Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/General Support Fund/Wikimedia DC Annual Grant 2025
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Applicant information
edit- Organization name or Wikimedia Username for individuals. (required)
- Wiki Society of Washington DC Inc. dba Wikimedia DC
- Do you have any approved General Support Fund requests? (required)
- Yes, I have already applied and received a General Support Fund
- You are applying as a(n). (required)
- Wikimedia Affiliate (chapter, thematic org., or user group)
- Are your group or organization legally registered in your country? (required)
- Yes
- Do you have a fiscal sponsor?
- No
- Fiscal organization name.
- N/A
- Please provide links to the following documents if they are available
These documentation can be provided in your local language(s), no translations required.
- Organizational website
- Detailed financial reporting and/or audits
- Documentation of the governance structure, board list, governance processes
- Documentation of the general assembly decision on your plan
- All documentation and reports are published at https://wikimediadc.org, https://wikimediadc.org/wiki/Governance, https://wikimediadc.org/wiki/Board_of_Directors, https://wikimediadc.org/wiki/Plans_and_reports, https://wikimediadc.org/wiki/Meetings_(2023%E2%80%932024)
Main proposal
edit- 1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be a title for the Meta-Wiki page. (required)
- Wikimedia DC Annual Grant 2025
- 2. Do you want to apply for the multi-year base funding for 3 years? (required) (only for returning applicants)
- No
- 2.1. Provide a brief overview of Year 2 and Year 3 of the proposed plan and how this relates to the current proposal and your strategic plan? (required)
N/A
- 3. Proposed start date. (required)
- 2025-01-01
- 4. Proposed end date. (required)
- 2025-12-31
- 5. Does your organization or group have an Affiliate or Organizational Annual Plan that can help us understand your proposal? If yes, please provide it. (required)
- No
- 6. Does your affiliate, organization or group have a Strategic Plan that can help us understand your proposal? If yes, please provide it. (required)
- No
- 7. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
- Regional (more than one country in the same continent or region)
- Our primary focus is on serving the chapter’s official region, the mid-Atlantic states of the USA. In practice, we run and support programs and partners across the USA, especially since many events are online. Through our leadership on WikiConference North America, we collaborate with affiliates in Canada, Mexico, and the Caribbean. Separately, we have supported research to assess the needs around a North America Hub.
- 8. What are your programs, approaches, and strategies? What are the challenges that you are trying to address and how will your strategies support you in addressing these challenges? (required)
WMDC continues to focus on education and outreach by offering programs that are designed to engage and encourage participation in Wikimedia projects regardless of prior knowledge or experience levels of participants. Our core programs remain edit-a-thons and training workshops that are mostly facilitated collaboratively with institutional partners. We also occasionally provide Wikipedia training sessions and edit-a-thon facilitation for for-profit companies looking for creative and COI-free ways to satisfy volunteer hours. While these sessions do not make up the majority of our programs, they have proven to be quite effective for content creation.
At our past 100+ edit-a-thons, we have welcomed over 1,000 editors. These editors have created over 450 new articles, edited over 2,400 existing articles, and added a total of 533,000 words to English-language Wikipedia.
Program Strategies
1. Partner cultivation and retention
As the official chapter in the US National Capital region, we are able to leverage the resources and expertise of government, academic, and cultural partners. When cultivating these partners, we demonstrate the value of engaging with Wikimedia projects. This is best done by communicating mission alignment and measurable outcomes. Through targeted outreach and networking, we’ve been able to grow our partner base by adding 3 to 5 new partners each year.
WMDC has built a portfolio of institutional partners. On average, 60-70% of our annual institutional partners have co-facilitated edit-a-thons or editing initiatives in previous years.
The most common challenges affecting partner cultivation and retention are external. A partner’s own capacity and priorities determine whether an editing event or initiative is a one-time-occurrence or something that could evolve into a long-term commitment or partnership.
Washington, DC is a region with many transients. This can result in staff changes or reactive shifts in focus in the partner organizations. We approach this challenge by revisiting past partners whose events did not lead to long-term organizational engagement. While not always successful in reconnecting, we are sometimes able to once again demonstrate value and re-establish these connections.
