Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/First-time applicants

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For first-time applicants

Thanks for your interest in General Support Fund!

First step

All interested first-time applicants need to contact and meet with the Regional Program Officer to decide if the application can enter the General Support Fund round or not, and what realistic budget can be advised. First-time applicants who have not had a meeting with the regional Program Officer are ineligible.

You are not sure what your funding region is?

General Support Fund is supported across eight funding regions and each region has a Program Officer and Regional Funds Committee. Visit Grants:Regions, select your country and you will see your Program Officer details on the regional page.

Criteria for first-time applicants

When you meet with the Program Officer, they will support you in understanding these criteria for first-time applicants.

The General Support Fund (GSF) is open to Wikimedia Movement organizations and organized groups of Wikimedia volunteers, to support the effective programmatic work of those implementing their work in 100% of the time related to and focusing exclusively on Wikimedia mission.

Minimum generalized criteria for first-time applicants are:

Proven track record of activity in the Wikimedia movement and on Wikimedia projects (i.e. evidence of past programming activities involving Wikimedia volunteers, documented activities on Meta-Wiki or other Wikimedia Projects)
Minimum length of programming in general is 6 months of work implementation, regional exceptions might apply in Middle East & North Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa for distinct projects (e.g. global campaigns or WiR programs for shorter terms).
Organizational stability, existing governance structure, financial accountability.
Compliance with basic eligibility rules of the Wikimedia Community Funds.

Depending on the funding region, further criteria may apply:

Previous experience with Wikimedia Foundation funding applications (e.g. Rapid Fund, Conference Fund)
Priority may be provided to those who have been active in the movement but have never asked for General Support Fund funding before.
Priority may be provided to those without affiliation status in the movement who cannot apply anywhere else for funding.

Fundamentally, in all regions, General Support Fund newcomers' budget spending will be prioritizing entities from countries which currently do not receive General Support Fund funding. In the case of a prospective grantee coming from a country where affiliates are already actively implementing General Support Fund programs, the following further criteria apply:

Explanation must be submitted on why another entity needs funding in that country, and why the planned activities cannot be incorporated and supported by any of the current General Support Fund recipients.
Endorsement will be required at the time of applications on Meta-Wiki from all other General Support Fund-funded entities in that country on how they are productively co-existing or complementing each other or actively avoid duplication of efforts. (If a first-time applicant has undergone an Application for Affiliation Recognition process with a positive outcome, then the reactions to the published public letter of intent to affected projects and affiliates will be sufficient for the endorsement requirement above.)
Activities and their target groups must not overlap with of those already active in the country to avoid competition and conflict. Implementation of the activities must be independently carried out from each other.

Next steps

After meeting with the Program Officer and receiving their confirmation to apply follow these steps: