Grants:PEG/WM RS/Capacity building project for the first half of 2012

Funded

This submission to the Wikimedia Foundation Grants Program was funded in the fiscal year 2011-12. This is a grant to an organization.

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This project has been funded, completed, and a project report has been reviewed and accepted by WMF Staff.
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Legal name of chapter or nonchapter group: Wikimedia Serbia
Grant contact name: Milos Rancic
Grant contact username or email: millosh@gmail.com
Grant contact title (position): Board member
Project lead name: Milos Rancic
Project lead username or email: millosh@gmail.com
Project lead title (position), if any: Board Member
Full project name: Wikimedia Serbia capacity building project for the first half of 2012
Amount requested (in USD): 5000
Provisional target start date: 4 February 2012
Provisional completion date: 7 July 2012

Budget breakdown

Venue: 6*150 EUR = 900 EUR = ~1250 USD
Catering: 6*300 EUR = 1800 EUR = ~2500 USD
Legal fees: 6*50 EUR = 300 EUR = ~450 USD
Travel: 6*15 EUR = 90 EUR = ~125 USD
Printing auxiliary materials: 100 EUR = ~150 USD

For the venue, we’ll get everything needed for 150 EUR per event: besides venue itself, video projector, internet, technical support and similar. We are able to get all of that for a couple of times less price than venue alone (similar venue for similar time would cost commercially at least 500 EUR) because friendly relations with the cultural center.

Project scope

The main problem of Wikimedia Serbia is general tiredness of the most of the core of its members (mostly Board members). Wikipedia hype is history and we didn’t find yet a way how to work under the new circumstances, which requires influx of new ideas and new energy from time to time.

We have serious problem in attracting new people. The only regular meetings of the community are in a sterile atmosphere of a meeting Dom omladine [1]. And, as usual, we are mostly tired to discuss about the projects; so we are chatting in office-like atmosphere. And here is the loop:

We are tired and need more people.
To find more people, we need to attract them with either something "serious" either with some fun.
As we are tired, to do something "serious" we need more people. => the end of the loop.
It is not fun to chat in office-like atmosphere. => the end of the loop.

As organizing events is something which we do relatively regularly, the idea is to organize promotional afternoons in the Cultural Center Rex [2], where we could meet new people and recruit some of them to work with Wikimedia Serbia. Rex is experienced in hosting non-profit organizations and it will help us to articulate our program better. Targeted group of people (students and young intellectuals) are visiting Rex.

Initially, the main part of the program is to talk with people and give them brochures. We already have a couple of ideas how to make events interesting and present WM RS as attractive to the targeted group. We also plan to renew the idea of Wiki Wormhole [3].

We want to organize 6 events from January to June, to be able to show continuity of the events and our work to the targeted group. The continuation of the project for the summer period should be another project, Photo tour around Serbia (it has elements of WLM and capacity building).

The part of the project will be to develop light-weight projects to involve new people..

The draft for the typical event program is:

17:00-17:30 - Presentation, movie etc. about Wikimedia or some Wikimedia project.
17:45-18:15 - Presentation, movie etc. from one of the friendly organizations (free software groups and similar)
18:30-20:00 - Other program, likely concert of a friendly alternative choir Horkestar [4]
20:00-22:00 - Social networking.

[1] http://www.domomladine.org/

[2] http://www.rex.b92.net/

[3] http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikiWormhole_Belgrade_-_New_York_City_2010

[4] http://www.horkestar.org/english.php

Project goal

The goal is to find at least a couple of new persons highly interested in Wikimedia projects and Wikimedia Serbia, as well.

Non-financial requirements

We would like to see people from WMF and other chapters on those events.
(After first one or two events we’ll maybe articulate other non-financial needs.)

Fit to strategy

increasing reach: The project will increase reach among students and younger generations of intellectuals from Belgrade.
participation: The project’s goal is to increase organizational participation. Participation on Wikimedia content projects is also expected.
quality: Participants of the events are capable to increase quality of Wikimedia content projects.
credibility: The project aims to present Wikimedia Serbia and Wikimedia projects as attractive to younger generations.
organizational maturity and effectiveness: The project's main goal is increase organizational participation.

Other benefits

Social networking. It is likely that we could make various deals other than those which are primary in focus.

Measures of success

Between five and ten new and active people in Wikimedia Serbia.
Wikimedia Serbia restarts to function organizationally.

Team members (optional)

Milos Rancic
Duska Rajkovic
Marko Stefanovic

For grantees

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