Wikimedia Deutschland/2015 annual plan/en

This is the updated version of Wikimedia Deutschland's 2015 annual plan. It was passed by the 16th General Assembly on April 18, 2015. 

Finance

Preliminary comments

In Germany, Wikimedia consists of two organizations: Wikimedia Deutschland e.V. (WMDE) and its 100-percent subsidiary "gemeinnützige Wikimedia Fördergesellschaft mbH" (WMFG).

WMFG receives donations. Its purpose is to forward funds to the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) to help fund the operation and further development of the Wikimedia projects and international programs. WMFG also forwards funds to WMDE for the association's programs. A Fundraising Agreement between WMF and WMDE forms the basis for raising donations and regulates the procedures.

WMFG: INCOME

	Item	2015 Plan	2015 Plan OLD (October 2014)	2014
1	Income from donations from the FDC process (carry forward from 2014)	6.602.173,00 €	6.867.254,00 €	6.196.390,00 €
2	WMDE income from donations (carry forward from 2014)	1.718.145,00 €	1.793.969,00 €	1.807.619,00 €
	Total carry forward from 2014 (from Items 1 and 2)	8.320.318,00 €	8.661.223,00 €	8.004.009,00 €
3	Income from donations from the FDC process (January – June 2015)	1.340.832,00 €	728.688,00 €	315.740,00 €
4	WMDE income from donations (January – June 2015)	434.852,00 €	207.172,00 €	132.636,00 €
5	Income from donations from the FDC process (July – December 2015) – to be transferred to WMF	7.629.462,94 €	7.629.462,94 €	6.602.173,00 €
6	WMDE income from donations (July – December 2015) – to be used in 2016	1.907.365,74 €	1.907.365,74 €	1.698.145,00
7	Interest	20.000,00 €	20.000,00 €	20.000,00 €
	Total income in 2015 (from Items 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7)	11.332.512,68 €	10.492.688,68 €	8.768.694,00 €
8	Total income	19.652.830,68 €	19.153.911,68 €	16.772.703,00 €

Item 1: Donations received by WMFG from July to December 2014 through banners on de.wikipedia.org and on our sister projects that are covered by the fundraising contract for 2014/15. These funds are initially transferred to WMF and then distributed through the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) process to Wikimedia chapters and other organizations. WMDE also uses this process by applying to the FDC for funds (see Item 21). Once the amount applied for by WMDE is approved by the FDC (with a deduction of 30%) at the end of 2014, WMFG will transfer the approved funds to WMDE (see Item 13) and the remainder to the FDC for further distribution.

Item 2: Donations, including interest (see Item 7, 2014), made directly to Wikimedia in Germany from July to December 2014 and which, after consultation with WMF, are not covered by the current fundraising contract, as they are received through mailings to past donors, or via the site, etc. In addition, many people donate to WMDE directly and cannot be verified as having used one of the banners on de.wikipedia.org.

Item 3: As Item 1, but for the second half of the term of the current fundraising contract, from January to June 2015.

Item 4: As Item 2, but for the period from January to June 2015.

Item 5: As Item 1, but for the period from July to December 2015.

Item 6: As Item 2, but for the period from July to December 2015.

Item 7: Income from interest on bank deposits (on principle, WMFG and WMDE only invest funds in money market accounts).

Item 8: Total donations received from July 2014 to June 2015 and interest received in 2015, plus income for the period from July to December 2015.

WMFG: EXPENDITURE

	Item	2015 Plan	2015 Plan OLD (October 2014)	2014
9	Transfer to WMDE on 1 Jan. 2015	–1.718.145,00 €	–1.793.969,00€	–1.807.619,00 €
10	Transfer to WMDE on 1. Sept. 2015	–434.852,00 €	–207.172,00 €	–132.636,00 €
11	Transfer to WMF on 1 Jan. 2015	–4.862.173,00 €	–4.892.254,00 €	–4.320.390,00 €
12	Transfer to WMF on 1. Sept. 2015	–1.340.832,00 €	–728.688,00 €	–315.740,00 €
13	Transfer of FDC funds to WMDE	–840.000,00 €	–1.200.000,00 €	–1.296.000,00 €
14	Personnel costs	–306.000,00 €	–270.000,00 €	–170.000,00 €
15	Material costs	–444.000,00 €	–375.000,00 €	–290.000,00 €
16	Management lump sum (Transfer to WMDE on 1 Jan. 2015)	–150.000,00 €	–130.000,00 €	–120.000,00 €
17	Provisions for WMDE (2016)	–1.927.365,74 €	–1.927.365,74 €	–1.718.145,00 €
18	Provisions for WMF (2016)	–7.629.462,94 €	–7.629.462,94 €	–6.602.173,00 €
19	Total expenditure	–19.652.830,68 €	–19.153.911,68 €	–16.772.703,00 €

Item 9: Donations, including interest, received by WMFG to be donated directly to WMDE from July to December 2014 (This item corresponds to Item 2.)

