Wikimedia User Group Nigeria/Community Support Fund/2022 learning and evaluation report

Wikimedia UG Nigeria Microgrant Evaluation Report

Summary

Limitations

Inputs

Outputs

Outcomes

Key findings

Appendix

Program summary	Welcome to the Wikimedia UG Nigeria Microgrant Evaluation Report. This evaluation report is prepared by the Wikimedia UG Nigeria evaluation team to understand how to better support and improve the Wikimedia UG Nigeria microgrant processes and to help the community learn about them. We are evaluating the program for the first 12 months, as this will help us understand what worked well, what did not work well, and what we should have done differently. It would also provide insights into projects or activities that were prioritized by the recipients. Our priority goals were to support capacity building, recruit volunteers, and strengthen our campaigns and contests. Others are creating content and community meetups. The Wikimedia UG Nigeria Microgrant was a program designed by the Wikimedia User Group Nigeria to support Nigerian mission-aligned organizations, individual members of the Wikimedia User Group Nigeria, fan clubs, and organized groups contributing to any Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia, Wikidata, or Wikimedia Commons. This is part of our effort to achieve our priority goals for the year 2022-2023 and to provide all the support our community members need to effectively contribute to Wikimedia projects. The micro-grant was a community-driven program, managed by a small group of volunteers that form the grant review committee, and this community is supported by a staff member who provides the technical support and infrastructure for the committee’s processes. The grant program started on April 15, 2022, and runs until March 15, 2023. The applicant may receive up to NGN 200,000. Applications are reviewed monthly from the first 15 days of every month, and disbursements are made at the end of the month upon approval. In the last 12 months, more than 50 micro-grants have been approved to support various programs and communities (hubs and clubs).
Program impact	Wikimedia UG Nigeria micro grant implementations supported the funding of at least 50 grant request Capacity building, contents generation, campaigns were prioritized by the grantees The funding resulted in the engagement of more than 1,000 people Reports were provided for at least 45 of the 50 approved requests More than 6 Wikimedia projects were impacted. These includes, Wikipedia (English, Igbo, Hausa, and Yoruba Wikipedia), Wikimedia Commons, and Wikidata.
Grantees feedback	Capacity building and the contents campaign were the most important priorities for the grantees. Our approach to diversity, equity and inclusion were rated high by the grantees on a scale of 1 to 10 by the grantees Our program officer were rated high on a scale of 1 to 10 by the grantees. This suggest that they are adequately supported. 73% of the grantees believed that our communication was not adequate 93% of the grantee believe that our eligibility criteria was clear 86.7% of the grantees believe that we should develop and demonstrate understanding of the people and communities served by our grantees 80% of the grantees believe that we are maintaining clarity and consistency of communication 76.4% of the grantee believe that the amount we are awarding should be increased 80% of the grantees believe that our funding is flexible and easily accessible
Sustainability and development	The following are our plans for sustainability and the development of the micro-grant program; Involvement of more community members - When community members are involved in the creation and execution of activities within their community, they are likely to adopt and support them. This fosters a sense of ownership and appreciation within the community, encouraging them to undertake actions that contribute to the sustainability of the project over time. Consistent evaluation - There is a need to consistently evaluate the micro-grant program. Evaluation results show which funded activities are achieving the desirable results, the factors that impacts on its failure and success and those that requires additional support to thrive. Capacity building for microgrant committee members and staff - Capacity building is a conerstone to effective implentation of any program. Training and retraining of committee members and staff are integral to the growth, development and sustainability of this program. Exploring additional funding opportunities - In order to expand the funding and scale it appropriately, there is a need to explore additional funding outside of the WMF.
Lessons learned	Our communications are ineffective. Our grant does not cover most of the direct cost owing to the size of the grant Micro-grant committee members are not getting the adequate support needed to carry out the activities of the committee Micro-grant committee members are not adequately motivated There is a need to have a dedicated staff member to oversea the grant process. Notes