Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/AfroCROWD:Championing Communities of African Descent on and in Wikimedia and Improving the relevance of Wikipedia and open technology to communities of Color/Final Report

Final Learning Report

Report Status: Under review

Due date: 2023-08-07T00:00:00Z

Funding program: Wikimedia Community Fund

Report type: Final

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General information edit

This form is for organizations, groups, or individuals receiving Wikimedia Community Funds or Wikimedia Alliances Funds to report on their final results.

Name of Organization: AfroCROWD
Title of Proposal: AfroCROWD: Championing Communities of African Descent on and in Wikimedia and Improving the relevance of Wikipedia and open technology to communities of Color
Amount awarded: 133489.33 USD, 133489.33 USD
Amount spent: 125046.09 USD

Part 1 Understanding your work edit

1. Briefly describe how your proposed activities and strategies were implemented.

We hold a planning period for each activity and draw up a basic schedule of expected events once central objectives and deliverable, resource need, scope and timing have been identified. If we are working with partners, we work to ensure that their objectives are advanced. We also identify potential risk areas and ways to avoid or buttress needs there as is possible. Once the preliminary planning is done, we focus on outreach and implementation. Post event followup is also important, and includes the partner and other outreach.

2. Were there any strategies or approaches that you felt were effective in achieving your goals?

Yes. We, for the first time, added the work of an LGBTQ consultant that helped us to formulate new approaches in our outreach to the QTBIPOC community.

3. Would you say that your project had any innovations? Are there things that you did very differently than you have seen them done by others?

Yes. We worked with influencers this year to spread the word about AfroCROWD in the QTBIPOC community. We also worked with entertainers in a similar respect and appeared on the Wiki Listen Podcast to spark interested and viability.

4. Please describe how different communities participated and/or were informed about your work.

We use a robust outreach campaign that now also includes podcasts and other media along with traditional email and outreach. We also are vested in social media which this year saw a growth on Facebook and Twitter platforms. This year we also began using Instagram Reels and cooperative posting as well as our Website and On-wiki pages and joint boards,

5. Documentation of your impact. Please use the two spaces below to share files and links that help tell your story and impact. This can be documentation that shows your results through testimonies, videos, sound files, images (photos and infographics, etc.) social media posts, dashboards, etc.

Upload Documents and Files

Here is an additional field to type in URLs.

https://twitter.com/AfroCROWDit

6. To what extent do you agree with the following statements regarding the work carried out with the support of this Fund? You can choose “not applicable” if your work does not relate to these goals.

Our efforts during the Fund period have helped to...
A. Bring in participants from underrepresented groups	Strongly agree
B. Create a more inclusive and connected culture in our community	Strongly agree
C. Develop content about underrepresented topics/groups	Strongly agree
D. Develop content from underrepresented perspectives	Strongly agree
E. Encourage the retention of editors	Strongly agree
F. Encourage the retention of organizers	Strongly agree
G. Increased participants' feelings of belonging and connection to the movement.	Strongly agree

7. Is there anything else you would like to share about how your efforts helped to bring in participants and/or build out content, particularly for underrepresented groups?

There is a clear strategy for their continued participation and funding to support this. This year three of our AfroCROWDers and organizers as well as one of our partners and two movement partners will join us to present at Wikimania Singapore where our executive director, a member of the programming subcommittee and a lead coordinator on lightning talks amplifying ideas from throughout the Movement. One of our presenters has been a steady participant in AfroCROWD for more than 4 years. Another, though new to participation in the larger movement, has been a part of AfroCROWD activities since the lockdowns of the COVID19 Pandemic and is now open to more involvement in Wikimedia projects. These are all gains while not simply numeric counts reflect the growth and ownership and belonging in the Movement we seek to endear in AfroCROWD partners and participants whether they come to one event or are inspired to keep growing with us and Wikimedians at large. We like to think of ourselves as a welcoming hub and space as they find their way in this fascinating larger, sometimes challenging community, especially at the periphery.

Part 2: Your main learning edit

8. In your application, you outlined your learning priorities. What did you learn about these areas during this period?

We had an ambitious agenda to expand our global outreach, chip away at the digital divide, increase outreach to the LGBTQ community, and continue or work at universities while also expanding and strengthening our partnerships both in the Wikimedia community and beyond.

We learned that for each of these areas, it helped to be open and flexible while still remaining true to our goals and mission.

9. Did anything unexpected or surprising happen when implementing your activities?

This fiscal cycle was one of growth in our capacity development and building. While we expanded in terms of organizing liaisons and continued to lengthen the span of AfroCROWD activity and projects, we underestimated the need for the administrative capacity to better utilize, onboard and ease in these roles to the greatest benefit.

