Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund

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  Wikimedia Community Fund
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Please find the Application Guides for Wikimedia Community Fund here.

Applications are currently being finalized and translated in Spanish, French, Arabic, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, and German. While we are finalizing the applications and its translations, please continue to use the Rapid Grant program for Rapid Fund requests.

Who we fund

The Wikimedia Foundation provides support to individuals, groups, organizations and affiliates around the world that are actively working on promoting knowledge equity aligned with the strategic direction of the Wikimedia movement.

We will increase investment of resources in underrepresented Wikimedia communities around the world.

Questions? Please contact us.

What we fund and funding programs

The Wikimedia Community Fund broadly supports volunteer efforts in the movement, especially those that promote knowledge equity. We emphasize the need for underrepresented communities and historically marginalized communities in the movement to have access to resources they need to accomplish their goals.

The Wikimedia Community Fund has three general areas of support:

Rapid Fund

Short-term, low-cost projects by individuals, groups, or organizations contributing to Wikimedia projects. This program is comparable to the previous Rapid Grants program.

Apply

Conference & Event Fund

Funding and planning support to groups, individuals or organizations to organize local, regional, and thematic conferences that bring together Wikimedians for experience sharing, skill building, and networking. This program is comparable to the previous Conference & Events Grant program.

Apply

General Support Fund

Flexible general operating support for individuals, groups, or affiliates that have developed larger projects or programs or a strategic plan that requires sustained investment over time to be able to achieve its goals. Multi-year grant funding is available if appropriate to the goals and objectives of the applicant. This program is comparable to the previous Simple Annual Plan Grant, Annual Plan Grant, and Project Grant programs.

Some examples of what we fund

• Individuals coordinating local events related to a global campaign in their community.
• Cultural and heritage projects that support contribution of content, curation of the content and promote accessibility of that content.
• Strategic and annual plans from Wikimedia Movement Affiliates
• Local, regional, and thematic conferences that bring together Wikimedians
• Common expenses supported through previous grant programs such as (but not limited to):
  • Working space, services, prizes, outreach, and other common costs needed to support edit-a-thons, contests, photowalks, and promotional campaigns.
  • Data costs to support access to online events
  • Travel for organizers and participation

Regional Committees will have flexibility to fund projects and expenses that applicants identify based on their specific context and situational needs, and may support additional requests not described here.

Eligibility criteria

The following are basic criteria that must be met by all Wikimedia Community Fund applicants in order for a proposal to be reviewed:

• Applicant must follow the Universal Code of Conduct and Friendly Space Policies
• Youth Safety Policy must be in place for any activity that involves underage community members
• Applicant is within a country that can legally receive funding for the described activities and expenses based on laws on sending and receiving funds in the United States and their country
• Applicants must be in compliance with all requirements and in good standing for any current activities funded through the Wikimedia Foundation
• Works and contributions must be able to be published under ethical, open access agreements
• Applications must be for future, planned work
• All applications must be compliant with the COVID-19 policy and risk matrix

How we fund

Applications are currently being finalized and translated in Spanish, French, Arabic, Russian, Mandarin Chinese, and German. The links to applications will be added soon. While we are finalizing the applications and its translations, please continue to use the Rapid Grant program for Rapid Fund requests.

The Foundation Program Officers and the participatory committees work together to be strategic thought partners with applicants. The funding decisions are based on eligibility and committee deliberation. The principles that are foundational and underline the grants strategy are based directly on the Movement Strategy Principles:

• Subsidiarity & Self Management
• Equity & Empowerment
• Collaboration & Cooperation
• People Centeredness - listening and reflection
• Efficient Data & Iterative Practices - promoting innovation and learning

Application process

• Preparation by Regional Program Officer, including proactive communication and outreach about Funding Programs
• Open Call for Funds, including office hours and program officer support for proposal development
• Review of proposals, including eligibility check, due diligence, community review, committee review and deliberation
• Decision

Timing of decision-making process and average award amount

Rapid Fund

• 1 month processing time from application to decision
• Average grant size 500-5,000 USD
• If your grant proposal falls below or exceeds please contact us for support.

Open call period for applications

Region	Proposed open call period
All regions	All year round

Conference & Event Fund

• 2 month processing time from application to decision
• A Conference Grant amount can range between 10-90K USD, average grant size

Proposed open call period for applications

Region	Round 1	Round 2
All regions	September - November	February - March

General Support Fund

• 2 month processing time from application to decision
• Average annual grant size varies on application proposal 10K - 300K

Proposed open call period for applications

Region	Round 1	Round 2
CEE and Central Asia	October-November	February - March
Northern and Western Europe	November - December	May - June
United States and Canada	October-November	February - March
SAARC	November - December	May - June
Latin America and The Caribbean	October-November	February - March
Middle East and Africa	October-November	February - March
ESEAP	November - December	May - June

Contact us

Rapid Fund

If you have any questions about the Rapid Fund, please reach out to your Regional Program Officer via email:

Region	Email address
Middle East and Africa	mea_rapidwikimedia.org
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)	saarc_rapidwikimedia.org
East, Southeast Asia, and Pacific (ESEAP)	eseap_rapidwikimedia.org
Latin America (LATAM) and The Caribbean	lac_rapidwikimedia.org
United States and Canada	usca_rapidwikimedia.org
Northern and Western Europe	nwe_rapidwikimedia.org
Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Central Asia	ceeca_rapidwikimedia.org

General Support Fund

If you have any questions about the General Support Fund, please reach out to your Regional Program Officer via email:

Region	Email address
Middle East and Africa	mea_fundwikimedia.org
South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC)	saarc_fundwikimedia.org
East, Southeast Asia, and Pacific (ESEAP)	eseap_fundwikimedia.org
Latin America (LATAM) and The Caribbean	lac_fundwikimedia.org
United States and Canada	usca_fundwikimedia.org
Northern and Western Europe	nwe_fundwikimedia.org
Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and Central Asia	ceeca_fundwikimedia.org