Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Wikimedia Community Malta Simple Annual Plan 2023/Final Report
Report Status: Accepted
Due date: 2024-01-30T00:00:00Z
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: Wikimedia Community Malta
- Title of Proposal: Wikimedia Community Malta Simple Annual Plan 2023
- Amount awarded: 41151.51 USD, 38756 EUR
- Amount spent: 35947.04 EUR
Part 1 Understanding your work edit
1. Briefly describe how your proposed activities and strategies were implemented.
Our main strategic goal throughout the year was to continue our presence within the local community by consistently being active and producing activities to encourage greater participation and engagement, both at a local and international level. We believe that this has broadly been achieved, as we were able to hold several activities throughout the year, including one that we have wanted to develop as part of our program previously.
Our implementation strategy broadly continued to build upon what we had done in previous years, namely identifying and developing activities that may encourage further engagement and working with key partners to maximize their reach and impact.
This grant enabled us to continue developing our program far more systematically than we could do before we started operating with an annual grant, as it allowed us to dedicate further time and resources to the planning and implementation stages of our activities. A key element enabled by the grant was the employment of a program coordinator, which ensures we do not continue to solely rely on the kindness of volunteers to organize and deliver our planned activities. This has allowed us to build stronger links with partner organizations and prospective partners, which augurs well for our ongoing work to promote Wikimedia activities in Malta.
2. Were there any strategies or approaches that you felt were effective in achieving your goals?
The presence of a dedicated project coordinator continues to be crucial in achieving our goals, as it enables us to manage our time in a more efficient and effective manner, working towards both short and medium-term goals simultaneously. Our experience over the past year has continued to show us the benefit of dedicating specific resources to the different aspects of the organization’s running, including the organization’s day-to-day administration, the implementation of activities, and the longer-term strategic development.
Having a project coordinator on board also helped us to strengthen our relationships with key partners as well as explore the possibilities of developing new partnerships over the coming years. One example of this is a loose partnership with the University of Malta, which was planned in 2022 and delivered as a pilot in 2023. Another example is our ability to finally initiate a Wikimedian in Residence program at the Times of Malta, which is Malta's newspaper of record.
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?
The only thing we would possibly mention her is the Wikimedian in Residence program we have initiated with the Times of Malta, which is a media organization. Our understanding is that WiR programs are more common in GLAM or Education settings. We are therefore seeking input as well as potentially providing new insights into ways a WiR program can be implemented within a media organization.
4. Please describe how different communities participated and/or were informed about your work.
Our active community members attend regular meetups and we share information and ideas freely regularly with them there. We regularly pick up new active community members from these gatherings.
Our broader community is kept informed through our social media channels, mainly Facebook and Instagram; we also use Twitter but less so since it switched to X. Without such outreach, we would struggle to keep people informed about our activities and community news. The general public in Malta receives information about us through occasional press releases and mainstream media coverage, such as this: https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/times-malta-gets-wikimedianinresidence.1062258 We’ve also had some media coverage, which can be seen here: http://wikimalta.org/wiki/Press_coverage#2023
Members of the Wikimedia Movement are informed about our work during meetings and events, such as Celtic Knot. We’ve also delivered a similar presentation at the CEE Meeting in Ohrid, which enabled members of the CEE Hub to get a better sense of what we do in Malta.
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.
- These are the slides as we used them for a presentation we gave at the CEE Meeting in Tblisi outlining our story and impact: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WCM-CEE2023.pdf
It's also good to take a look at our annual affiliate report. The most recent one covers the period 1 August 2022 until 31 July 2023: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Community_User_Group_Malta/Reports/2023_Annual_Report
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.
| A. Bring in participants from underrepresented groups | Neither agree nor disagree |
| B. Create a more inclusive and connected culture in our community | Agree |
| C. Develop content about underrepresented topics/groups | Strongly agree |
| D. Develop content from underrepresented perspectives | Agree |
| E. Encourage the retention of editors | Agree |
| F. Encourage the retention of organizers | Strongly agree |
| G. Increased participants' feelings of belonging and connection to the movement. | 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?