The resources, timing, and other unforeseen needs in the growth areas of locating, interviewing, onboarding, developing, and synergizing new faces in this space could have been better managed by slowing down the pace to allow for greater development, especially while continuing with our programming.

Though these areas did help forward our growth as an organizational initiative, and the resulting growth process was likely the greatest benefit.

10. How do you hope to use this learning? For instance, do you have any new priorities, ideas for activities, or goals for the future?

Sometimes it is when plans don’t go according to well, plan, that we find the kind of growth and development that fortifies strength both in an organizational context as well as an individual one. Burnout it a word that is used for many individuals for items that regardless of activity - whether in a volunteer capacity or in a personal or many other kinds of commitments or professional even mission related capacities can be easily overlooked, especially in the midst of work we believe in and care about. We may find ourselves ignoring our limits, our need for assistance and even our health. As an organization, this can also make appearances in items like mission creep and other concerns. Though it may not be directly related, areas like health management, that can sometimes seem less in priority, can take a hit in the process, which only adds more to any mounting challenges. Something that contributed to new understanding of areas for development this cycle.

Going forward, we will take measure to improve delegation and investment in resources fir greater team involvement, stay close to our mission, increase communication at the first sign of need and prioritize development of capacity improvements for quality growth and internal improvement to be reelected in our outward presentation as well a a result.

11. If you were sitting with a friend to tell them one thing about your work during this fund, what would it be (think of inspiring or fascinating moments, tough challenges, interesting anecdotes, or anything that feels important to you)?

AfroCROWD's work continues to expand and grow in ways that are both in reflection of society and in other ways intertwined with it. We are seeing important shifts and changes happening throughout the African Diaspora.

A significant focus has been on increasing visibility for underrepresented groups. This includes groups already marginalized within marginalized communities such those identifying as QTBIPOC, and/or immigrant, for example.

Within our shores of this universe, we remain a space created using Wiki resources as empowering tools to explore, learn and develop even as the roads and bridges and tunnels both on and offline shift and expand and in some cases even shrink under the weight of the history we simultaneously live and endeavor to document.

12. Please share resources that would be useful to share with other Wikimedia organizations so that they can learn from, adapt or build upon your work. For instance, guides, training material, presentations, work processes, or any other material the team has created to document and transfer knowledge about your work and can be useful for others. Please share any specific resources that you are creating, adapting/contextualizing in ways that are unique to your context (i.e. training material).

Upload Documents and Files

Here is an additional field to type in URLs.

AfroCROWD Survey Respondent Snapshot: Participant Self Identification and Affiliations: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NxQw_eVAuQPtywENchWUU1ysZhiNvI5tsZU26otvutM/edit?usp=sharing

Part 3: Metrics edit

13a. Open and additional metrics data

Open Metrics
Open Metrics	Description	Target	Results	Comments	Methodology
participants of the events, workshops and trainings	As the project aims to be open to people of all backgrounds with a special focus on people of African descent, we expect strong interest from the public and aim to have over 1000 participants throughout the 3 years of the events.	1000	288	This year’s target: 300 This does not include audience participants at festivals and broader online viewers on platforms like podcasts, or YouTube. Social media outreach, for example, for our AfroCROWD Wiki Trivia campaign highlighting notable people of African descent has reached more than 27,139 people via calculate impressions on X (Twitter) alone.	Attendance Sheets/Dashboard/Forms Twitter data counted via impressions
number of events	We aim to have an educational event at least once a month for the 3 years.	36	21	This year's goal: 12	This includes lectures, editathons, AfroCROWD partnered events, representation in committee work like the organizing committee for Wikimania, photowalks, and translatathons.
Survey responses	We aim to hold surveys inclusive of self identification and asking questions related to responses to question 19	600	240	This year's goal: 200 respondents.	Data gathered from forms surveys that included this requested information
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

Additional Metrics
Additional Metrics	Description	Target	Results	Comments	Methodology
Number of editors that continue to participate/retained after activities	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Number of organizers that continue to participate/retained after activities	N/A	N/A	7	This include volunteers and partners we continue to work with us to organize events this cycle	Simple count
Number of strategic partnerships that contribute to longer term growth, diversity and sustainability	N/A	N/A	15	Goal: 12	Simple count of involved partners this cycle.
Feedback from participants on effective strategies for attracting and retaining contributors	N/A	N/A	N/A	Please See our survey report	Forms data
Diversity of participants brought in by grantees	N/A	N/A	N/A	Please see our demographics survey	Forms data
Number of people reached through social media publications	N/A	N/A	27139	Goal: 7,500 impressions	Social media following, 4,804 with most new following via Twitter. Twitter impressions reach 27,139 impressions this cycle of media we released between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023.
Number of activities developed	N/A	N/A	21	Goal: 12 These activities included editathons, translatathons, photowalks, talks and podcast and other interviews	Event activity count
Number of volunteer hours	N/A	N/A	18460	Rough estimate based on editing events and time spent in events and by volunteers for them	Estimate of editing hours and volunteer organizing hours for editing events

13b. Additional core metrics data.

