Grants:APG/Proposals/2012-2013 round1/Example/Proposal form
- This is a sample proposal for the FDC for an imaginary entity. This is meant to be used as a guide as you fill out the proposal form for your entity – please do provide more detail in your entity’s proposal, as appropriate. Please do not edit this sample.
This proposal form for Example's proposal to the FDC for 2012-2013 Round 1 may be viewed in tab view or standard view. To discuss this aspect of the proposal to the FDC, please visit the discussion page.
For some guidelines, please see this example proposal form.
All eligible entities will need to complete this form to request funds from the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC). The completed document must be published in English on Meta by the deadline for each round (23:59 UTC 1 October for Round 1, and 23:59 UTC 1 March for Round 2).
The purpose of this document is to provide the FDC with an overview of your annual plan, the alignment of the plan to the Wikimedia movement’s strategic goals, and the potential impact and effectiveness of the plan. This proposal should complement any annual planning documents you may have: please complete all fields as mandatory and add links to supporting documents where relevant.
Each section of the proposal provides guidance on the amount of detail expected in response to each question or field. If you have additional questions about the form, please contact the FDC support team.
A few terms used in the form:
Basic information
Table 1.
| Legal name of affiliated entity | Entity XYZ |
| Contact name | John Smith |
| Contact position in entity | Financial officer |
| Contact username | User:JohnSmith_XYZ |
| Contact email | johnsmith@wikixyz.org |
| Entity fiscal year (mm/dd–mm/dd) | 01/01-12/31 |
| Timeframe of funds currently requested (mm/dd/yy–mm/dd/yy) | 01/01/13-12/31/13 |
| Date posted mm/dd/yy1 | 09/15/12 |
| Round submitted (1 or 2) | 1 |
| Currency requested2 | EUR |
| Exchange rate used (currency requested to $US) and date accessed (mm/dd/yy)3 | 1.23 as of 08/01/12 |
Table 2.
| In currency requested | In $US | |
| Total annual expenses of entity | 300,000 | 369,000 |
| Amount proposed to the FDC for the coming year's annual plan | 200,000 | 246,000 |
| Amount to be raised from non-FDC sources | 100,000 | 123,000 |
| If applicable, amount of FDC funds allocated to entity last year | not applicable (NA) | not applicable (NA) |
1The proposal is assumed to be final as of the deadline for each round (23:59 UTC, October 1 for Round 1, and 23:59 UTC March 1 for Round 2). After the deadline, the proposal must not be further modified; any further commentary should be included on the talk page.
2Currency requested is defined as the currency in which you wish to receive funds (e.g., EUR, GBP, INR).
3This exchange rate should be used throughout the form.
Background, history, and mission
This section provides the FDC an overview of your entity's background and history. Please respond to each question below with 1-2 sentences to a maximum of a paragraph.
- When was your entity established?
- 01/01/08
- What is the mission of your entity, and how does it support the goals of the Wikimedia movement?
- Our mission is to empower and engage people in the country of XYZ in order to develop high quality free content in the public domain, and to disseminate it effectively to people throughout XYZ and around the world.
- This mission supports the Wikimedia goals of free and accurate knowledge that every human being has access to.
- See more information about XYZ’s mission and vision here (link)
- What is its current leadership structure (e.g., executive staff structure, board / governance structure)?
- If you have an organogram or organizational chart for your organization, please provide a link.
- One Executive Director
- Board: Member elected Board with one Board chair, four additional members (Vice-president, Secretary, Treasurer, Development chair) and two alternate members; two -year term limits
- How many staff are employed by your entity?
- Three (including executive director)
- Approximately how many volunteers participate actively in your entity?
- 50
- How many members does your entity have?
- 300
Reflection on past activities and innovations
This section provides the FDC with information about your entity's past activities and strategies. Please answer the questions below with your reflections on the past fiscal year. Responses to each question should be one or two paragraphs.
- How does your entity define and measure "success"?
- Entity XYZ defines success by the level of participation from editors and potential editors in the XYZ community and by the strength and credibility of our organization within the community. We seek to increase readership within the broader XYZ community. We also define success by our ability to use innovative approaches and technological advances to meet Wikimedia movement goals. We regularly track and measure success indicators and publish the results in our annual report. Some examples of these metrics include:
- Growth in readership
- Number of new editors
- Number of editors retained six months after events
- Number of new content pages from partners
- Partnerships formed with GLAM/cultural institutions
- Number of project done with women's institutions
- Entity XYZ defines success by the level of participation from editors and potential editors in the XYZ community and by the strength and credibility of our organization within the community. We seek to increase readership within the broader XYZ community. We also define success by our ability to use innovative approaches and technological advances to meet Wikimedia movement goals. We regularly track and measure success indicators and publish the results in our annual report. Some examples of these metrics include:
- Please give at least three examples of successful activities that your entity has completed. If available, provide links to information about these activities.
- Three successful activities that XYZ has completed in the recent years were:
- WikiXYZ editors forum: During this conference, we explored ways to recruit and retain editors to the Wikipedia XYZ. We offered many opportunities for editors to build camaraderie with one another and to share best practices on how to stay actively involved in Wikimedia XYZ. We had significant participation in this conference and noted that our number of edits increased by 15% in the 3 months after this conference compared to the previous 3 months.
