Grants:Agreements

Purpose and background

If you receive a grant from Wikimedia Foundation, you or someone from your group or organization will need to sign an agreement with Wikimedia Foundation about how you and Wikimedia Foundation will work together on your grant.

Wikimedia Foundation uses a number of different agreements to meet the specific needs of different projects and grantees. These agreements are intended for international use and are not country-specific. Even grantees in the same program or grantees of the same type (groups, organizations, individuals) may need different types of agreements specific to their situations. We have provided some general information here about the types of grant agreements we use, but your grants administrator will choose the appropriate agreement for you and your project if you do receive a grant from Wikimedia Foundation.

In general, each agreement will address the following:

• Your responsibilities for reporting and record-keeping around this grant.
• When to notify WMF of changes affecting you or your grant.
• Requirements for compliance with applicable laws and regulations.
• How and when you can receive grant funds.
• How you can use the grant funds, and what you can and can't use them for.

We encourage you to review the text of your grant agreement carefully once you receive it, and to ask the Grant Administrators if you have any questions before you sign.

Table summary of the grant agreements

This summary is not a legal document, and you will need to consult the terms of your own grant agreement to understand the requirements there.

Topic addressed	Rapid Fund agreement	Conference Fund agreement	General Support Fund agreement for organizations	Alliances Fund agreement for organizations	Fiscal sponsorship agreement
Agreement used by	Individuals, Organizations, Groups	Organizations, Groups	Organizations	Organizations	Organizations
Agreement used for	Rapid grants	Conference grants	General support grants	Project related activities	Fiscal sponsorships
Final report required	Within 30 days of end of grant term	As instructed by WMF	Within 30 days of end of grant term	Within 30 days of end of grant term	Within 90 days of end of grant term
Interim reports required	As required by WMF	As required by WMF	1 midterm report and as required by WMF	1 midterm report and as required by WMF	As required by WMF
Financial/expense report required	Within 30 days of end of grant term	As instructed by WMF	Within 30 days of end of grant term	Within 30 days of end of grant term	No
Funds for charitable or educational purposes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Use of grant funds for lobbying permitted	No	No	No	No	No
Purpose of grant funds	As outlined in Appendix	As outlined in Appendix	As outlined in Appendix	As outlined in Appendix	As outlined in Appendix
Re-granting permitted	Yes, under conditions specified in Appendix	Yes, under conditions specified in Appendix	Yes, under conditions specified in Appendix	Yes, under conditions specified in Appendix	Only to grantee
Separate bookkeeping required	As required by WMF	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Joint account required	As required by WMF (for groups)	As required by WMF (for groups)	No	No	No
Remaining funds	Return within 30 days of grant term	Return within 30 days of grant term or as instructed by WMF	Return within 30 days of grant term or as instructed by WMF	Return within 30 days of grant term or as instructed by WMF	Return within 30 - 60 days of grant term or as instructed by WMF
Maintain financial records and receipts	4 years	4 years	4 years	4 years	4 years
Changes to project budget	Notify WMF of variations of more than 20%, or as instructed	Notify WMF of variations of more than 20%, or as instructed	Explanation all variances in progress report, or as instructed by WMF	Explanation all variances in progress report, or as instructed by WMF	Notify WMF of variations of more than 20%, or as instructed
Conflicts of interest	Notify grants administrator	Notify grants administrator	Notify WMF; Maintain policy	Notify WMF; Maintain policy	Notify program officer or grants administrator
Changes to leadership (board, staff, key personnel)	Organizations, notify WMF	Notify WMF	Notify WMF	Notify WMF	Notify WMF
Changes to access to grant funds	Notify WMF	Notify WMF	Notify WMF	Notify WMF	Notify WMF
Potential or actual legal or regulatory actions related to the grant	Notify WMF	Notify WMF	Notify WMF	Notify WMF	Notify WMF
Potential or actual legal or regulatory actions related to the grantee	Notify WMF	Notify WMF	Notify WMF	Notify WMF	Notify WMF
Payment schedule	As instructed by WMF	1 installment or as instructed by WMF	1 installment or as instructed by WMF	2 installments or as instructed by WMF	As instructed by WMF

Links to example grant agreements

• Grants:Conference/Example agreements
• Grants:Project/Rapid/Example agreements
• Grants:APG/Example agreement - grant program ended 30 June 2021
• Grants:Project/Example agreements - grant program ended 30 June 2021