Item 10: Donations received by WMFG to be donated directly to WMDE from January to June 2015 (This item corresponds to Item 4.)

Item 11: As stipulated in the Fundraising Agreement, this item covers the funds from Item 1 that are transferred directly to WMF for distribution through the FDC process, minus the FDC funds approved for WMDE (Item 13) and the fundraising costs (Items 14 and 15).

Item 12: This item covers the funds from Item 3 (but only those for the period from January to June of the corresponding year) that are transferred directly to WMF for distribution through the FDC process.

Item 13: WMDE receives additional funds from global donations through the FDC process. In this process, the sum of these funds is deducted from the amount to be transferred to WMF and paid directly to WMDE in order to avoid unnecessary transatlantic transfers.

Item 14: As agreed in the fundraising contract, the costs incurred in collecting donations are subtracted from the sum of donations. This item covers WMFG’s personnel costs.

Item 15: As agreed in the fundraising contract, the costs incurred in collecting donations are subtracted from the sum of donations. These costs include the costs for mailing donation receipts for tax purposes, use of the fundraising software, etc.

Item 16: As agreed in the fundraising contract, the costs incurred in collecting donations are subtracted from the sum of donations. This item contains the management lump sum in the amount of 20% of the fundraising costs that WMFG transfers to WMDE (Item 25), which should cover the rent and administrative costs.

Item 17: The funds are to be transferred to WMDE in 2016 and to be used in 2016. This item corresponds to Item 6, plus interest (Item 7).

Item 18: The funds are to be transferred to WMF in 2016. This item corresponds to Item 5.

Item 19: Total expenditure by WMFG in 2015.

WMDE: INCOME

	Item	2015 Plan	2015 Plan OLD (October 2014)	2014
20	Donations for WMDE	2.150.000 €	2.010.000 €	1.929.860 €
21	FDC	840.000 €	1.200.000 €	1.296.000 €
22	Membership fees	1.100.000 €	900.000 €	516.371 €
23	Subsidies	500.000 €	340.000 €	87.108 €
24	Other income	100.000 €	100.000 €	250.661 €
25	Fundraising lump sum	150.000 €	130.000 €	120.000 €
26	Carry forward from 2014	30.000 €	0 €	500.000 €
27	Wikimedia Conference	100.000 €	N/A €	N/A €
28	Total income	4.970.000 €	4.680.000 €	4.700.000 €

Item 20: This is the sum of direct donations to WMDE, collected by WMFG from July 1, 2014 to June 30, 2015, including interest.

Item 21: WMDE applies for funds from global donations through the FDC process. The sum of these funds was approved in January 2015 by the WMF board on the recommendation of the FDC.

Item 22: Our target is to have 24,000 members by the end of 2015 (current total: 20,000).

Item 23: We should intensively expand our efforts to acquire third-party funding and work with partner organizations on programs and projects that are as long term as possible. We will approach foundations, public institutions, etc. to request third-party funds. In 2014, we created a position that is solely responsible for successfully acquiring partners. In order to cope with the volatility of the third-party funds in our revenue projections (before approval is granted), we work with a system of weighted probability, which resulted in an increase in income from third-party funding in comparison with October 2014.

Item 24: This includes event attendance fees and financial contributions from other chapters and WMF to finance events such as Hackathons. This number was significantly higher in 2014, because, for example, WMDE received an inheritance and WMF reimbursed us for the full costs of the Wikimedia Conference.

Item 25: This item contains the management lump sum in the amount of 20% of the fundraising costs that WMFG transfers to WMDE (Item 16), which should cover the rent and administrative costs.

Item 26: Planned funds from the previous year that have not been expended. Almost all funds were expended in 2014, which is a positive development compared to the previous year.

Item 27: Approved WMF funding for the Wikimedia Conference. This funding was expended entirely by the Event Management team (Item 34).

Item 28: This is the sum available for 2015 for pursuing the purpose of WMDE as laid down in the charter.

WMDE: EXPENDITURE

Approximately €2,300,000 of the total budget is set aside to support Wikimedia Projects directly. This figure is based on projected personnel costs by reference to FTE distribution and project costs for 2015. It does not include the costs of renting the office and event space.