- Wiki Loves Women: Due to low female editorship rates in Wikimedia XYZ, we held a women-centered contest to encourage women to contribute high-quality articles and other contributions to the Wikipedia XYZ site. Not only did we receive an overwhelming response from women in the community who wanted to participate in the contest, but we also converted a significant portion of these participants into new members and regular editors, resulting in 20 new regular female editors.
- GLAM XYZ National Museum: Over the last 2 years, we have had rotating internships positions at XYZ National Museum. These interns spent time converting historic museum archival documents into important articles on the history of XYZ’s founding and development. Interns developed over 1000 articles over the course of these two years. These articles have been extremely popular with not only our regular readership, but also the news and education outlets in country XYZ, resulting in increased visibility for Wikimedia XYZ and increased local funder interest.
- Three successful activities that XYZ has completed in the recent years were:
- What are the plans/strategies that did not work for your entity in the past? What did your entity learn from that experience / those experiences?
- Wikimedia XYZ has tried to develop a relationship with the XYZ Municipal Parks Service, in order to develop content that would both enhance Wikimedia XYZ content and draw visitors to the City Parks in the Capital City of XYZ. However, we have not gained much traction with this relationship; they have been relatively unable to provide much content to us, and as a result, we have not been able to draw many additional readers in. In the future, we would think carefully about developing a partnership with a municipal entity, as they have very few resources to invest in a relationship.
- What else has your entity learned or innovated upon that could benefit the broader Wikimedia movement?
- This year, Wikimedia XYZ launched a mentorship program that paired new editors with experienced Wikimedia editors, with a goal to increase editor participation and retention. This program was in response to an issue we know many Wikimedians face – retaining editors. This program was extremely low cost but very effective – we found that new editors with mentors contributed more edits / articles than those without, and even mentors reported in our annual editors’ survey that they were more satisfied members of the Wikimedia XYZ community. We shared the details of this program at this year’s Chapter Conference, and we are currently writing a blog post about it which we hope to share broadly within the Wikimedia community.
Where available, please link to the following to provide supplemental information to the FDC:
- Link to previous completed fiscal year annual plan
- link to 2011 XYZ annual plan
- Link to previous completed fiscal year annual report
- link to 2011 XYZ annual report
- Link to previous completed fiscal year grant report (if your entity has received funds from the FDC)
- NA
Year-to-date progress
This section provides the FDC information about how your entity is progressing against the current fiscal year's planned budget (revenues and costs).
Please provide the relevant information below. "Year to date" refers to the period between the start of your entity's current fiscal year and the date of submission of the proposal(+). If it is helpful to link to your entity's current fiscal year plan and budget, please do so.
Table 3.
Current fiscal year planned budget Year-to-date actuals+ Variance In currency requested In $US In currency requested In $US % Revenues (from all sources) 270,000 332,100 202,500 249,075 25% Spending 270,000 332,100 180,000 221,400 33%
+ Actual year-to-date financials should be provided as close to the proposal submission date as possible; best approximations are sufficient.
Table 3. details:
Based on the variance percentages above, please describe how your entity is progressing against revenue and spending targets. If you expect your entity to be significantly under or over target on either revenue or spending, please provide a detailed explanation.
- Our organization is well on track to meet annual revenue targets and are already 75% of the way there with three months to go. We anticipate a major revenue push towards the end of the year. We are also on track with regards to spending – as we have a large event at the end of the year that will utilize a large portion of the variance.
Key initiatives and objectives of the upcoming year annual plan
The table is intended to provide an overview of your entity's upcoming year annual plan and its alignment with the movement's strategic goals; please provide short phrases or 1-3 bullet points for each initiative in the table below. Feel free to add more details below the table (1-2 paragraphs per initiative). You can also link to any other documents that you think might be helpful as context.
If you feel you have an initiative that fulfills a strategic goal that is not immediately identified with a Wikimedia strategic goal ('readership' rather than 'editorship', for instance), please add that in the table and offer us your rationale.
Please link to your entity's strategic plan if you have one.
- Strategic plan link: Link to Wikimedia XYZ strategic plan
Table 4.
Key initiatives What are the objectives of this initiative (include metrics)? Which Wikimedia strategic goal(s) does this initiative address? What key activities / milestones are associated with this initiative? How will your entity accomplish this initiative? How will your entity measure and track success of this initiative? Wikimedia XYZ Editors Forum
- To increase editor participation (number of new editors attracted through courses and workshops)
- To increase editor retention (number of editors who continue editing six months after the event)
- Increase participation within the movement, improve quality
- Editor’s Forum Event
- New-editor mentorship program
- New editor training program
- Program staff partially dedicated to planning / running the conference
- Active volunteer community involved in mentorship program and event support
- Track attendance at conference
- Measure number of edits and unique editors before and after conference
- Track editor satisfaction before and after event
Initiative 2 ... ... ... ... ... Initiative 3 ... ... ... ... ... Initiative 4 ... ... ... ... ...
