Grants talk:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Wikimedia Portugal Annual Plan 2022

NWE Grants committee comments

Dear Wikimedia Portugal,

Thank you for your application, the NWE Grants committee really appreciated the time and effort taken to define the plan for the upcoming year.

After the first review step, We have some remarks, recommandations and questions. The questions will also be collected at the end of this document for clarity:

• The organization seems to be well established and is looking to expand. The main objective mentioned, related to question 11. is not exact but the point is well noted, moreover the concrete goals that are proportional to the situation and ambition are well appreciated.
• Certain unclarities need to be explained such: Is it Training or multiple training? Because the community would certainly be interested in all these topics simultaneously, but a single trainer is not capable of delivering all these topics at the same time. Therefore the suggestion would be either multiple events to do it separately with different audiences, or inviting external speakers to organise these workshops at your events (e.g. WikiConference), or prioritising only the most important events this year (e.g. asking your community to vote on this).
• For the use of automated tools, the idea sounds good, but it raises the following question: have you already trained or will you train them on general Wikipedia editing?

• In terms of community engagement and Partnerships, it is great that several partners are mentioned, and that you are fully aware of the importance of being in conversation with other PT wiki groups . Nevertheless more detail on how you will target new editors is definitely needed.
• The proposal covers good global contacts within the Portuguese speaking community, however the local community is less clear but hopefully will grow in the future.
• For the question 18. It was stated that there is an increasing proportion that are returning participants , does this mean that you organise any specific activities to retain them? Meaning that it can be a mailing list or a Facebook group, it can also be staying in touch with them (surveys, talk pages) or specific events (like an edit-a-thon to encourage these people to add pictures to articles) ?
• The training for senior citizens in particular through third age universities , increasing the age diversity of wikimedia participants, is a good approach, and not so many affiliates succeeded in it.
• Adding to that, the strategic planning for the portuguese speaking communities globally, is a good example of collaboration!
• One last confusing note related to question 21. WiR is supposed to work at the institution (even if funded by you), not just organise training there so the question is are they ready to really host them (e.g. providing them a staff badge)? In case, it could be useful to check with other affiliates (like WMES) who have had WiR experience.

• In terms of estimated impact, it seems to have had moderate impact so far, and looking to grow capacity to increase this in the future. There is also a sensitive view of what proportional progress looks like which is considered as good.
• In terms of sustainability, there is certainly good reasoning in the proposal, and it would be great to document the national library and the university as a case study, since National Library is a serious partner, and having worked with them is something that can inspire others.
• Concerning the metrics, it would be expected to have at least some content from editing workshops on Wikipedia or sister projects. Is there a reason why it is not added as a metric to the targets?

• In general the budget is not well organized and a bit confusing, as:
  • The first budget line includes the local currency with a 100BRL from the example budget line, and presumably it is in euros like the other lines? This should be explained or fixed if uncorrect. It might be due to copying errors or currency conversion issues.
  • Moreover, the Strategic planning is free of charge: is it because it is fully virtual or because it was forgotten?
  • 1000 EUR appears to be expensive accommodation for Portugal, so how many trips will actually be planned?
• Most of the budget is on program-specific staff ( WIR?), and covers coordinator costs. However the selection of this latter (the coordinator) is not explained nor clear, this needs more details , plus is it one of the existing volunteers that gets this salary?
• How will the coordinator be hired, and who they will report to ?
• It looks like the hiring would be not 1 but 2 to 3 staff members. WiRs seem to actually be on WMPT's payroll, and perhaps less integrated in host organisations than usual. Starting with three hires at the same time is a huge risk in this situation. Therefore it is probably recommended to hire a coordinator in Q1 and WiR in Q3 to enable easier onboarding

Overall, we would like to get further information about the following points (the questions were already stated above, but are put together for clarity):

• For the use of automated tools, have you already trained or will you train them on general Wikipedia editing?
• More details on how to target new editors?
• For the returning participants , do you organise any specific activities to retain them? it can be a mailing list or a Facebook group, it can also be staying in touch with them (surveys, talk pages) or specific events (like an edit-a-thon to encourage these people to add pictures to articles) ?
• Is there a reason why editing workshops on Wikipedia or sister projectsis not added as a metric to the targets?
• Would it be possible to clarify the budget according to the before mentioned aspects?
• How will the coordinator be hired, and who they will report to?

Best wishes

On behalf of the NWE regional committee --Mmo (talk) 10:25, 23 December 2021 (UTC)

Answers to comments

Dear Mmo and remaining members of the NWE regional committee,

Thank you for the time you have taken reviewing our proposal (and all the other proposals for this region). I apologize for only replying now, but with kindergartens closed due to covid, I have had other priorities.