	Department/Area	2015 Plan	2015 Plan OLD (October 2014)	2014
29	Software Development	–1.360.000 €	–1.160.000 €	–782.540 €
30	Volunteer Support	–770.000 €	–710.000 €	–787.666 €
31	Education, Science & Culture	–610.000 €	–590.000 €	–723.093 €
32	Communications (new: communication with members, including Generaly Assemblies	–405.000 €	–250.000 €	–298.079 €
33	Partnerships & Development	–240.000 €	–220.000 €	–128.720 €
34	Event Management	–200.000 €	–85.000 €	–101.732 €
35	Finance	–130.000 €	–120.000 €	–96.447 €
36	HR & Administration	–410.000 €	–750.000 €	–907.602 €
37	IT	–100.000 €	–80.000 €	N/A €
38	Executive Director, including advisors	–490.000 €	–400.000 €	–710.750 €
39	Supervisory Board	–120.000 €	–140.000 €	–146.371 €
40	Works Council	–15.000 €	–55.000 €	–17.000 €
41	Working Students and Interns	N/A € (included in department budgets)	–120.000 €	N/A €
42	Reserves	–120.000 €	- €	N/A €
43	Total expenditure	–4.970.000 €	–4.680.000 €	–4.700.000 €

Item 29: Two of WMDE’s strengths merge in the Software Development Department: technical development, such as Wikidata, and thus, in direct relation, support of a global Wikimedia community made up of thousands of volunteers. This is reflected in the size of the budget for this department. This item includes the personnel costs for the students who are part of the team, and for a proportional share of the rental costs.

Item 30: The team – within a cross-section of the operative area – still has by far the largest budget for material costs, financed through various forms of funding, scholarships, events, and the expansion of the local communities. In 2015, changes should be made above all at the processing level to ensure that the support provided by the Volunteer support team is less bureaucratic and more sustainable. More information in the “Goals” section. This item includes the personnel costs of the students who are part of the team, and a proportional share of the rental costs.

Item 31: The newly established team is formed from the consolidation of Education and Knowledge and GLAM activities. This will create valuable synergies for supporting volunteers and approaching institutions. Here, we are also focusing on strategies that have proven successful in the association. This item covers a proportional share of the rental costs.

Item 32: The work of the Communications Team will center on advising and supporting other areas in all communication matters, coupled with a significant expansion in member communications (material costs in the amount of €76,000). This item also includes the costs of the general assemblies (material costs in the amount of €50,000), personnel costs of the students who are part of the team, and a proportional share of the rental costs.

Item 33: This newly established team, which will consist of the former members of the Evaluation Unit, will broaden the scope of its activities to include centralized project controlling and support for partner acquisition and project applications. One employee will transfer for this purpose from WMFG to the association. This item covers a proportional share of the rental costs.

Item 34: One of the main arguments for moving our office to Tempelhofer Ufer was the ample space available, which we wanted to open, free of charge or for a small fee, to the community and other initiatives that focus on openness and free knowledge. We have been taken aback by the high demand and, over the course of the year, we will have to slow things down a little, at least as far as external requests are concerned. This is because the costs of renting the office, catering, electricity, etc. are easier to calculate than costs for expended time, which often involves detailed queries to interested parties, checking the availability of certain materials, looking for “Wiki buddies” and hosts, etc. The events that are initiated and run by the communities or the office will naturally have priority, e.g. the Wikipedia Salon, the ABC of Free Knowledge, Monsters of Law, the Wikimedia Conference, workshops, training programs, employee meetings and open Sundays. This item also includes the costs of the Wikimedia Conference, which are fully covered by the WMF (see Item 27), and a proportional share of the rental costs.

Item 35: This item comprises financial controlling, bookkeeping, reporting, and the corresponding software. This item covers a proportional share of the rental costs.

Item 36: This item covers the entire infrastructure that goes into running our office, including organizing reception staff, coordinating office business and procurement, and overseeing tasks related to the global concept for personnel management. The most significant budget items are: €150,000 for personnel costs (for 3.5 full-time staff [FTE]) and €240,000 for material costs, which cover Internet and telephone charges, insurance, materials, leases, health and safety, and advice on labor law. This item also covers a proportional share of the rental costs (the full rental costs used to be included in this item).

Item 37: This year the IT costs are reported separately; in 2014 they were included under the item “HR & Administration.” The team, which was finally formed in 2014, is responsible for securing the IT processes. This item includes the personnel costs for the students who are part of the team, and a proportional share of the rental costs.

Item 38: This item contains the personnel and material costs of the Executive Director’s entire team, including three offices: Management Consulting (Executive Director’s material costs and those of the department in the amount of €85,000, 2 FTEs), International Relations (a unit of its own in 2014, material costs in the amount of €20,000, 1 FTE) and Advocacy (material costs in the amount of €10,000, 1 FTE). This item includes the personnel costs of the students who are part of the team, and a proportional share of the rental costs.

Item 39: This item contains the travel and meeting costs for the nine-member Supervisory Board, plus the personnel costs of the body’s experts as well as consulting costs. This item covers a proportional share of the rental costs.

Item 40: A works council was set up at the end of 2014; its costs are reported under this item. As the employer, the association must bear all costs incurred by the works council to the extent required; thus this constitutes a reasonable estimate. Expenditure of €15,000 is allocated for training, consulting, travel and translation costs. Personnel costs of 1 FTE used to be included in this item because it was not clear which teams the works council members would be recruited from. After the decision was made, the staff resources in the relevant areas were included in the budget (0.2 FTE per works council member).