Table 4. details:
Additional context for the upcoming year annual plan / SWOT
Please provide 1-2 paragraphs for each response below. SWOT stands for your organizational strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
- What organizational strengths enable your entity's plan (e.g., leadership, governance structure, community participation, fundraising)?
- Strong leadership with experience in the Wikimedia community
- Strong and engaged board with important community and government connections
- Active membership and volunteer community with diverse skill sets and interest areas
- What external opportunities enable your entity's plan (e.g., socio-political context, community participation, fundraising)?
- New government grant program for social media / knowledge projects
- Recent government regulations make free content licensing easier
- What are key risks or threats that would prevent you from achieving your plan (e.g., leadership turnover, governance challenges, lawsuits, fundraising, community participation, socio-political context)?
- We are struggling to engage diverse populations such as senior citizens. Despite three past attempts, we have not yet found an approach that works in engaging with senior citizens, so this will remain experimental for us
- Poor economy is resulting in hardship for community, including editors, making it difficult for editors to make time for / travel to editor events
- Plan requires Wikimedia XYZ to fundraise 50,000 from Foundation sources to cover some expenses; if we cannot raise these funds, we may have to cut back on some activities throughout the year.
- How will you minimize these risks and threats?
- Offer select scholarships to editors in the community to attend the conference
- Engage our board members in fundraising and developing contacts with foundations
Financials for the upcoming year's annual plan
- Provide your financial overview for the upcoming year in the format below.
- Please link to your detailed budget (translation into English highly recommended) in addition to completing the tables below.
- Detailed budget link: Link to Wikimedia XYZ detailed budget
- Revenues
Please list anticipated revenues, by source (e.g., FDC, Wikimedia grants programs, public funding, membership fees, local donations, event fees)
Table 5.
Revenue source Anticipated (in currency requested) Anticipated (In $US) Funds Dissemination Committee 200,000 246,000 ABC Foundation grant 50,000 61,500 Corporate donations 25,000 30,750 Individual donations 20,000 24,600 Membership fees 5,000 6,150
Table 5. details:
- Current entity staff (e.g., Included in year-in-progress budget)
Role / functions might include program administration, finance, fundraising. Please include both part-time and full-time staff.
Table 6.
Role / Function Number of staff Percentage of staff time+ Executive leadership 1 100% Finance part-time 1 50% Programs full-time 1 100%
+Please include estimates of the percentage allocation of staff members. For example, for full time staff, you would put 100% in this column. For half time staff, you would put 50% in this column.
Table 6. details:
- Proposed new staff for upcoming year annual plan
Role / functions might include program administration, finance, fundraising. Please include both part-time and full-time staff.
Table 7.
Role / Function Number of staff Percentage of staff time+ Duration Rationale for hiring new staff Programs 1 40% Permanent We plan to hire a part-time administrative assistant for two days a week. This individual will assist all departments in administrative functions, providing particular assistance to the Programs team in event logistics.
+Please include estimates of the percentage allocation of staff members. For example, for full time staff, you would put 100% in this column. For half time staff, you would put 50% in this column.
Table 7. details:
- Summary of staff expenses
Table 8.
In currency requested In $US Current staff expenses 130,000 159,900 Proposed staff expenses 20,000 24,600 Total staff expenses 150,000 184,500
Table 8. details:
- Expenses by program/initiative
Expenses are costs associated with any programs, initiatives, or projects your entity manages (e.g., event costs, materials, transportation). Please exclude any staff costs that are included above. “Programs / initiatives” might include education programs, outreach programs, etc. Please include any administration costs (e.g., office space rental, utilities) affiliated with each program along with any overall administration costs that are not affiliated with any particular program (e.g., Administration should be considered a "Program" under the first column.)
Table 9.
Program / initiative In currency requested In $US WikiXYZ editors forum 35,000 45,050 Wiki Loves Women 15,000 18,450 GLAM 30,000 36,900 Wiki loves Monuments 30,000 36,900 Administration 40,000 49,200
Total expenses 150,000 184,500
Table 9. details:
- Summary of total revenues and expenses
Table 10.
In currency requested In $US Total Revenues 300,000 369,000 Total Spending 300,000 369,000 Net (revenues less expenses) 0 0 Reserve balance, if applicable+ 0 0
+ Cash reserve balance should include cumulative reserves and any net revenue
Table 10. details:
- Verification that this proposal requests no funds from the Wikimedia Foundation for political or legislative activities
Enter "yes" or "no" for the verification below.
- The term “political or legislative activities” includes any activities relating to political campaigns or candidates (including the contribution of funds and the publication of position statements relating to political campaigns or candidates); voter registration activities; meetings with or submissions and petitions to government executives, ministers, officers or agencies on political or policy issues; and any other activities seeking government intervention or policy implementation (like “lobbying”), whether directed toward the government or the community or public at large. Grants for such activities (when permitted under U.S. law and IRS regulations) should be sought from the Wikimedia Grants Program.
I verify that this proposal requests no funds from the Wikimedia Foundation for political or legislative activities Yes
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