I have copied the questions below and answered them inline for convenience.

For the use of automated tools, have you already trained or will you train them on general Wikipedia editing?

There have been several training sessions on Wikidata editing at the National Library. See events in 2018 and 2019. We are focusing on Wikidata (and Wikimedia Commons) as this is the Wikimedia project the Library and the University are interested in, and it seems it is an area still underexplored in Portugal. You also ask if the partner institutions are prepared to host the WiR. Yes, both the Library and the University are prepared to host the WiR in regards to access to buildings and physical conditions to work (office and meeting space, for example).

More details on how to target new editors?

The training sessions and other activities (Wiki Loves, etc) will be made available to the general public, not only staff at the partner institutions, if possible. These activities will be advertised on ours and our partner’s websites and social media. We will also use press releases for local activities such as Wiki Loves, as we have had some success contacting local newspapers to advertise the competitions.

For the returning participants , do you organise any specific activities to retain them? it can be a mailing list or a Facebook group, it can also be staying in touch with them (surveys, talk pages) or specific events (like an edit-a-thon to encourage these people to add pictures to articles) ?

We send previous participants an email when new activities are starting, inviting them to participate again.

Is there a reason why editing workshops on Wikipedia or sister projectsis not added as a metric to the targets?

We have been focusing on Wikidata, since it seems to be the one with more potential for immediate growth in Portugal, based on our partners’ preferences. This does not mean that we will not be doing workshops on other projects, but this proposal’s focus is not on those workshops.

Would it be possible to clarify the budget according to the before mentioned aspects?

Apologies for the confusing budget, it suffered a lot of changes during the discussion and was the last thing that we wrote. If we had more time, we would have made it clearer.

The first line was the example line, and we didn’t delete it as we should. This should not be included in the budget.

As for accomodation, this was for the international conferences, such as Wikimania, WikidataCon, etc in conjunction with item 2.

Finally, regarding the strategic planning, we have not allocated any budget to this activity, as this is something we feel can be incorporated in other activities throughout the year.

How will the coordinator be hired, and who they will report to?

The coordinator will be hired based on an open call (we are preparing a list of requirements for the position), and they will report directly to the board of directors (and ultimately to the General Assembly as well). I am confident that there are plenty of competent existing volunteers that could fill this position, but we will keep the call open for others as well.

GoEThe (talk) 09:21, 7 January 2022 (UTC)

Wikimedia Portugal - Budget Approval

Dear Wikimedia Portugal

The committee was impressed by your budget request and the explanations given following our questions to you.

We really liked the efforts you put into upgrading your activities and institutionalizing it. Experience in other chapter's and non-profit organizations, shows that it is not possible to rely solely on the activities of volunteers only.

The basis should be in institutionalized activity. Regarding entering the subject Wikimedians in Residence, the committee recommends that you start with one person and after you gain experience take another one. In addition, we recommend consulting with chapters such as Wikimedia Israel which has extensive experience in the activities of Wikimedians in Residence, or with Wikimedia Spain.

Next if you submit applications in the coming years, we ask that you pay more attention to the financial part of the application, this is an important one, and it is important to be precise in the data.

The committee has approved Wikimedia Portugal's budget request 57,860 EUR which is approximately 65,000$.

We wish you success and fulfilment of all the goals and plans you have planned for 2022.

Best regards.

Hana on behalf of the NWE regional committee Hanay (talk) 13:59, 12 January 2022 (UTC)

User:GoEThe I ping you to be sure that you saw NWE regional committee decision Hanay (talk) 07:07, 13 January 2022 (UTC)

Dear @Hana,

Thank you very much for the positive comments and the approval. We are very excited for this opportunity. We will certainly take your advise regarding WiR and the financial part of the application.

Please thank the other members of the NWE regional committee for us!

Best regards! GoEThe (talk) 09:56, 13 January 2022 (UTC)

Extension and increase

Noting here that the the Grantee's request for a grant extension to 30 June 2023 and increase for an additional 29,529.72 EUR was approved in December 2022 by Program Officer, MJohnson (WMF). The new final report due date is now 30 July 2023. -- JTud (WMF), Grants Administrator (talk) 23:39, 28 March 2023 (UTC)

Request

Dear Comittee, We still writing the report and we are afraid that we won't be able to deliver on time. We are still wainting to receive some information from the accountants so we can close the financial report also. Can we have an extension of the delivery deadline? Idealy, one week or two? Best regards, SofiaMatias(WMPT)

Hello SofiaMatias(WMPT), your request has been approved. The new reporting deadline is August 15, 2023. --DSaroyan (WMF) (talk) 09:41, 25 July 2023 (UTC)