Grants talk:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/General Support Fund/Igbo Wikimedians User Group Annual Grant 2024 and Beyond

Proposal Feedback and Invite for Comments & Response edit

Dear Igbo Wikimedians User Group,

Thank you for taking the time to submit your proposal. We reviewed it and had the following comments and questions and we look forward to your response that will then support us in the final deliberation process;

  • We found the proposal to meet your objectives of the User Group and, in particular, in relation to you outlining the goals, the strategies and the assumptions you are making with each.
  • We recognize the continued value of ensuring preservation of the Igbo language.
  • We were pleased to learn about your goals in partnerships to support in reaching new audiences and skilling and your goals related to mentorship and the participation of volunteers to be inclusive.

Questions:

  • We are keen to learn how the community was involved in the development of the proposal and annual plan and especially since we do not see comments from the community on the application.
  • We recognise your interest in 3 years - multi-year funding and would like to more on the motivation for this and the purpose you see this type of fund serving your organization and community.
  • A component of your programs if training people and we would like to learn how you plan to keep those trained engaged. Do you have a volunteer retention plan or practices you can share more about?
  • What are the measures you are putting in place to ensure equity in your mini-grants program ?
  • We are keen to learn how you include spaces for reflection and learning and the tools you use.
  • Would you share with us the process for identifying the 4 roles you highted in your proposal and budget. Are these past roles and if new, do you have an open recruitment plan?Would you also share the rationale for the cost associated.

Metrics;

  • We are interested in learning more about your definition of retained editors ?
  • We find your photo campaign metrics to be low - would you say more on the metric value shared?

We see the USD requested amount on Fluxx as USD 276,752 and that on the budget as USD 261,312 for 3 years. We would like to confirm that this is an error on the technical end of the application and not on the budget end.

We highly recommend you get in touch with the regional program officer to support you in understanding the questions raised or if you find it useful to meet with the committee as well, please let them know and they can organize a conversation meeting.

Thank you and we look forward to receiving your responses to support us in the next steps. On behalf of the MEA Regional Committee and Staff. VThamaini (WMF) (talk) 08:21, 25 October 2023 (UTC)Reply

Dear @VThamaini (WMF), thank you for reviewing our proposal and for the questions:


  1. Prior to our application, we had a stakeholders/community meeting on Zoom where members of our community were in attendance to discuss the grant application, challenges we face and our areas of need before the application was put out. The outcome of the meeting suggestions can be found on this Jamboard here: https://jamboard.google.com/d/1-NpZ2f9sn31VUuaFu8esVM9d-h6vog3LL97OrijvFYg/edit. We felt there was no need for community comments since the migration to Fluxx hence we do not ask community members for comments any longer but we would resume this in subsequent grants.
  1. Although we were advised to go for the multi year funding by our Grant Officer, The Igbo Wikimedians User Group (IWUG) is interested in multi-year funding because it would allow us to plan for the long term and to implement sustainable programs and initiatives.

Specifically, multi-year funding would enable us to:

  • Develop and implement a comprehensive training program for new and experienced volunteers.
  • Establish a sustainable mini-grants program to support Igbo Wikimedians who are developing and implementing innovative projects.
  • Provide ongoing support and mentorship to our volunteers.
  • Evaluate the impact of our programs and activities and make necessary adjustments as needed.
  • Multi-year funding would also allow us to build stronger relationships with our partners and supporters. When we know that we have funding in place for multiple years, we can make longer-term commitments to our partners and supporters. This can help us to build trust and credibility, and to attract additional resources.