We have reached out to Wikimedians in Africa through Wiki Indaba 2023. The intention of these prospective collaborations is to explore intercultural dialogues between African Wikimedia affiliates and the Malta Wikimedia affiliate towards a broadening of understandings of Africa in Europe and vice versa. This is primarily informed by the fact that a growing percentage of the population consists of immigrants from Africa. Malta is a member state of the European Union and as such provides an opportunity for a cultural bridge between the two continents.
You can read more about this here: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Community_User_Group_Malta/Wiki_Indaba
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?
One of our key ambitions for this grant was to stablize our activities and learn how to manage the greater logistical and administrative workload that comes as a result of our up-scaling in recent years. We have generally succeeded in this goal, with many of the activities we organize maintaining their ambition, reach and impact.
We continue to aim to develop a stronger understanding of how to implement core metrics and use them in our planning and implementation. While we have partly succeeded in doing so, we still feel that there is ample room for growth in this area and hope to continue developing this knowledge further in the coming years.
9. Did anything unexpected or surprising happen when implementing your activities?
Two unexpected and/or surprising things happened when implementing our activities:
- 1. We didn't manage to get any of our community members to Wikimania 2023 in Singapore. This was partly because none of our community members who applied for central Wikimania scholarships received these.
- 2. We took part in Wiki Indaba 2023, presenting a proposal for collaboration with Wikimedia affiliates across Africa in 2024 and potentially beyond.
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?
We hope to do more community building exercises in 2024 to ensure that at least one, possibly two, community members attend Wikimania 2024 in Poland. The fact that the event is taking place in Europe should make the goal more achievable, at least from a financial perspective.
We are particularly keen to explore further outreach to WM affiliates in Africa, following on from our initial outreach opportunities developed through Wiki Indaba 2023.
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)?
It's amazing that we're able to continue doing this after 8 years of activity as an affiliate but you can be sure that this is now only possible because we have the support of a part-time employee, which greatly alleviates the demand of volunteer time for administrative tasks that most people may struggle with, such as proper annual event organizing on a tight schedule.
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.
- N/A
Part 3: Metrics edit
13a. Open and additional metrics data
| Open Metrics | Description | Target | Results | Comments | Methodology |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 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 | 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 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Number of strategic partnerships that contribute to longer term growth, diversity and sustainability | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Feedback from participants on effective strategies for attracting and retaining contributors | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Diversity of participants brought in by grantees | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Number of people reached through social media publications | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Number of activities developed | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| Number of volunteer hours | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A |
13b. Additional core metrics data.
| Core metrics | Description | Target | Results | Comments | Methodology |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | |||||
| Number of editors | |||||
| Number of organizers |
| Wikimedia Project | Description | Target | Results | Comments | Methodology |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
| 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.
We continue to need help understanding and implementing core metrics, ideally through appropriate support that makes for realistic targets rather than random numbers. However, we understand that qualitative assessment is becoming equally relevant within the Wikimedia Movement. We are greatly heartened by this development, especially given the relatively small size of our community.
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
- Here is an additional field to type in URLs.
- View general metrics from our activities on this Google document: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NUEuU2g_A__xk1TtemF3c3TH_s0Xyk6p1fnCdzRQi6Y/edit?usp=sharing
Part 4: Organizational capacities & partnerships edit
17. Organizational Capacity
| A. Financial capacity and management | This capacity has grown but it should be further developed |
| 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 has grown over the last year, the capacity is high |
| F. Program design, implementation, and management | This has grown over the last year, the capacity is high |
| G. Scoping and testing new approaches, innovation | This capacity has grown but it should be further developed |
| H. Recruiting new contributors (volunteer) | This capacity is low, and we should prioritise developing it |
| I. Support and growth path for different types of contributors (volunteers) | This capacity is low, and we should prioritise developing it |
| J. Governance | This capacity has grown but it should be further developed |
| K. Communications, marketing, and social media | This capacity has grown but it should be further developed |
| 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 capacity has grown but it should be further developed |
| N. Accessing and using data | This capacity has grown but it should be further developed |
| O. Evaluating and learning from our work | This capacity is low, and we should prioritise developing it |
| P. Communicating and sharing what we learn with our peers and other stakeholders | This capacity has grown but it should be further developed |
| 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.), Peer to peer learning with other community members in conferences/events, Peer to peer learning with other community members (but that is not continuous or structured)
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 volunteer time to participate in capacity building/training
18. Is there anything else you would like to share about how your organizational capacity has grown, and areas where you require support?
