Wikimedia Conference 2014/Documentation/1b

Session 1b Grantmaking and funds: APG/FDC process


Speakers: actually no speakers, session was facilitated by Anna Lena Schiller (conference' facilitator) and Winnifried Ollif (WMF)

tl;dr: Feedback was gathered and will be submittet to the FDC advisory group, which has meeting in May.

Notes

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Start / Stop / Keep

Feedback that was submitted before the sessions was mapped onto three categories: stop, start, keep. During the session, more feedback were added. There was no further (broad) discussion or summary.

Stop

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  • Bad communication
  • Jargon
  • Too much time for decision
  • Guardrails based on percent, not absolute amount
  • At the moment, chapters ask for more than they need, because they expect cuts, so find a way to stop encouraging padding.
    • More positive messages from the process
    • Ways that grantees participate
    • Stop perceiving the FDC as an organ that will always cut what has been asked for.
    • Have a "necessary" and "ideal" list of requirements, for example core needs vs proposed project.

Start

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  • Suggesting cuts
  • Ask donors
  • Multiyear funding
  • Proposed collaboration between chapter
  • Adding conversation between grantees + FDC
  • Participate in proposal development
  • Reach out 6 months in advance
  • More feedback specific to projects
  • Window of opportunity in proposal process where plan can be modified. [note: this can already be done, but maybe formalise this option?
  • Preliminary feedback
  • Timeline for adjusting your plan
  • Sometimes the recommendations are not completely clear: what constitutes "unhealthy growth", for example. Give more detail in feedback on proposals.
  • More real-life meetings to discuss proposals, including videoconferencing.
  • More honesty around grant process
  • More instant feedback during process.
  • Start leaving more time between the grant decision and the start of the grant
  • More help with translation for smaller chapters
  • Conseration of abilities

Keep

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  • Use of templates + standards
  • Keep our devoted staff
  • Keep funds unrestricted
  • Visits to the chapters (is this happening? Make it more visible!)

Feedback not fitting any of the categories

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  • Lightweight processes