Grants talk:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/General Support Fund/Wikimedia ZA Multi Year Grant 2024/27

Feedback

I could not see the budget (not accessible) but everything I read seemed solid and relevant. The program and timeline make sense, theory of change is aligned, SWOT is interesting :), changes anticipated in the operations (one more staff) is logical. The chapter has impact. I appreciated the report they provided about the experience with interns. Positive view on the request. Anthere (talk) 20:18, 27 March 2024 (UTC)

Comments after revision of Regional Committee

Dear Wikimedia South Africa,

Thank you for submitting your request for General Support Funding. We reviewed and discussed your proposal and would like to share comments, recommendations and questions for you to engage with. Your responses and comments will support the committee and staff in making a final funding decision.

• We continue to see the value of your work to the mission, movement and volunteer community and especially through enablers such as African languages which we continue to you focusing on.

--Noted and thanks.

• We continue to learn about your strengths in how you nurture partnerships to advance your work including working with universities to support development of language wikipedias.

--Noted and thanks.

Programming;

• We are keen to learn more the capacity readiness in supporting the implementation of the proposed projects. We find them many in volume and especially given the partnerships angle some of them take. In the last learning conversation, you mentioned that while you have access to many incredible partnerships, the challenge is accessing Wikimedians who can support those partnerships and hence our question on capacity to implement the proposed work.

-- We've recently brought on board an executive coordinator, whose responsibilities include ensuring that we maintain partnerships and connections with Wikipedians within our community to implement projects with our partners. We believe this will assist in activating new partners and rekindle dormant partnerships as well as maintain the active ones.

• We see a lot of the work being proposed is similar to the current year’s work though we see a 64% increase in budget. Would you say more on the difference.

--Many of our projects are long-term, spanning multiple years. Over the years, we've learned that short-term projects focused on increasing the number of articles are beneficial, whereas initiatives aimed at activating new users and raising awareness require longer-term commitments to establish lasting partnerships.

We've observed that hosting Wikimedia workshops initially raises awareness about the lack of African content on Wikipedia. However, to effectively engage users, we often find it necessary to conduct subsequent iterations of these workshops. The increased budget allocation reflects our commitment to doubling down on successful projects based on their impact and results.

Regarding budget considerations, our Afrikaans community is experiencing significant growth in terms of active editors and article count. To support this expansion, we've hired an intern to support the Afrikaans community projects and initiatives.

We've also added a budget line item for an Executive coordinator who will be responsible in overseeing our operations, collaborating with stakeholders, and driving initiatives that support our 5 years strategic mission.

• We found your metrics a bit low compared to the requested funds and also the programs you are working on. For instance, Wikimedian Commons has a target of 200 images for the year, yet we see a number of photography related projects. In case there is a rationale for the metrics as they are please share with us.

--Based on our experience with past Wiki Loves Monuments projects and observations from other usergroups and communities within the movement, we've noticed that despite the large number of pictures taken during these campaigns, only a small fraction end up being utilised on Wikipedia and sister projects. To address this issue, we are considering experimenting with a new approach.

Our plan involves targeting specific thematic areas where each picture captured will directly contribute to the creation or enhancement of articles on South African language Wikis and other Wikimedia projects. For instance, if we obtain 200 new pictures, each of these images will be used in corresponding articles that lack visual content, including translations of these articles into different languages. This strategic approach aims to maximise the impact of each photo taken during the campaign and ensure that they are effectively utilised to enrich Wikipedia content.

• As one of the leading affiliates in the Southern region, we are would like to learn on the role you have been playing and hope to grow into in supporting emerging groups in the southern region outside of South Africa such as Angola, Mozambique, Zambia, Namibia and Botswana.

--We have established a Southern African Community group consisting of Wikimedia volunteers from Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana. We are actively seeking volunteers from Angola, Mozambique, and Lesotho to join our group.

Recently, we conducted an online meet-up where participants shared updates on projects undertaken in each country and provided advice on governance issues relevant to each community.

Additionally, we serve as a fiscal sponsor to the Wikimedia community in Botswana, offering support and mentorship to facilitate their activities and growth.

Budget;

• In the narrative part of the proposal and also from previous past conversations, including those with the program officer, you have indicated that you will be bringing a CEO on board. However, there is not much detail provided in the proposal on the role they will play given the moment you are in, and the same is not reflected in the budget. Kindly review.

--We are seeking a CEO candidate who is already familiar with our community. As mentioned earlier, we have recently hired an Executive Coordinator who will oversee our operations, collaborate with stakeholders, and drive initiatives that align with our 5-year strategic mission. Our intention is to transition this role into a CEO position once we are satisfied with the current candidate's performance.

The role of the CEO will entail the following:

1. providing strategic direction and vision for Wikimedia ZA in alignment with the broader Wikimedia movement goals and the Chapter's 5 year strategic mission. This involves setting clear objectives, defining priorities, and developing long-term strategies to advance the mission of promoting free knowledge in South Africa.
2. Oversees the day-to-day operations and administration of Wikimedia ZA. This includes managing staff, volunteers, and resources effectively to ensure smooth functioning of the organization.
3. Cultivating and maintaining partnerships with relevant stakeholders such as government entities, educational institutions, cultural organizations, and other NGOs to collaborate on projects and initiatives that further Wikimedia ZA's objectives.
4. Lead fundraising efforts to secure financial support for Wikimedia ZA's activities and projects and to enable the chapter to have multiple sources of funding outside of WMF. This involves grant writing, donor relations, and ensuring responsible financial management and accountability.
5. Engaging with the Wikimedia community in South Africa including volunteers, friends of the chapter (editors based in overseas countries eg Australia, Germany, UK but have interest in Wikimedia ZA) and mission aligned institutions to foster collaboration, address concerns, and facilitate participation in organisational activities.
6. Represent Wikimedia ZA in public forums, advocating for policies that support open knowledge and free access to information, and raising awareness about Wikimedia projects and initiatives in South Africa.
7. Provide oversight and guidance for Wikimedia ZA's projects and initiatives, ensuring they align with organizational goals and have a meaningful impact on advancing free knowledge in South Africa.
8. Report to the Wikimedia ZA board of directors and stakeholders on organisational performance, financial matters, and progress towards the 5 years strategic objectives.

• We found a number of people-related costs that we found challenging to understand - either because of the description provided and connecting this to the team section of the proposal.

-- I believe this has already been covered above. To recap, within our chapter, we have the following positions: an administrative role for the chapter, 2 internship roles for the chapter (one in Johannesburg and one in Cape Town), an Executive Coordinator responsible for operations and stakeholder collaboration, an intern dedicated to supporting the Afrikaans community, and we also retain bookkeepers and auditors on a retainer basis.

• We also find that people cost shared in comparison to the proposed impact metrics to not be aligned. The cost: programming ratio could be improved.

-- This is noted, it will be improved. It would be great to kindly have a meeting to clarify this question.

Regarding the schedule for our review process, please complete your review and responses to committee feedback by the 1st of May 2024. After this time, the Regional Committee will begin a final review of the proposal to make a formal decision.

Thanks again for your work on the proposal and for supporting our review.

On behalf of the Regional Committee, . Nehaoua (talk) 14:28, 12 April 2024 (UTC)