Item 41: Student trainees and interns are of great assistance in the office in numerous different ways. In 2015, for the first time, the Executive Director set a budgetary requirement to limit the costs of these paid positions to €120,000 in order to better control the increase in personnel. In practice, this led to more competition between the teams to provide more staff on a part-time basis. The corresponding FTEs – withdrawing the separate presentation in the draft plan of September 2014 – are now assessed back where they are really occurring, i.e. in the respective areas of the office (according to the staff table “student trainees, Plan 2015 [FTE]”).

Item 42: This sum is used to set up an operational reserve for dealing with the inherently volatile revenue structure (which is normal for non-profit organizations). This amount should be seen as a basic allowance that should be increased in the course of the year to include any unplanned revenues. With these reserves we are also directly addressing the WMF request to take measures to cover any potential risks.

Item 43: The sum of all expenditure.

For 2015, we are planning to have a total number of around 56 FTEs. We also have capacity for up to 13 student trainees. The Software Development department is aiming for the greatest increase in personnel, as it is bringing its structure increasingly into line with the demands of a more agile tool development. A Community Liaison employee will transfer to the team from the Volunteer Support Department in order to give support. Furthermore, the consolidation of the previously separate departments of Politics & Society and Education & Knowledge are creating synergy effects, which will also relieve the personnel structure. A small amount of growth is unavoidable in the Financial Administration department, particularly in order to ease the burden on bookkeeping and improve internal financial controlling. Software developers who previously acted as stand-ins will now provide support to the Fundraising Team. The ambitious member recruitment goals make it necessary to boost the effectiveness of this area. To ensure that we are able to support our members even during times of rapid growth, the Communications Team is to grow by 0.75 FTE.

Unit	2015 Plan (FTE)	2015 Plan (FTE) OLD (October 2014)	PERSONNEL (cut-off date: October 1, 2014)	Difference between actual amount in 2014 (FTE)		Working Students , 2015 Plan (FTE)
Software Development	18,25	18,25	13,5	4,75		1,5
Volunteer Support	4,5	4,5	5,825	-1,325		1
Education, Science & Culture	7	7	7,1	-0,1		0
Communications	3,75	3	3	0,75		0,875
Partnerships & Development	3,45	3,45	2,8	0,65		0
Event Management	2	2	3	-1		0
Finance	2,0625	2,0625	1,5625	0,5		0
HR & Administration	3,5	4	3,5	0		0
IT	1,75	1,75	1,75	0		0,375
Executive Director*	4	3,5	3,55	0,45		0,875
Supervisory Board	0,925	0,925	0,925	0		0
Total for WMDE	51,1875	50,4375	46,5125	4,675		4,625
Fundraising	5,1	5,1	4,6	0,5		1,25
Total for WMDE+WMFG	56,2875	55,5375	51,1125	5,175		5,875

* This item breaks down as follows: Executive Director (1 FTE), the Management Consulting office (1 FTE), the International Relations office (1 FTE, was a unit of its own in 2014) and the Advocacy office (1 FTE, new in 2015). In 2014 we also had an advisor to the Executive Director (0.55 FTE), but the position no longer exists.

2015 Goals

Support and Community Liaisons now appear alongside Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons, and the creation of a Development Center. We are doing this for the sake of consistency, since none of these five points is an end in itself. All five are aimed at Wikimedia projects, and each has its own useful features. Direct support affects the people and ideas that are actively involved in the projects. Data quality of Wikidata has a decisive influence on how useful projects can be for Wikipedia and its associated initiatives. There is an urgent need to give Commons data a new, user-friendly structure. Now is the time to create infrastructure that enables WMDE to better respond to the communities’ future software needs.

Operational goal: Support and Community Liaisons

To increase the impact of our volunteer support, we are merging our funding programs and decentrally supporting groups of volunteers who work together on a specific topic. We are focusing on ideas and projects that get started as soon as possible, that publish their successes and failures as lessons learned, and that make it easier for as many volunteers as possible to work on Wikimedia projects. In addition, we are expanding existing information and communication structures at the local and international level and activating potential volunteers and supporting partnerships.

Our reasons for doing this

German Wikipedia has 1.8 million articles, Wikimedia Commons has 25 million images and other media data, and Wikidata has 14 million data sets. And millions of articles still need to be written, improved, maintained, and protected from vandalism. Millions of images, videos, audio files and graphics need to be created and released, and billions of data sets need to be made freely accessible. And all of this needs to be done by people working as volunteers to help make the world’s knowledge freely accessible online.