  1. Volunteer retention plan or practices

The Igbo Wikimedians User Group (IWUG) is committed to retaining our volunteers and keeping them engaged. We have a number of volunteer retention strategies in place, including:

  • Onboarding and training: IWUG provides new volunteers with a comprehensive onboarding and training program through our ABC of Wikimedia. This helps volunteers to learn about the Wikimedia movement, our user group, and the specific tasks that they will be working on.
  • Communication: We communicate regularly with our volunteers through our WhatsApp and Telegram groups, social media, and in-person meetings. This helps to keep volunteers informed about upcoming events and opportunities, and it also provides a forum for volunteers to connect with each other.
  • Appreciation: IWUG recognizes and appreciates our volunteers in a variety of ways. We send thank-you notes, and give out awards which includes the newly introduced sponsorhip of 2 highest contributors to the Wiki Indaba Conference. We also make sure to publicly acknowledge our volunteers' contributions on social media and in our blog posts.
  • Opportunities for growth and development: IWUG provides our volunteers with opportunities to learn new skills and develop their careers. We offer workshops in the form of a Learning Webinar, training sessions, and mentorship programs. We also encourage our volunteers to participate in Wikimedia conferences and events.
  1. Measures to ensure equity in mini-grants program

IWUG is committed to ensuring equity in our mini-grants program. We have the following measures in place:

  • Open and transparent application process: Our mini-grant application process is open to everyone, regardless of their background or experience. We publish clear and concise guidelines on our website, and we offer assistance to anyone who needs help with the application process.
  • Diverse review committee: Our mini-grant review committee is composed of Igbo Wikimedians from a variety of backgrounds and with a range of expertise. This helps to ensure that all applications are reviewed fairly and objectively.
  • Funding criteria: Our mini-grant funding criteria are designed to support projects that promote our objectives, equity and inclusion. For example, we prioritize projects that are led by women, people of color, and people from marginalized groups. We also fund projects that focus on underrepresented topics and communities.
  1. Spaces for reflection and learning

IWUG provides a number of spaces for reflection and learning for our volunteers. We do this through:

  • Experience Sharing Webinars: This webinar is usually held after various Wikimedia conferences where members who attended come to share their experiences and learnings with other community members.
  • Learning Webinars: We hold monthly workshops on a variety of Wikimedia-related topics. These workshops provide volunteers with an opportunity to learn new skills, share their knowledge, and network with other Wikimedians.
  • Mentorship program: We offer a mentorship program that pairs new volunteers with experienced Wikimedians. This program helps new volunteers to learn the ropes and to develop their Wikimedia skills.
  1. Tools for reflection and learning

We use a variety of tools to support reflection and learning among our volunteers, including:

  • Zoom: We use to host our online meetups and workshops.
  • Jamboard: We use Jamboard to collaborate and share ideas.
  • WhatsApp: We use WhatsApp to communicate with our volunteers and to coordinate our activities.

We believe that these strategies and tools will help us to retain volunteers, ensure equity in our mini-grants program, and provide spaces for reflection and learning.

  1. Process for identifying 4 roles and open recruitment plan

The Igbo Wikimedians User Group (IWUG) identified the four roles highlighted in our proposal through our Stakeholder engagements. These are the major roles we need to keep the community successful. We recruit by reaching out to our existing volunteers to see if they are interested in any of the roles. This is usually done in the Igbo Wikimedians general WhatsApp group which has over 300 of our members.

  1. Rationale for cost associated with roles

The cost associated with the four roles is justified because the roles are essential to the successful implementation of our grant proposal. The roles will help us to achieve the following:

  • Develop and implement training programs for new and experienced volunteers.
  • Manage our mini-grants program and ensure that it is fair and equitable.
  • Provide support and mentorship to our volunteers.
  • Evaluate the impact of our programs and activities.

We believe that the investment in these roles will pay off in the long run by helping us to build and retain a strong community of Igbo Wikimedians and partners.

  1. Definition of retained editors

We define retained editors as editors who continue to contribute to Wikimedia projects after they have received training from IWUG. We measure editor retention by tracking the number of editors who make at least one edit to a Wikimedia project in the month after they complete an IWUG training program.

We also track the long-term retention of editors by tracking the number of editors who continue to make edits to Wikimedia projects one year and two years after they complete an IWUG training program. We do this tracking through a year long Outreach Dashboard as well as the User Contributions on Toolforge.

