Grants talk:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/General Support Fund/WoALUG 2024-2025 Biennial Plan of Activities

General Support Fund proposal approved in the amount of 88,320 EUR

Congratulations! Your proposal is approved for full funding over a period of two years in the amount of 88,320 EUR with a grant term starting 1 January 2024 and ending 31 December 2025. This total is distributed over two years in the following manner:

Year 1: 43,083 EUR

Year 2: 45,237 EUR

This multiyear grant incorporates a 5% budget increase between Year 1 and Year 2. You will be able to submit a different budget for Year 2 when your annual plan and other changes are submitted, but please keep in mind that there are significant growth limitations on the budget for the General Support Fund.

The committee supports the Albanian Language UG over the next two years with the following remarks and questions:

• We would like you to further specify what particular underrepresented communities you are seeking to support over the funding period, as this is somewhat unclear from the proposal.

• The committee requests reaching out to women who participated in the WikiGap competition to listen to their priorities for articles for creation or improvement. This will help set similar article priorities for related programs.

• The current annual plan notes that the proposed partnership with the National Gallery of Kosovo is new, but according to your final report in 2022 you reported collaborating with this institution. Has there been some misunderstanding, or is there some other aspect of this partnership that is new?

• Is the proposed activity in North Macedonia, mentioned in the Activity Plan, coordinated with local affiliates there?

• If supportive for your outreach work, the committee suggests using the CentralNotice interface to prepare announcements about major edit-a-thons and events, as the committee understands that many readers in Albania use English Wikipedia.

• The committee supported full funding for the proposal for this year and next year. However, the overall budget for funding in the region has grown only about 8.5% overall since last year, and funding growth next year is expected to be even smaller. The committee stresses the need to 1) prioritize your current budget carefully, 2) prepare for more modest growth in future years from General Support Funding, and 3) to invest time into seeking other funding sources to support additional growth for your organization.

We appreciate your continued efforts to support Albanian language communities in Albania and Kosovo, and good luck with your work over the next two years!

On behalf of the Regional Committee, W (talk) 16:09, 28 November 2023 (UTC)

Thank you! We're excited to accept the approved funding for our project. Grateful for the support and eager to make a meaningful impact.

Find below the answers to the raised questions:

• We would like you to further specify what particular underrepresented communities you are seeking to support over the funding period, as this is somewhat unclear from the proposal.

Our focus is addressing the needs of underrepresented communities by enriching information and free knowledge on Wikimedia projects.

We work with and support marginalized communities in different contexts, such as ethnic and racial minorities, gender, refugees, and immigrants in Albania and Kosovo.

We base our focus on data and information indicating differences and disparities in education, healthcare, employment, geographical spread, culture, social and economic inclusion, language, etc.

We are already trying to collaborate with organizations dealing with underrepresented communities that work directly with the people, for instance, Pro LGBT Albania, Streha Center (Albania), Egyptian Roma Youth Movement (Albania), The Ideas Partnership (Kosovo), Office of the Prime Minister for Community Affairs (Kosovo),  Roma in Action - RIA (Kosovo) and community-based learning centers.

Also, we keep in the loop even people with disabilities, especially when we cooperate with schools via wikiclubs or editing programs. Our outreach extends to empower and retain disabled people so they have equal access to free resources and knowledge.

• The committee requests reaching out to women who participated in the WikiGap competition to listen to their priorities for articles for creation or improvement. This will help set similar article priorities for related programs.

Following up with people who are interested in our events is always a great idea, and we try to engage them consistently. Specifically, in the Wikigap events, we connect with participants for subsequent diversity events.

Participants in our editathons are always encouraged to come up with their topics as well, in addition to what we suggest. Having a ready list, however, we have found to be a good help for participants as it ensures there is notability, availability of sources and prevents writer’s block.

This is a valuable suggestion and we plan to implement it across our other events as well.

• The current annual plan notes that the proposed partnership with the National Gallery of Kosovo is new, but according to your final report in 2022 you reported collaborating with this institution. Has there been some misunderstanding, or is there some other aspect of this partnership that is new?

There was a misstatement on our part, leading to a misunderstanding. We intended to convey the continuation and extension of our existing partnership with the National Gallery of Kosovo throughout 2024.

Over the years of our partnership, we have contributed by uploading Wikidata items related to the gallery's collection and organizing editathons. Currently, we are also in the process of exploring additional avenues for collaboration in the upcoming year.

• Is the proposed activity in North Macedonia, mentioned in the Activity Plan, coordinated with local affiliates there?

We are on good terms and have open communication with the local affiliates in North Macedonia. It is important to note that many Albanians live in North Macedonia, and we have contributors who are engaged in the local community by contributing to Wikimedia projects in the Albanian language and culture.

• If supportive for your outreach work, the committee suggests using the CentralNotice interface to prepare announcements about major edit-a-thons and events, as the committee understands that many readers in Albania use English Wikipedia.

We have been using the Site Notice so far mostly because of some issues with IP allocation in the region and the fact that we work beyond Albania only.

However, we appreciate your suggestion to use the Central Notice; we will incorporate it into our activities in the near future.

• The committee supported full funding for the proposal for this year and next year. However, the overall budget for funding in the region has grown only about 8.5% overall since last year, and funding growth next year is expected to be even smaller. The committee stresses the need to 1) prioritize your current budget carefully, 2) prepare for more modest growth in future years from General Support Funding, and 3) to invest time into seeking other funding sources to support additional growth for your organization.

We appreciate the committee's diligence in reviewing our request. We understand and fully endorse the committee's emphasis on prudent budget prioritization, recognizing the need to navigate more modest growth in the future. In response, we are committed to a thorough examination of our current budget, ensuring optimal allocation of resources. Additionally, we will proactively engage in identifying alternative funding sources to augment our organization's growth.

On behalf of WoALUG,Ritamaliqi (talk) 10:10, 5 December 2023 (UTC)