In Germany alone, millions of people are active on Facebook, over one million digital single-lens reflex cameras are sold each year, and online photo services are booming. But only 15,000 people have reviewing rights in German Wikipedia, and not even 6,000 do more than five edits a month. For years, WMDE has been supporting these important people as they work to create, improve, and distribute free content in Wikimedia projects. In recent years, our support for volunteers has been selective and usually focused on individuals. This is not a scalable approach. Our services only reach a small group of contributors and are not sustainably aligned. In many cases, this makes things more difficult for volunteers, not easier. They have to write applications, rent technology, and take trips. That is followed by their actual work of authoring and photographing, which is already so labor-intensive in itself that individual activities are rarely undertaken in such a way that others can learn from them or be encouraged to get involved. Yet it is not in the interest of volunteers or full-time employees to have our support be defined in terms of application processes and project management training. For all these reasons, we are working according to the following three principles in 2015: 1) You don’t need a business plan; your idea is enough; 2) We are supporting the expansion of decentralized structures; 3) Development and learning only work when we do them together.

What we want to change in 2015

Volunteers have always provided the most successful ideas for projects and support. Experience has shown that support has a significantly greater impact when it is given to activities that groups of volunteers have organized themselves. For this reason, from now on we are focusing on strengthening active groups, improving knowledge-sharing among contributors, and more quickly trying out new support structures so we can spread the successful ones and adjust or quit the unsuccessful ones.

Our priority will be to quickly test community ideas on the basis of the funding guidelines and structures we have developed with them. In addition, we intend to use the association’s idea portal ideen.wikimedia.de to directly address and inform people inside and outside the community so they can help successfully implement project ideas.

Teilziele	Indikatoren/Kriterien der Zielerreichung
Local Community Spaces – We are supporting the creation and expansion of spaces for local work in and on Wikimedia projects that are run on-site by community groups. Compared to the selective, isolated projects we are used to, this should greatly improve the impact of structures for networking, training, collaborative work on Wikimedia projects, new and closer partnerships between Wikimedians and local institutions, and outreach activities by providing continuous on-site availability. Experience gained from the various approaches taken in Cologne, Hanover, Berlin, Hamburg, Bremen and Munich will make broad implementation easier, especially in urban areas.	Number of places with local spaces and activities Number of local partnerships Number of completed projects Type of content partnerships geared toward sustainability Method of sharing experiences and success strategies for local Wikimedia involvement
Support for Volunteers – Whether it’s travel expenses, access to literature, editor meetings, or large projects, we will be reviewing support requests from contributors in the communities quickly, granting them in line with funding guidelines, and then assessing them in terms of their success and effectiveness. In addition, we are merging our various support structures for volunteer groups. Our concrete goals are simplifying the conditions that volunteers work under, strengthening topic-based volunteer groups, and recruiting more supporters of free knowledge. Arrangements will be made with German, Austrian and Swiss chapters in the Wikimedia movement to simplify funding structures.	Ratio of support expenses and funding amounts to results achieved Supplementary service packages and collaboratively produced materials for knowledge transfer (on- and off-Wiki) are available and have been tested successfully. Activities in the idea portal Number of supported volunteers and volunteer initiatives Continuous monitoring has produced quantitative and qualitative statements about the funding process, especially about: How efficient the processes are How accessible the structures are How the work of volunteers benefits Type and quantity of content created
Technical Needs Concept – We are creating a concept to meet software needs in the communities. It will incorporate insights from the technical needs survey in Wikipedia.	As of Q2 we have a communication and participation concept to meet software needs. We are publishing the concept in multiple communication channels (Kurier, blog, Wikimedia:Woche, Wikimedia:Listen) and collecting feedback. In Q3 we will use a participative process to evaluate the launch of the Teahouse Gadget (Teahouse project). We will incorporate the results into the concept we are developing to meet software needs. Concept testing (depends on recruiting process in software development)
Communication for Software Projects – In recent years we have had a number of heated debates over bringing new technology into Wikimedia projects, such as the debate over Media Viewer in 2014. As a result, 2015 will feature a focus on information and participation options for software development. The goal is to enable communities to engage in more intense dialogue with WMDE software development and the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF).	By late 2015, 20 articles and other contributions to the debate will appear on a variety of community platforms and communication channels. By late 2015, four events and meetings will be held to collect feedback. Arrangements have been made with WMF and the communities regarding suitable forums for dialogue, processes, and timelines (for conversation between communities, WMF and WMDE).

Operational goal: Wikidata

Wikidata users will have expanded and improved possibilities for monitoring and improving content in Wikidata. WMDE will develop tools by the end of 2015, designed in particular to make it easier to compile references for statements and to track changes to data.

Our reasons for doing this

Wikidata is currently the most important infrastructure project in the Wikimedia movement – and it was initiated at WMDE. The rapid growth of the data basis demonstrates its great success, which is due to efforts of the very active free knowledge database community. To do justice to the challenges arising from such rapid growth and to meet the needs of Wikidata users in the long term, we must focus on the issues of data quality and trust.