Core Metrics Summary
Core metrics	Description	Target	Results	Comments	Methodology
Number of participants	Our events will be open to people of all backgrounds with a special focus on people of African descent. The number of participants in all activities will be 1000+. Out of that number at least 600 people will be new participants.	600	288	This year's goal: 200
Number of editors	Our events will be open to people of all backgrounds with a special focus on people of African descent. The number of editors in all activities will be 1000+. Out of that number at least 500 people will be new editors.	500	144	This year's goal 175 (or 35%)	53% or an est. 144 editors Estimate based on number of event registrants who claimed to not yet have usernames upon registration
Number of organizers	The number of organizers in the project is 50. Additionally, we will have 4 new organizers that will help to oversee, monitor and plan project activities such as edit-a-thons, online and offline meetings etc.)	50	18	This year's goal: 16	Organizers working with AfroCROWD on this year's events, not including media activities and organizational sponsors.

**Number of new content contributions per Wikimedia project**
Wikimedia Project	Description	Target	Results	Comments	Methodology
Wikipedia	Wikipedia 1000 new articles edited related to topics on cultures and communities of Africa and the African diaspora and associated topics.	1000	4157	N/A	Dashboard and in person/ class reporting minus skew
Wikimedia Commons	We aim to have 350 images uploaded to Wikimedia commons.	350	1324	Raw and photo walks	Dashboard minus skew
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A

14. Were there any metrics in your proposal that you could not collect or that you had to change?

No

15. If you have any difficulties collecting data to measure your results, please describe and add any recommendations on how to address them in the future.

While we find online forms, (e.g. registration) excellent for collecting participant data like self identification, editing background and the like, editors can sometimes leave out their user names, as can new users who start during the event r as a result of it. Account registration is more efficient during in-person events because once missing user information is detected, volunteers simply can request it there. This is harder online, so new users, and those who forgot this step at registration may be under-counted, making online editor numbers seem lower than they were. Due to the importance of user information, we are requiring participants to register their account needs ahead of time and follow up post-event if we don't have the opportunity to address it during the online event.

16. Use this space to link or upload any additional documents that would be useful to understand your data collection (e.g., dashboards, surveys you have carried out, communications material, training material, etc).

Upload Documents and Files

AfroCROWD Impact Report 2022-2023.pptx

Here is an additional field to type in URLs.

AfroCROWD Expense Reporting 2022-2023 Final Report: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tFEgeyUox8w4qJ07Rd7lTd1x2_x0PxUwJVYD4eT1rjA/edit#gid=262906063

Part 4: Organizational capacities & partnerships edit

17. Organizational Capacity

Organizational capacity dimension
A. Financial capacity and management	This has grown over the last year, the capacity is high
B. Conflict management or transformation	This capacity has grown but it should be further developed
C. Leadership (i.e growing in potential leaders, leadership that fit organizational needs and values)	This capacity has grown but it should be further developed
D. Partnership building	This capacity has grown but it should be further developed
E. Strategic planning	This capacity has grown but it should be further developed
F. Program design, implementation, and management	This capacity has grown but it should be further developed
G. Scoping and testing new approaches, innovation	This capacity has grown but it should be further developed
H. Recruiting new contributors (volunteer)	This has grown over the last year, the capacity is high
I. Support and growth path for different types of contributors (volunteers)	This has grown over the last year, the capacity is high
J. Governance	This capacity has grown but it should be further developed
K. Communications, marketing, and social media	This has grown over the last year, the capacity is high
L. Staffing - hiring, monitoring, supporting in the areas needed for program implementation and sustainability	This capacity has grown but it should be further developed
M. On-wiki technical skills	This has grown over the last year, the capacity is high
N. Accessing and using data	This has grown over the last year, the capacity is high
O. Evaluating and learning from our work	This capacity has grown but it should be further developed
P. Communicating and sharing what we learn with our peers and other stakeholders	This has grown over the last year, the capacity is high
N/A
N/A

17a. Which of the following factors most helped you to build capacities? Please pick a MAXIMUM of the three most relevant factors.