Our organizational capacity has grown substantially now that we have an employee focusing on program coordination, even if part-time. We need support to ensure we’re able to grow this capacity going forward (beyond 2023) especially now that we've managed to initiate a partnership with The Times of Malta, which is the newspaper of record for Malta.
19. Partnerships over the funding 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 | Neither agree nor disagree |
| C. The partnerships we built with other institutions or groups helped to build out more content on underrepresented topics/groups | Agree |
19a. Which of the following factors most helped you to build partnerships? Please pick a MAXIMUM of the three most relevant factors.
Staff hired through the fund, Volunteers from our communities, Partners proactive interest
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, Lack of staff to conduct outreach to new strategic partners, Lack of staff capacity to respond to partners interested in working with us
20. Please share your learning about strategies to build partnerships with other institutions and groups and any other learning about working with partners?
Over the years we have learnt to be more selective of the partners we choose to engage with, focusing our time and resources on partnerships that we believe will truly add value to the work that we carry out. We have come to understand that a fruitful partnership needs to be mutually beneficial, so we are now nurturing partnerships that can flourish over a longer-term period, rather than focusing on the immediate gains that a partnership may bring.
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?
We define “sense of belonging” as feeling included in activities & decision-making across the Movement, as we gradually move towards our goal of growing into a recognised chapter.
International activities like those by the CEE group have helped greatly in this regard. Over the past couple of years we have been more active in terms of attending and participating in international meetings, gatherings and conferences, such as the CEE Meetings and Wiki Indaba. We hope to also participate in Wikimania over the next years, as we believe this is an important step in further integrating ourselves within the broader global movement.
As we see it, meaningful interactions take place between formal meetings and while socializing at in-person event. The informal aspect of such interaction is essential for our “sense of belonging” particularly because we are a small affiliate, which can easily be overlooked.
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?
Somewhat increased
23. If you would like to, please share why it has changed in this way.
We are very heartened by the sustained level of support we have received over what is now a period of two years.
24. How has your group/organization’s sense of personal investment in the Wikimedia or free knowledge movement changed over the fund period?
Somewhat increased
25. If you would like to, please share why it has changed in this way.
The main reason is that we really appreciate an employee working with us, even if part-time.
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?
Our active community members attend regular meetups and we share information and ideas freely regularly with them there.
Members of the Wikimedia Movement are informed about our work during international meetings and events. We’ve delivered a presentation relating to most of the work covered during this grant period at the CEE Meeting in Tblisi. Here are the slides for this presentation: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WCM-CEE2023.pdf
28. How often do you currently share what you have learned with other Wikimedia Foundation grantees, and learn from them?
We do this occasionally (less than once a month)
29. How does your organization currently share mutual learning with other grantees?
Informal meetings and international gatherings, as well as regular engagement with the CEE Hub.
Part 6: Financial reporting and compliance edit
30. Please state the total amount spent in your local currency.
35947.04
31. Local currency type
EUR
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.
€2,750 was the total underspend amount for 2022.
We did not attend Wikimania 2023, owing partly to the fact that no additional scholarship was provided to any WCM members; two applied. €2,750 were allocated for this in 2023.
34b. What are you planning to do with the underspent funds?
C. I am planning to send them back to the WMF
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.