Grants:Project/Tutorial
Project Grants
Watch the tutorial on how to fill out a grant application. The tutorial will answer commonly asked questions about the proposal form, and will explain how to answer each section.
Learn how to fill out a Project Grant application
Section: "What problem are you trying to solve?"
Key points to understand
- In this section you should identify a problem that you have a chance of solving within this grant. This means that, ideally, at the end of this grant the problem you’ve identified should be resolved, or at least significantly addressed.
- The specific problem you are trying to solve may be part of a larger problem that you can’t solve with this one grant. This context is useful, but don’t spend more than 1-2 sentences providing this context.
- This isn’t where you will describe your solution. That will come in the next section on “What is your solution to this problem?” However, by the end of this section, a reader should understand your problem and why your proposed solution is needed.
Section: "What is your solution to that problem?"
Key points to understand
- In the previous section, you identified a problem you could solve. In a few sentences describe your solution to this problem. Your description should explain why you chose this particular solution. We recognize there are many ways to solve the same problem. Use this section to help us understand why your solution is worth pursuing.
- One common mistake we see here is that someone’s solution will not tie explicitly to the problem they’ve identified.
- Remember, this section is simply an overview that helps people understand the main idea of your project; it should not include an exhaustive description of your whole project or activities. The average length for simpler projects is 4-6 sentences, and 2-3 paragraphs for more complicated projects.
- By the end of this section, your reader should feel that your problem and solution fit together like puzzle pieces: they understand your problem, and why your solution is needed to address that problem.
Section: "What are your goals for this project?"
Key points to understand
- In the previous sections you identified a problem, and proposed a solution. At this point, a person reading your proposal should understand:
- Why you are motivated to work on this problem
- Why you believe this particular project is the best way to work on it.
- Your goals should describe the two or three most important benefits that will come out of your project.
- Your goals should be something that you can achieve.
- Don't worry about measuring your goals yet.
- If your project is a continuation or repeat of a previous project (e.g. WLM 2017 after WLM 2016), you should not copy-paste your goals from last time. Your goals should be specific to the current project.
Section: "How will you know if met your goals?"
Key points to understand
- At the end of your project, we are going to ask you, “Did you meet your goals? How do you know if you did or did not meet each goal?”. We want you to start thinking this question in your proposal. To do this, for each of your goals, we’d like you to answer the following questions:
- During your project, what will you do to achieve this goal? These could be things that your organizers, volunteers, participants or partners do as well.
- Once your project is over, how will it continue to positively impact the Wikimedia community or projects?
- Here are the main thing to consider when answering question #1:
- Your answer should include things that will happen during or right after your project.
- Your answer should not include all the activities you did to prepare for your project. Instead, include these in the Activities section of your proposal.
- You can answer this question with number (called a “metric”), a survey, or a story. If you plan to use a metric, you will need to set a numeric target in your proposal (i.e. 45 people, 10 articles, 100 documents).
- You will need to have at least 2 answers to this question.
- To help you answer this question #2, imagine the following scenario: You are having a conversation with someone who doesn’t know anything about your project. In this conversation you describe your project and what you did. You talk about why you think you have achieved your goals. Now that person asks you “So why is this important?” This is the difficult part. To answer this question, you need to think about how your project and its results have lead to positive change more generally. Ask yourself “If my project was successful, what would the most inspiring result of my project one year from now?”