What we want to change in 2015

We will focus on improving quality and the way Wikidata is used. The tools to be developed in 2015 will also permit sister projects to understand changes to the data they use on Wikidata. The new functions will make it quicker and easier to identify discrepancies in the data – thus ensuring that they will be corrected faster. This will further improve the quality of the data, which will in turn reinforce its acceptance among users.

Objectives	Indicators/Criteria for achieving objectives*
References – Wikidata users will be able to add references to statements more quickly and easily. This will improve both user experience and data quality.	By the end of 2015, expanded functionality will be available for the edit function for references Increase in numbers of references
Enhanced changes – It will be easier for users of sister projects to follow changes to data on Wikidata which affect their articles, giving them a better overview of changes.	The enhanced changes function will be developed (by the end of 2015) The enhanced changes function will be available to users of sister/associated projects such as active Wikipedians
Constraint reports – Wikidata editors will be able to identify discrepancies in Wikidata data more quickly and easily.	The constraint reports function will be improved, expanded and made available to the community (by the end of 2015)

* The precise scheduling and prioritizing of the introduction of new functions will take place in 2015.

Operational goal: Wikimedia Commons

Re-use of Wikimedia Commons content will become easier (e.g. faster and more targeted searching and finding of images). This will entail continuing the integration of Wikidata, begun in 2014, which makes it possible to categorize and structure media content in Wikimedia Commons.

Our reasons for doing this

So far, basic implementation and adaptation to the existing code bases, which form the basis for a categorization system, has taken place in Wikimedia Commons in the course of the Wikidata integration. This permits a number of qualitative improvements for users in relation to usability and accessibility; for example, it is easier to search for content. The basic version of a re-use tool also makes it easier and (legally) safer to use media content.

What we want to change in 2015

We will focus on improving ways of using Wikimedia Commons. We intend to supplement metadata with additional data types in 2015 (such as authors, licenses, institutions) and make metadata easier to edit. We intend to achieve a sustainable improvement in the findability of media content – so far this has been a key defect in the free media archive. The categorization function will be further developed so that other tools such as those of the WMF’s Multimedia Team can build on it.

Objectives	Indicators/Criteria for achieving objectives*
Topic categorization – A categorization function will be available to Wikimedia Commons users and further tools can be built up on that basis, e.g. by the WMF’s Multimedia Team or through the integration of the Upload Wizard.	The categorization function will be implemented by late 2015 and made available to Wikimedia Commons readers and editors
Search – It will be easier to search for media content in Wikimedia Commons, thus improving the re-use and findability of media data.	Wikimedia Commons users will be able to search for keywords and other metadata by the end of 2015
Data types – Specific data types will be available to users, making it possible to specify e.g. “institutions,” “authors” or “licenses.”	Specific data types will be designed and implemented by the end of 2015
User functions – The presentation of various user functions on Wikimedia Commons will be optimized to fulfill the specific requirements of media data.	Functions such as “input” and “edit” will be available by the end of 2015

* The precise scheduling and prioritizing of the introduction of new functions will take place in 2015.

Operational goal: Development center

WMDE aims to ensure the Wikimedia movement’s innovative strength in the software field by expanding its software development center in Berlin. In particular, an autonomous team for community projects is to be established by the end of 2015.

Our reasons for doing this

Decentralized software development is necessary to ensure the innovative strength of the Wikimedia movement as a whole. We intend to further stabilize and expand the targeted activities which we have structured since the fourth quarter of 2013, thus enabling us to address and respond to future needs and demands in the software development field. WMDE committed itself to software development in the fourth quarter of 2013; this was confirmed by the Supervisory Board and the General Assembly. We intend to continue to pursue this very successful path and to further deepen and complete the know-how which has been developed since 2012, supported among other things by the leadership and implementation of the Wikidata project. WMDE has taken on a leading role in the movement and has proved that decentralized organization of technological innovation can also be successful.

What we want to change in 2015

We will focus on expanding our capacity. In order to continue and drive forward community projects and to enable us to implement their technological requirements, we aim to set up a dedicated development team by the end of 2015. We intend to increase the visibility of WMDE’s activities and projects in software development. We also intend to establish the basis for a mentoring program by the end of 2015, aimed at developing and expanding the necessary skills in the software development field for volunteers and open-source developers.

