Grants:Project/Rapid/SuperHamster/Wikipedia Asian Month 2018/Report

Report accepted
This report for a Rapid Grant approved in FY 2018-19 has been reviewed and accepted by the Wikimedia Foundation.
  • To read the approved grant submission describing the plan for this project, please visit Grants:Project/Rapid/SuperHamster/Wikipedia Asian Month 2018.
  • You may still comment on this report on its discussion page, or visit the discussion page to read the discussion about this report.
  • You are welcome to Email rapidgrants at wikimedia dot org at any time if you have questions or concerns about this report.


Goals edit

Did you meet your goals? Are you happy with how the project went?

We were pleased with the overall outcome of the project. This year, we had a record total of 64 projects sign up to participate (including several first timers) thanks to outreach by Exec8. As was done in previous years, we were able to involve hundreds of editors to create over 6,000 articles related to Asia. Almost 800 editors created at least one article for WAM, and 448 of those editors creating at least 4 articles (the requirement to receive a Wikipedia Asian Month postcard). Multiple Wikimedia affiliates from Asia worked together to create and deliver hundreds of postcards and dozens of certificates around the world (a big thank you to everyone who helped!).

Our other goals included organizing 5 offline edit-a-thons and promoting WAM at 5 offline events. While we made progress in both, we did not meet our desired numbers. Coordinating offline events on an international scale can be a difficult feat. As we had changes in leadership this year, transitioning and streamlining the process proved to be a challenge. That being said, we did have the pleasure of on-boarding a new group of volunteers to help organize. As always, we would like to thank the volunteers for helping us in different phases of organizing WAM 2018.

Also refer to project page at Wikipedia Asian Month 2018

Outcome edit

Please report on your original project targets.


Target outcome Achieved outcome Explanation
50 Wikipedia projects 64 Wikipedia projects We had a record number of Wikipedia languages sign up, which we are thrilled to see.
Number of participants: 800 767 We came in just under our goal of 800 participants. While we did not meet our goal, we were happy with the level of participation. Of the 63 language-versions of Wikipedia that signed up, 23 of them had at least 10 participants, leaving 43 with less than 10; in the future, we should try to increase participation on smaller wikis as we sustain growing participation on larger ones. Of all the participants, 448 created at least 4 articles.
Create more than 7,000 high-quality articles. 7,108 articles created as part of the event, 6,625 of which were qualified. In terms of articles created, we met our expectations. During the judging process, a few hundred of these were rejected for various issues (sourcing, notability, etc.), resulting in a final accepted count of 6,625.
Facilitate the organization of offline edit-a-thons in more than 5 locations around the world. 3 Edit-a-thons held in:
Trained at least 6 new community leaders.   Our international team grew by 3 new primary contacts, and we had the help of several other users as well.
Promotion at 5 events. 2 Wikipedia Asian Month was promoted at the following events:


Learning edit

Projects do not always go according to plan. Sharing what you learned can help you and others plan similar projects in the future. Help the movement learn from your experience by answering the following questions:

  • What worked well?
    • Record number of Wikimedia projects signed up to participate.
    • Almost 800 editors created over 6,000 articles.
    • The Wikipedia Asian Month User Group has been formally approved and will help with future collaborations between ESEAP communities.
    • Coverage in The Hindu
    • We created documentation for organizing the event, which helps ensure longevity during leadership changes.
  • What did not work so well?
    • The team has been growing, and we don't have feedback from our team members for individual engagements. The core team doesn't have enough time for personal tutorials.
    • The fund was largely not used this year due to a single point of access and infrequent communication. We have debts on new logo design that needed to be covered next year.
    • We weren't aware of the new change on the site banner system. That should be included in our process in 2019.
  • What would you do differently next time?
    • Stronger leadership and management for the team, including more frequent communication and clearer delegation of roles.
    • Better facilitation of the grant to ensure all organizers are aware of the funds available, and have a clear documented system that allows for organizers to request funds from the grantee in a timely basis.
    • More explanation about the team's role and WAM user group.
    • We will help to build judging/feedback process with the Fountain tool as well as statistics.

Post-Event Survey edit

This survey only target participants who wrote more than 4 qualified articles. Total responses are 320.
  • 10% of the editors identified themselves as female editors. We saw a drop of 4% in comparison to the last year.
  • 15% editors have less than 1-year editing experience, 44.3% have more than 5-year-experience
  • 14.6% editors learn about this event by invitation/talk page message, 30.3% by Central Notice and 13.4% by event page.
  • 87.4% editors express that they will keep contributing to Asian content
  • 93.9% editors would like to receive updates on the next WAM event
  • 45.5% editors are willing to be an organizer next time

Finances edit

Grant funds spent edit

Note: Some activities, such as offline edit-a-thons, certificate printing, and some postcards were done without using this grant's funds.

Item Budgeted (USD) Cost (Local) Cost (USD) Receipt Number(s)* Notes
Certificate printing $30 Done without grant funds
Postcard printing $70 ¥1,381 JPY $12.80 9
Shipping and mailing costs $400 ¥10,640 JPY $98.61 7, 8
Funding for local edit-a-thons $250 Done without grant funds
Bank transfer fees $150 $64.99 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
Subsidy to international team $1,100 $1,100 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
* receipts are shared with the Foundation via Google Drive

Remaining funds edit

Do you have any remaining grant funds?

We have $723.60 USD remaining, which will be returned to the Foundation.

Remaining funds from this grant have been returned to WMF in the amount of US$723.60.

Wikipedia Asian Month's 2019 grant is available here, which will be headed by Li-Yun Lin.

Anything else edit

Anything else you want to share about your project?