Formal training provided by a Wikimedia Movement organizing group (i.e., Affiliates, Grantees, Regional or Thematic Hub, etc.), Formal training provided from outside the Wikimedia Movement, Peer to peer learning with other community members in conferences/events

17b. Which of the following factors hindered your ability to build capacities? Please pick a MAXIMUM of the three most relevant factors.

Lack of staff time to participate in capacity building/training, Lack of training that fits contextual needs and interests, Ineffective training opportunities which did not improve capacity

18. Is there anything else you would like to share about how your organizational capacity has grown, and areas where you require support?

We are still growing in this area and intend to overhaul how we handle organizer/ liason roles, succession planning and administrative support.

19. Partnerships over the funding period.

Over the fund period...
A. We built strategic partnerships with other institutions or groups that will help us grow in the medium term (3 year time frame)	Strongly agree
B. The partnerships we built with other institutions or groups helped to bring in more contributors from underrepresented groups	Strongly agree
C. The partnerships we built with other institutions or groups helped to build out more content on underrepresented topics/groups	Strongly agree

19a. Which of the following factors most helped you to build partnerships? Please pick a MAXIMUM of the three most relevant factors.

Permanent staff outreach, Staff hired through the fund, Institutional support from the Wikimedia Foundation

19b. Which of the following factors hindered your ability to build partnerships? Please pick a MAXIMUM of the three most relevant factors.

Difficulties specific to our context that hindered partnerships

20. Please share your learning about strategies to build partnerships with other institutions and groups and any other learning about working with partners?

Partners help AfroCROWD to work it’s best by helping us to connect to communities that may often be harder to connect to. We have had deep and successful partnerships throughout the years, but an area for development this season has been maintaining connections with partners bother international and domestic that were born in protracted online connection, that now can gain more from greater in-person interactions. In order to continue to grow these beneficial relationships, we have embarked on greater outreach in person through local liaison and hybrid solutions which have thankfully created promising results for us in this area.

Part 5: Sense of belonging and collaboration edit

21. What would it mean for your organization to feel a sense of belonging to the Wikimedia or free knowledge movement?

It would be very encouraging, and is something we highly value as a part of our outreach and partnership is creating space for newcomers to join the community at large.

22. How has your (for individual grantees) or your group/organization’s (for organizational grantees) sense of belonging to the Wikimedia or free knowledge movement changed over the fund period?

Increased significantly

23. If you would like to, please share why it has changed in this way.

N/A

24. How has your group/organization’s sense of personal investment in the Wikimedia or free knowledge movement changed over the fund period?

Increased significantly

25. If you would like to, please share why it has changed in this way.

N/A

26. Are there other movements besides the Wikimedia or free knowledge movement that play a central role in your motivation to contribute to Wikimedia projects? (for example, Black Lives Matter, Feminist movement, Climate Justice, or other activism spaces) If so, please describe it below.

N/A

Supporting Peer Learning and Collaboration edit

We are interested in better supporting peer learning and collaboration in the movement.

27. Have you shared these results with Wikimedia affiliates or community members?

Yes

27a. Please describe how you have already shared them. Would you like to do more sharing, and if so how?

28. How often do you currently share what you have learned with other Wikimedia Foundation grantees, and learn from them?

We do this regularly (at least once a month)

29. How does your organization currently share mutual learning with other grantees?

N/A

Part 6: Financial reporting and compliance edit

30. Please state the total amount spent in your local currency.

125046.09

31. Local currency type

USD

32. Please report the funds received and spending in the currency of your fund.

Upload Documents, Templates, and Files.

Report funds received and spent, if template not used.

33. If you have not already done so in your budget report, please provide information on changes in the budget in relation to your original proposal.

N/A

34. Do you have any unspent funds from the Fund?

34a. Please list the amount and currency you did not use and explain why.

N/A

34b. What are you planning to do with the underspent funds?

N/A

34c. Please provide details of hope to spend these funds.

N/A

35. Are you in compliance with the terms outlined in the fund agreement?

As required in the fund agreement, please report any deviations from your fund proposal here. Note that, among other things, any changes must be consistent with our WMF mission, must be for charitable purposes as defined in the grant agreement, and must otherwise comply with the grant agreement.

36. Are you in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations as outlined in the grant agreement?

Yes

37. Are you in compliance with provisions of the United States Internal Revenue Code (“Code”), and with relevant tax laws and regulations restricting the use of the Funds as outlined in the grant agreement? In summary, this is to confirm that the funds were used in alignment with the WMF mission and for charitable/nonprofit/educational purposes.

Yes

38. If you have additional recommendations or reflections that don’t fit into the above sections, please write them here.

There are no further additions, thank you for your support, time and consideration.