Objectives	Indicators/Criteria for achieving objectives
Community projects – By the end of 2015 we will have set up a development team for community projects.	Personnel and organizational structures will be established Agile processes will be implemented, permitting the management to analyze and plan according to SCRUM and Kanban methodology, among others
Visibility – We will increase the visibility of WMDE’s Berlin-based activities and software development projects.	Regular monthly publications At least two events focusing on open source development by the end of 2015
Mentoring program – We will develop a concept for a mentoring program for volunteers/open-source developers on MediaWiki, Wikidata, the sister/associated projects and their extensions. The program’s initial stages will be established.	A first written version of the mentoring program concept will be published by the end of 2015 Support initiatives for community developers (scholarships for hackathons and other events, workplaces at WMDE or similar) will be established and the target group will make use of them

The intended long-term effect of this program is that cultural, educational and scientific institutions should actively contribute free content to the Wikimedia projects. To achieve this, we must build up sustainable relationships with them. In 2014, voluntary collaboration was an essential factor in this regard and it will continue to be vital in 2015. We will focus on collaborative projects and events with volunteers alongside WMDE’s provision of information and advice.

Operational goal: Cooperations and events

We will intensify collaboration between the Wikimedia movement and the institutions with the purpose of creating new content and making it available. WMDE will support volunteers’ collaborative projects, hold events and ensure that successful pilot projects are established on a permanent basis.

Our reasons for doing this

We worked together with institutions and volunteers in 2014 in a number of event formats and collaborative projects: with our official participation in the Science Year 2014 and the development of an interactive Wikipedia exhibit (Wikipedia-Exponat) for the science ship MS Wissenschaft; at the OER conference (OER-Konferenz, OER=Open Educational Resources) and the Digital Skills (Digitale Kompetenzen) series, through formats such as GLAM on Tour, the Wikimedia Salon series, the cultural hackathon Coding da Vinci and the development of the mobile data pump (Datentankstelle). This cross-departmental work has resulted in free content and sustainable partnerships, so we intend to establish it on a permanent basis and to expand it further in 2015.

What we want to change in 2015

We will focus on expanding existing partnerships in the cultural sector and gaining new ones; volunteers will initiate new collaborative projects and carry out their own campaigns. Alongside these aspects, we will build up access to scientific institutions and continue to pursue joint model projects with the aim of establishing free knowledge in the science sector. We aim to hold events for institutions to intensify the exchange of views on the methods and processes for creating free content.

Objectives	Indicators/Criteria for achieving objectives
Tools – WMDE will provide tools for volunteers, enabling them to implement autonomous projects with institutions (e.g. training courses, handouts).	Tools are being developed Volunteers express a demand for tools (output) Volunteers implement projects (outcome indicator)
Series of events – WMDE will establish a series of events (e.g. Wikimedia Salon, Monsters of Law, educational series) to generate new contacts and advance networking with institutions.	Participant numbers Follow-up communication Media resonance
Model project – Joint initiation of a model project with an excellent institution, with the aim of establishing the concept of free knowledge in the science sector.	Selection of an excellent scientific institution Joint project design, joint commitment Model project gets underway
Release of data – Expanding collaborative projects with cultural institutions (e.g. expanding Coding da Vinci) will increase actual data release by institutions (outcome).	Number of collaborative projects Types of collaborative projects Quantity of data Media resonance

Operational goal: Information material and advice modules

Institutions will receive professional and technical support to enable them to release content themselves. WMDE will ensure that suitable information and advice is provided and that there are interfaces to Wikimedia projects.

Our reasons for doing this

In the past, volunteers or WMDE directly contacted institutions about entering into partnerships in joint projects. This approach revealed a need for information and advice which it has only been possible to provide in individual conversations, which are very time-consuming. To answer this need, we will pursue the structured development and distribution of standardized information and advice formats, using a modular structure which can be adapted and developed for specific target groups. This will enable cultural and scientific institutions to integrate the release of free content actively and autonomously in their work and to participate in Wikimedia projects.

What we want to change in 2015

We will focus mainly on developing modular formats to provide information and advice for institutions. In 2015, this will comprise in particular: introducing advice provision with a technical service infrastructure which will give institutions concrete support in releasing free content; developing a building block system with target group-specific information material on free knowledge and the Wikimedia projects. Linking educational and software offerings will better enable institutions to release knowledge. To achieve this, we will build on previous work and past publications and projects, such as the License Reference Generator and the teaching module Wikipedia – Shaping Knowledge Together (Wikipedia - Gemeinsam Wissen gestalten) or the Open Content Practical Guide.

Objectives	Indicators/Criteria for achieving objectives
Concept – WMDE will complete the material and target group analysis for institutions, begun in 2014, and use the findings to develop a modular concept for information material and advice provision (Q1 2015). This links specialized content with execution-related issues.	Concepts and quality criteria for information and advice provision are available
Materials – By Q4 2015, target group-specific information material for institutions will be available, e.g. on licenses, metadata, Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons.	Materials are available The materials comply with the quality criteria for information provision Expert reviews of the information material (target group-specific) are available
Advice – By Q4 2015, target-group specific provision of advice on release of content and technical implementation in the organizational context will be available (e.g. instructions on using tools, how-to information on uploads, tips on successful cooperation with open volunteer structures).	Advice provision is available Advice provision complies with quality criteria Testing and feedback by an institution (target group-specific) is available

Society’s decision-makers should play a role in ensuring that the framework conditions for free knowledge do not deteriorate, but instead – in an ideal case – improve. They should, in the longer term, allow people to increase the quality and quantity of the content of Wikimedia projects. Volunteers played a key role in WMDE’s activities in 2014, both in relation to open educational resources and on the EU legislative level. This is set to continue in 2015.