We believe that editor retention is an important metric because it indicates how effective our training programs are at engaging and empowering new editors. We also believe that editor retention is essential to the long-term health and sustainability of the Igbo Wikimedia community.

  1. Usually we get thousands of photos during our photo campaigns but when we try to sieve out the quality photos, the number becomes lower hence the low metrics in the photos output. This translates to quality photos as opposed to quantity.

We hope this information is helpful. Please let us know if you have any other questions.


Tochiprecious (talk) 11:29, 10 November 2023 (UTC)Reply

Thank you for taking time to respond to the feedback shared. We hope to share feedback on the final funding decision in the next week. Thank you. VThamaini (WMF) (talk) 09:08, 15 November 2023 (UTC)Reply

General Support Fund Approved at USD 243,000 for 3 years edit

Dear Igbo WIkimedians User Group,

Thank you for submitting your application seeking General Support Funds - Wikimedia Community Fund. The MEA Regional Committee and Staff have thoroughly reviewed, discussed and deliberated upon your application and made the decision to fund you at 243,000 USD for a grant period of 1st January 2024 to 31st December 2026.

Here are a few points to note;

  • We continue to see the value of your programs and how you have enriched them to serve your community better.
  • We reviewed your personnel costs slightly - that way, the scope of work was aligned with the resources requested.
  • It is important for you to review how you engage your community in program input. While you mentioned you use the Jamboard for that, we find it to be insufficient and not open or participatory enough.
  • Since you selected advocacy as an area of focus, please see the feedback from the advocacy team for your consideration;
    • The Igbo Wikimedians User Group’s description of their plans perfectly falls under the category of “advocacy” but not “public policy advocacy” (see definitions). To qualify as public policy advocacy, these plans need to target specific legislation with the aim to promote, stop, or change that legislation. The overall intention should be to influence the regulatory ecosystem in which the user group operates. Because of these restrictions, raising awareness about using Wikimedia projects in the classroom and promoting the Igbo language and culture do not qualify as public policy advocacy actions. In the future, if the user group creates a sustained campaign dedicated to educating policymakers about the importance of protecting Wikimedia projects in the context of internet regulation like censorship, privacy, content moderation, or other public policy priority topics, then we highly encourage the group to apply again and dedicate some funding to the advocacy work!
    • We will be connecting you with the Advocacy team to follow up on the recommendations shared.

We hope to continue having regular conversations over the course of your grant implementation. Do set up a regular schedule to connect with your MEA Programme Officer based on your needs.

The reporting requirements for the grant will shared in your grant agreement and on Fluxx. All reports are to be completed and submitted via Fluxx.

Once again, Congratulations! We thank you for your participation in the grant application process and hope to continue to journey with you as you embark on a new year of project implementation. VThamaini (WMF) (talk) 11:46, 15 December 2023 (UTC)Reply

Review of Wikidata experience edit

As this proposal mentions Wikidata, I have performed a review of team members' experience on that project.

  •   Endorsed Tochiprecious: They have a modest editing history at Wikidata, but what they have seems to be solid. They could improve on their item descriptions. They are responsive to communication.
  •  ? There is no global account for Ceslause Okechukwu
  •   Weak oppose Kingsley Nkem: They have substantial experience on Wikidata, which includes the creation of eight items. Reviewing those eight items, one has been deleted as empty, and six have no indication of notability. It appears that they have not received any feedback on this. Most of the rest of their changes are sitelinks connections, so their Wikidata experience has little breadth.
  •   Neutral Olugold: This user has significant experience on Wikidata. Reviewing their ten most recent item creations, I see three that do not establish notability and one duplicate item. This suggests that most items are novel and notable, but there is still a signifcant error rate. I also see other errors such as poor item descriptions. It appears that no-one has given any feedback on these points.

There is a mixture here, so the qualification of this team for Wikidata training would depend on the specific roles. Ideally we would see some improvement here before investing significant funds or effort in Wikidata training. Bovlb (talk) 18:34, 5 January 2024 (UTC)Reply

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