plan -32.77 % (6500) + 41.85 % (1350) +15.37 %(114500) +36.84 % (4750) +2.5% (80%)

Explanation: The number of participants is down compared to the previous year due to a lingering doubt about the renewal of the high school Wikiconcours next year. We do not know today whether the competition will be renewed identically, in a reduced form or simply cancelled and replaced by a new activity. Our historic partner sees its resources allocated by the State diminished. This, therefore, threatens the sustainability of the project. So as a precaution we did not count the participants in a potential Wikiconcours in the data. If this occurs, this will radically change the data of program A on all the indicators. During our progress report on the indicators in December, we could then reassess our objectives if this project were nevertheless to be renewed.

Verification and signature edit

Please enter "yes" or "no" for the verification below.

The term “political or legislative activities” includes any activities relating to political campaigns or candidates (including the contribution of funds and the publication of position statements relating to political campaigns or candidates); voter registration activities; meetings with or submissions and petitions to government executives, ministers, officers or agencies on political or policy issues; and any other activities seeking government intervention or policy implementation (like “lobbying”), whether directed toward the government or the community or public at large. General operating support through the FDC may not be used to cover political and legislative activities, although you may make a separate grant agreement with the WMF for these purposes.
I verify that no funds from the Wikimedia Foundation will be used
for political or legislative activities except as permitted by a grant agreement
Rémy Gerbet WMFr (talk) 10:01, 30 March 2020 (UTC)


Please sign below to complete this proposal form.

IMPORTANT. Please do not make any changes to this proposal form after the proposal submission deadline for this round. If a change that is essential to an understanding of your organization's proposal is needed, please request the change on the discussion page of this form so it may be reviewed by FDC staff. Once submitted, complete and valid proposal forms submitted on time by eligible organizations will be considered unless an organization withdraws its application in writing or fails to remain eligible for the duration of the FDC process.
Please sign here once this proposal form is complete, using four tildes. Rémy Gerbet WMFr (talk) 10:01, 30 March 2020 (UTC)