Operational goal: Open Educational Resources

Wikimedia Deutschland connects important actors in the field of open educational resources and influences the organization of concrete OER projects. Strategic partnerships in this area will continue to be initiated in 2015, and work in the field of educational policy will be furthered.

Our reasons for doing this

Whether and how the topic of open educational resources (OER) gains a foothold in society depends heavily on it gaining acceptance among political decision-makers and influencers in the education sector, as well as on their ability to adequately transfer complex issues concerning licensing, collaboration and participation to their own professional contexts. In addition to networking, it will also be important to initiate far-reaching OER measures with influential partner organizations and to step up education policy efforts. Third-party funding is very important in this area.

What we want to change in 2015

The focus is on clearly setting out our demands for educational policy reform. In 2015 we aim to convey our positions on the introduction and promotion of open educational resources to political decision-makers on the state and federal level. In order to do so, we will expand our network of allies, both qualitatively and quantitatively. These processes will be flanked by suitable measures (recommendations for political action, consultations, hearings, events).

Objectives	Indicators/Criteria for achieving objectives
OER measure – WMDE initiates a joint OER measure with a political actor.	Joint commitment Common approach Measure up and running
The Free Education Alliance – WMDE is to expand the volunteer-run Free Education Alliance (Bündnis Freie Bildung) with the addition of five further organizations and more volunteers.	Number of alliance partners Alliance partners from different fields
Positions – WMDE is to participate in relevant national consultations/hearings on the subject of free education, where it will introduce its own positions.	Participation in dialogues, surveys and consultations Type of participation (attendance, active contribution, making statement, introducing subject, etc.)

Operational goal: Copyright law reform on the European level

The most important decisions regarding the upcoming copyright law reform are made within EU institutions (Commission, European Parliament, Council of Ministers). WMDE is working with other chapters to increasingly influence these decisions by using and intensifying the structures and professional skills developed in 2014. This includes increased opportunities for volunteer participation.

Our reasons for doing this

Thirteen European Wikimedia chapters and user groups have already joined the Free Knowledge Advocacy Group EU (FKAGEU). This group develops sustainable relationships with the political establishment in Brussels and networks with other NGOs. Our strength lies in the fact that we are a global community that can handle collaborative projects. We want to integrate as many active participants as possible, as profoundly as possible, into our efforts and to attempt to explain our positions to all relevant decision-makers on the need to reform copyright law (state-owned works, freedom of panorama).

What we want to change in 2015

The main focus is on coordinated action to exert influence on legislation. Wikimedia will provide volunteers with the tools (know-how, contacts, information material in several languages) they require to successfully contact the relevant individuals. These active participants are to contact Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), furthering Wikimedia’s recognition as a global movement – thus giving it a great advantage over other liaison offices, such as those from industry. The FKAGEU will take part in the EU-level dialogs, surveys and consultations that are relevant to free knowledge and expand partnerships especially with regard to Internet policy. The cooperation with and participation of other European chapters is to be further intensified.

Objectives	Indicators/Criteria for achieving objectives
MEP contacts – By the end of 2015 there should be a minimum of ten contacts between MEPs and voluntary Wikimedians, who will advise them on free knowledge.	Number and type of contacts (meeting, prolonged e-mail correspondence, telephone calls) between Wikimedians and MEPs
Tools – Wikimedia will provide volunteer Wikimedians with the following tools by the end of 2015: a contact list, brochures on main objectives in at least three languages, the main lines of argument and advocacy strategies.	Contact list and brochures are provided in three languages Awareness of and demand for contact list and brochures (access figures and maintenance of contact list, demand for brochures)
Participation – In 2015 Wikimedia will participate in all dialogs, surveys and events on the EU level whose results are relevant to the EU Commission’s copyright law dossier.	Participation in dialogs, surveys and consultations Type of participation (attendance, active contribution, making statement, introducing subject, etc.) Proportion of total participations that are active
Mobility grant – Wikimedians from European chapters will receive a mobility grant for the first time in 2015, in order for them to gain advocacy experience in Brussels in the field of free knowledge.	Number of grants At least two Wikimedians should have contributed to the work carried out in Brussels by the end of the year.
Partnerships – Wikimedia has set up partnerships with further actors in the field of Internet policy through collaborating in projects and/or a joint positioning.	Carrying out projects (e.g. networking events, parliamentary evenings) in collaboration with partners Position papers co-signed by partners