Wikimedia Israel/2013 program plan

General Background

Wikimedia Israel is a registered Israeli non-profit (NGO #580476430) working in collaboration with the Wikimedia foundation to promote knowledge and education in Israel through the collection, creation and distribution of free content. Wikimedia Israel is a part of an international network of chapters around the world. Among the projects supported by the Wikimedia movement one can find Wikipedia, Wikidictionary, Wikicommons, Wikiquote, Wikibooks and Wikitext.

The goals of the chapter as decided upon its establishment on 2007 are -

Promoting knowledge and education in Israel by gathering, creating and distributing free content.
Promoting equal opportunities in access to knowledge.
Promoting the gathering and distribution of free content and especially through the various projects of the Wikimedia Foundation.
Promoting and advancing the discussion and research of the social, cultural and practical aspects of free content.
Promoting volunteer work for the above purposes.

WM-IL: The Past Year - 2012

2012 marked a change in the chapter's activity with regards to new collaborations, the number and size of activities and internal governance. After the success of Wikimania 2011, a project that required a year and a half of preparation with a cost of 1.5M NIS, 2012 has allowed the chapter and its volunteers to get back on track with the establishment of infrastructure and new projects. The main goal for 2012 was establishing infrastructure for GLAM activities. Right After Wikimania and toward the first half of 2012, we have established two new successful pilot projects with the Israel Museum, Jerusalem [IMJ] and The National Library of Israel [NLI], as well as continuous relationships with a few other leading GLAMs in Israel, which have led to new GLAM projects in 2012 and 2013.

We held the annual Wiki Academy Conference, an academic conference opened to the public, which this year focused on the integration and relationships between Wikipedia, the media and the academic world.

In September, we have participated in the Wiki Loves Monuments (in Hebrew: Wiki loves heritage sites) competition for the first time, with various free events and activities, which have made September-October the heritage months in Israel.

We have also continued -

promoting the amendment for the Israeli Copyright Act
holding presentations and lectures all over the country
representing Wikipedia in various forums
initiating events for the editors' community and the general public.

WM-IL: The Coming year - 2013

During the preperation of our activities for 2013, Wikimedia Israel's board of directors has decided to emphasize several objecctives in the work & budget plans. Some of the objectives are obvious, while others are points we have decided to focus on specifically, as they are important to the continuous and successful operation of the chapter.

Main goals

Recruiting new editors and preventing desertion.
Strengthening the ties with the editing communities and the collaborations between wikipedians and wikimedians.
Establishing a productive new governance and internal procedures for the chapter, focusing on professionalization and a set of criteria for measuring success.
Releasing content under free licenses.
Promoting relevant legislation acts.

Comments for the 2013 Budget

Historically, Wikimedia Israel has been able to operate with a very low budget. Most of the projects run by the chapter required a very low budget or no budget at all, especially compared to similar organizations around the world, and some still do. Even so, the budget for 2013 has increased since last year for several reasons:

Employment - Most of the increase in the budget is due to the decision to hire a General Manager. Since 2007, all the day-to-day management (including resources allocation, planning and execuation of the program plan, managment of volunteers, etc) was done by the chapter's board. However, the amount of activity has increased every year, as well as the size and cost of the projects. During mid 2012 the board has decided to hire a projects coordinator to assists the chapter's board and position holders with administration. Now, the board has decided to hire a general manager, a step that will allow the chapter to grow, as it will take the load off of the board and volunteers, allowing them to focus on strategy building, projects planning and execution.
Traveling Budget - In 2012, the chapter has started to provide participation scholarships for Wikimania. Wikimania 2013 is to be held in Hong-Kong, hence increasing the travel costs.

We note that when excluding these expenses, the chapter maintains an impressive budget restriction and many of the 2013 projects (some are not listed in this budget plan) will carry little to no cost. Despite the increase of the budget, the chapter's board is proud that the budget remains low.

Content Projects

Project's name	Cost
5th Wikiacademy	45,000 NIS
Wiki Loves Monuments	40,000 NIS
GLAM Projects	28,000 NIS
Editors meetings	10,000 NIS
Hackathon	6,000
Writing Competition	3,000
Elef-Milim	1,000
Wikipedia Presentations	0
Cooperation with the Academia	0
Total Cost	133,000 NIS

Grants

Wikimania Scholarships	45,800 NIS
Microgrants	25,000 NIS
Events Participation	12,480 NIS
Volunteering Reimbursement	3,000 NIS
Total Cost	86,280 NIS

Emplyoment

General Manager	144,000 NIS
Admin Coordinator	43,200 NIS
Office Space	14,000 NIS
Office Supplies	10,000 NIS
Communication	2,400 NIS
Total	213,600 NIS

Administration

Wikimania Chapters Meeting	27,480 NIS
Milano Chapters Meeting	12,480 NIS
Legal	10,000 NIS
Book keeping	5,600 NIS
Generaral expenses and hosting	5,000 NIS
Accounting	4,000 NIS
Domain & Web hosting	1,000 NIS
Total	65,560 NIS

Marketing and PR

Graphics and Printing	10,000 NIS
Swag	8,000 NIS
Total	18,000 NIS

WCA

WCA	20,000

The actual use of this budget will be subject to the actual creation of the WCA and the approval of its budget plan.

Misc

Misc	28,000 NIS

Total Budget

564,440 NIS = 145,026 USD