Grants:APG/Proposals/2018-2019 round 2/Wikimédia France/Staff proposal assessment

General Introduction

As decided at the end of last fiscal year (2017-2018), we have implemented a lightweight approach for Round 2 2018-2019 of Annual Plan Grants - General support. This will enable all participants to direct resources toward better alignment with the Wikimedia Strategic Direction. Applicants and staff have worked together between January to May. Staff offered feedback on past reports and plans, and worked with applicants to develop their upcoming annual plans. Organizations submitted lightweight summaries of their annual plans which are the basis for these funding recommendations. These recommendations are informed by the decision not to increase funding from last year's FDC recommendations. There is an exception for emerging communities outside of Europe. In this round, Wikimedia Indonesia and CIS were eligible for increased funding, and only Wikimedia Indonesia has requested a grant increase.

Working with organizations in a more systematic way to develop their annual plans has allowed:

• better alignment with the movement strategy direction, achieved by working closely with organization to develop their annual plans;
• funding capped at last year's level has prompted organizations to review and rethink some of their priorities, or to focus on securing external funding opportunities, and;
• a more thoughtful approach to grants metrics (focused on participation and content) and their use, including more qualitative metrics.

This lightweight approach has been adapted from the previous round. This round includes five annual plan summaries for the next grant period. Recommendations and remarks made by the FDC and staff in previous years have been taken into account by the organizations.

Text for approval - Wikimédia France

• Wikimedia France (WMFR): requesting approval for 450,000 EUR (~$509,000) for the upcoming year, in line with our plan for this transition year to keep funding stable for APG organizations. We believe that funding WMFR at the current amount will enable WMFR to continue the good progress that they are making in strengthening their governance, engaging their local communities, and targeting their programs to greater impact.

Over the past several years, Wikimédia France has focused on recovering from their governance crisis. To this end, they have strengthened organizational structures and increased community engagement. In the current year WMFR is reviewing its definition of impact. They are rethinking their program structure and strategic focus, and they are significantly changing their approaches in areas like GLAM and supporting minority languages. We hope these changes will help WMFR to achieve more impact in the long term. Wikimedia France receives the highest grant amount in all of the APG organizations and as such we encourage WMFR to consider carefully how they will fund the expansion of their program activities, since their APG grant amount is likely to be reduced in coming years. Delphine (WMF) (talk) 21:26, 9 July 2019 (UTC)

Approved by the Executive Director 22 May 2019