Grants:Conference/FlashFunding

This page is kept for historical interest. Any grant programs, policies, or related details mentioned may be obsolete. You can find Wikimedia Foundation's current funding programs at Grants:Start.

Flash Funding for Virtual Events

Flash Funding for Virtual Events provide quick support on a short term basis for expenses related to virtual events during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Up to USD $5,000 will be considered. Apply for Flash Funding at the bottom of this page.

Flash Funding for Virtual Events program funds Wikimedia community members – individuals, groups, or organizations contributing to Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia or Wikidata– to organize virtual events during the COVID-19 pandemic with a budget of up to USD $5,000. Virtual event needs can include experiments or standard needs that don't require an extensive review to get started.<

Applications are accepted at any time starting <DATE> and the program will be reevaluated for continuation every month. Decisions are made as soon as possible and always within less than two weeks. Flash Funding will be paid out within two weeks after a contract is signed.

Examples of eligible requests

Virtual event hosting and subscription services
Live Translation
Live facilitation
Trainings around how to host virtual events
Closed Captioning services
New and innovative ideas are very welcome

Proposals should support the achievement of Wikimedia’s mission. All requests up to USD $5,000 will be considered, and reviewed within a timeframe of 1-2 weeks. If the requested funding exceeds $5,000 please email rfarrand@wikimedia.org, to discuss the specifics of your proposal.

If your request is for:

less than $2,000 and,
does not involve compensation for a service or a service related to training, facilitation, or translation

please make a request through the Rapid Grants program.<LINK>

Anyone receiving Flash Funding for a Virtual Event will need to report their lessons learned, experience, and suggestions for future organizers on <LINK>. to ensure we learn and improve as a movement.

Eligibility and approval for each grant will be determined by the Wikimedia Foundation. Questions? Please email rfarrandwikimedia.org

Eligibility Criteria

If you have any questions about whether your group is eligible for a conference grant, please contact the program manager at rfarrand@wikimedia.org before you begin the application process.

Individuals, groups, and organizations may apply.
Any individual, group, or organization is allowed up to three (3) open Flash Funding, Project Grants and Rapid Grants at any one time. See details here.
Grants must be less than 5000 USD (or its equivalent in another currency at the time of the application).
Grants can be up to 12 months in length, and there is no minimum length.
Activities or expenses that have already taken place at the time of application are ineligible for funding.
Applicants must be in good community and legal standing according to the assessments of the Wikimedia Foundation's Trust & Safety Team and the Community Resources Team. See details here.
Applicants (including individuals and groups involved with the application) must be in compliance with all signed agreements with the Wikimedia Foundation, which includes being up to date with their reporting requirements. Applicants with late, past due, or incomplete grant reports are not eligible to be considered for future funding.
Applicants that repeatedly do not respond to requests for information about their applications or grants, or who have mismanaged past grants or applications may be made ineligible for future grants.
Grantees are strongly encouraged to adapt some type of Friendly space policy for any virtual events.

Behavioral Requirements

We ask that applicants meet the following criteria for behavioral conduct. These standards apply to all members of a group’s or organization’s leadership team, and to any key people involved with organizing the funded activities. A list of these people must be provided to the grants administration team at the time of application.

Applicants should be in good standing in regard to ethical behavior within your community (e.g. social behavior, financial behavior, legal behavior, etc), as determined through the due diligence process of the grant program. Past instances as well as current investigations or incidents will be considered by the Wikimedia Foundation when determining the eligibility of each applicant.
Within the last year, applicants have not been blocked, banned, or otherwise flagged by the Wikimedia Foundation or another affiliate for violations of friendly space expectations or friendly space policies, or for other types of violations or conduct issues. If such issues have occurred in the past, the applicants demonstrate learning and understanding in regard to the cause for the issue, such that they are ready to serve as a role model for others as a grantee.
Within the last year, applicants have not been repeatedly blocked or flagged for the same issue and/or have not been banned on the Wikimedia Projects. If a block/ban is recorded in the applicant's account history, the applicant demonstrates learning and understanding in regard to the cause for the block, such that they are ready to serve as a role model for others as a grantee.
On occasion, we make exceptions to these criteria if we believe it contributes to a fair and equitable review process. If there is something you believe is important for us to understand about your circumstances in regard to our criteria, you are welcome to reach out to us at projectgrantswikimedia.org.
Due to issues around privacy and the sensitivity of information, it may not always be possible to share complete information about eligibility decisions with each applicant for every decision.

Apply

Read about how the program works and make sure you and your request meet the criteria for support.
Fill out the application form below
Create your application by typing a name for your page in the format of "YourName/Project name" in the input box below.
- You can use your real name or your username.
- If you are applying as a Wikimedia Movement Affiliate, please enter your affiliate abbreviation. For example, "WM ZA/Virtual Wikidata" or "UG EG/Facilitation for remote editathon". See the list of affiliate abbreviations if needed.
Follow the instructions that appear when you create the application.

Report

Review some sample reports from the rapid grants program
Submit your report within 30 days after the end of the project. Use the button provided on your accepted application to start your report. Or, start it using the input box provided here, naming your report in the form of "YourName(or AffiliateName)/Project Name/Report". For example "WM ZA/Virtual Wikidata/Report".
In your report, you will be asked to tell us if you met your goals, what metrics you collected, your learnings from the project and how the funds were spent.
Email rfarrandwikimedia.org to notify Wikimedia Foundation staff that your report is ready for review along with your documentation of expenses (scanned receipts).
If details are missing, Wikimedia Foundation staff will ask for clarifications on the discussion page of your report (so be sure to add it to your watchlist and check back for updates regularly).
If you have unspent funds to return to the Wikimedia Foundation, please follow the instructions here.