Grants:Simple/Applications/Black Lunch Table/2021/annualplan

Introduction

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For our sAPG 2021 Annual Plan, we have modified and made notations of where we still have progress to make or were delayed in meeting our 2020 goals. No one could have anticipated the kinds of disruptions that we would have faced in 2020 with the dual crises of COVID-19 and The Movement for Black Lives.

Black Lunch Table adapted and has attempted to operate with as much empathy as possible in all aspects as we move through this time. Our programming was reorganized to meet the new challenges presented by 2020 and continued to meet the goals we set out for sAPG 2020 granting year.

Our focus for the 2021 granting cycle remains in three areas: Nonprofit operations, Team, and Events/Editors/Photobooth. We have broken the year out in thirds and listed our goals in each of the areas accordingly.

sAPG 2020 Goals

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Briefly, the main goals and objectives for each nonprofit operations, team, and events are listed below as written for 2020. Alterations to the plan have been noted in the month to month progress below.

Nonprofit Operations

  • Developing a new board of advisors and expanding the board of directors
  • Increase BLT partnerships with cultural and academic institutions
  • Increase organizational sponsors for BLT activities

Team

  • Increase the stability of the team and retain effective team members including
  • Project managers and assistants
  • Regional Proxies
  • Bookkeepers, lawyers, strategists
  • Coders, digital specialists, consultants
  • Redistribute operations from Leads to team
  • Leads should shift focus to strategy and vision.
  • Improve all of our staffing, training, hiring systems where each team member is operating more effectively, sustainably and the BLT project is becoming more stable overall.

Events

  • Events encompass our goals as it relates to edit-a-thons, editors, and our photobooth
  • Increase access to training and participation in marginalized communities
  • Host 20 in-person Wiki events over approximately months
  • Develop and initiate a survey and assessment protocol within 6 months
  • Adopt GLAM and Wiki Education into our initiative
  • Develop contests that focus on our growing task list as well as ways to familiarize editors with Wikipedia’s many platforms and concerns.
  • Language and Translation (interpretation) initiatives and collaborations that connect Wikidata to Wikidata to our oral history database, and continuing to focus on events and methods that support thoughtful approaches to the multilingual space of Wiki and our project’s communities.

Yearly objectives 2021

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Below are objectives for each of the three focus areas, nonprofit operations, team, and edit-a-thons which will serve as a guide by which we enact our priorities within those categories over the next year.

Nonprofit Operations

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Having hired an NFP strategist and completed an assessment of the organization BLT has formed its initial board and scheduled and begun a strategy for fundraising and long-term solvency.

Jan/Feb/March/April

  • Grant writing/fundraising calendar drafted
  • Begin writing a strategic plan for institutional engagement
  • Begin writing a strategic plan for community engagement
  • Write linked data relationship potential statement
  • Identify and target sponsorship (fiscal, corporate, promotional)
  • Develop long and short term project goals with the lead organizers
  • Implement the long-running strategic plan outlined, including fundraising and budget advisement for planned project expansion and sustainability
  • Grant writing/fundraising as needed
  • Begin rewrite of bylaws with assistance from strategist and board
  • Strategize what audience outcomes are desired
  • Identify appropriate institutions to share linked data with BLT + Wikidata

May/June/July/August

  • Consultation with strategist, plan implementation contd
  • Grant writing/fundraising as needed
  • Complete rewrite of bylaws with assistance from strategist and board
  • Select non profit insurance with help from strategist and board
  • Complete a strategic plan for institutional engagement
  • Complete a strategic plan for community engagement
  • Complete a strategic plan for academic engagement
  • Set 12 month audience outcome goals
  • Outreach and pitch to 2 institutions with linked data potential
  • End of year appeal campaign, fundraising planning

Sep/Oct/Nov/Dec

  • Consultation with strategist, plan implementation contd
  • End of year appeal campaign, fundraising planning
  • Grant writing/fundraising as needed
  • End of year appeal campaign
  • Plan implementation contd, preparation for the next yearly cycle
  • Have developed 2 new partnerships with cultural institutions
  • Have developed 2 new partnerships with community institutions
  • Have developed 2 new partnerships with academic institutions
  • Develop and beta test 2 new database relationship partners

Team

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During the 2020 granting year we were able to retain team members familiar with the project. A more consistent team structure has resulted in more flow and less friction overall. BLT continues to shift day to day operations away from the Lead Organizers to the Exec Director, BLT operations Manager, and the Project Assistant. An important step that BLT is taking in the 2021 cycle is moving two team members to full-time. This will account, at least in part, for work that we anticipate as the pandemic continues, we work to meet WMF goals of prioritization and to reach the goals we have set out for ourselves.

Jan/Feb/March/April

  • Migrate to full-time, payroll, benefits
  • Search/hire new staff roles (communications specialist/proxies)
  • Refine communication habits between co-leads and project manager re NFP strategist, lawyers, accountant, etc. as the team becomes more stable with full-time staff.
  • Assess what is needed/updated/incomplete after this staffing/structure shift
  • Preparing for regional proxy engagements, GLAM engagements, and classroom/students esp with photos
  • Connecting with accountant, bookkeeper, lawyer at beginning of new grant cycle/year
  • Punch list for yearly event outline, what is scheduled? Who will we partner with? Where can we be of service?
  • Regional proxies begin engagement

May/Jun/July/August

  • Continuing engagements, COVID-19 dependent
  • Wikimania 2021 and team retreat planning and event, evaluation of team effectiveness overall, informing the retreat content
  • Regional proxies engagements, contd

Sep/Oct/Nov/Dec

  • Team retreat review follow-up, lead into the end of year review
  • Regional proxies engagements, contd
  • Annual review, goals met/missed, accommodations for the upcoming year
  • Regional proxies engagements completed
  • Grant reporting

Edit-a-thon, editors, photobooth

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After amending our events for largely digital engagement we have found some stride. We hope that we can return to some in-person events with our Regional Proxies as well as some engagements throughout the states. In general, we are on track and plan to maintain and grow our edit-a-thons, collaborations, and initiatives.

Jan/Feb/March/Apr

  • Prospective list of edit-a-thon sites/collaborations/partners for the year, consider outreach internationally and away from home regions
  • Continued BLT Branded Digital events series from 2020
  • Compile list of available photographers for booths
  • Online meetup/social media/PR strategies implemented
  • Devise methods for post-event engagement, i.e. automated surveys, information collection
  • Planning for any additional contests/collaborations,i.e. Black History Month, Juneteenth, and women's history month
  • CAA edit-a-thon, New York, NY,
  • Legacy and New regional proxy edit-a-thons begin
  • Assessing scheduled calendar of events based on COVID-19 pandemic progress
  • Regional proxy edit-a-thons, contd

May/June/July/Aug

  • In-person events commence if possible, working towards six total in person edit-a-thons, four total photobooths, in addition to proxy events.
  • Continued BLT Branded Digital events series from 2020

Sept/Oct/Nov/Dec

  • Regional proxy edit-a-thons, in-person events, contd if possible
  • Complete edit-a-thons to reach goals
  • Complete photobooths to reach goals
  • Final metrics and assessments of goals met, grant reporting