2. Editor cultivation and retention
Around 70% of attendees at our edit-a-thons have never edited before. WMDC uses an inclusive approach with the goal of increasing participation. We plan all programs with the idea that Wikimedia projects should remain open to all who wish to learn. By maintaining a welcoming organizational atmosphere, we hope we can help grow editorship in our region and beyond.
It is important to help program participants feel comfortable and confident when preparing to edit, especially when doing so for the first time. By limiting ‘tech-talk’ and focusing on drawing connections between the projects and platforms they’ve already used, we are able to limit confusion and build from a place of familiarity.
Ariel Cetrone, the current Institutional Partnerships Manager and most-frequent trainer is often told that the training sessions she provides were easy to follow and accessible for most.
3. Administrative excellence and organizational sustainability
Our Chapter nearly had to shut down during the COVID-19 crisis, as it neared financial and administrative collapse. The incoming board leadership and the successful 2023-24 General Support Fund grant gave WMDC the fresh injection of support and encouragement that it needed. That grant allowed us to begin the process of strategic planning and helped us to professionalize our bookkeeping and accounting services. We wish to continue to build on the work begun in the prior years by continuing to strengthen the chapter’s administrative practices. We seek to invest in ongoing recordkeeping, bookkeeping, and membership support and communications software to ensure ongoing effectiveness. We also seek to promote Institutional Partnerships Manager to the role of Executive Director so that her ongoing leadership around our programs is recognized through a job title that is in keeping with the norms established by other official Wikimedia chapters and affiliates. Her duties overlap already almost entirely with the work performed by EDs in other affiliates, so it is appropriate that her title and compensation are commensurate with her accomplishments and expertise.
- 9. What categories are your main programs and related activities under? Please select all that apply. (required)
| Category | Yes/No |
|---|---|
| Education | Yes |
| Culture, heritage or GLAM | Yes |
| Gender and diversity | Yes |
| Community support and engagement | Yes |
| Participation in campaigns and contests | Yes |
| Public policy advocacy | Yes |
| Other | No |
Education
- 9.1.1. Select all your programs and activities for Education. (required)
- Editing Wikipedia Training, Wikidata programs, Wikimedia Commons programs
- Other programs and activities if any: N/A
- 9.1.2. Select all relevant audience groups for Education. (required)
- Vocational, tertiary, or higher education, Teachers or professors, Senior citizens
- Other groups if any: Interns
Culture, heritage or GLAM
- 9.2. Select all your programs and activities for Culture, heritage or GLAM. (required)
- Introducing new approaches to underrepresented culture and heritage, e.g. decolonising or reparative work; oral and visual knowledge; outreach to communities of origin, indigenous and first nations self-determination, Supporting institutions to open up their collections, data, metadata, and research, Supporting GLAM professionals to incorporate use of Wikimedia in their work, through documentation, training, or Wikimedian in Residence programs, Partnering with institutions, professional associations, and allied organizations to raise awareness of open culture, ethical sharing, and related issues
- Other programs and activities if any: N/A
Gender and diversity
- 9.3. Select all your programs and activities for Gender and diversity.
- Bringing in women and/or gender diverse participants and editors, Focusing on creating content about women and/or gender diverse groups, including biographies, intersectional topic areas and/or adding images, Focusing on creating content about marginalized (underrepresented) communities and their knowledge, Focusing on knowledge equity by bringing in contributors from underrepresented communities, Building organizer skills in women and diversity groups, Fomenting female leadership within the movement (either staff, members or boards), Sensitize and educate for gender perspective among Wikimedia projects stewards and editors
- Other programs and activities if any: N/A
Community support and engagement
- 9.4. Select all your programs and activities for Community support and engagement.
- On-wiki training of community members, Off-wiki training of community members, Organizing meetups, conferences, and community events, Supporting community members' participation in events and conferences
- Other programs and activities if any: N/A
Participation in campaigns and contests
- 9.5. Select all campaigns that apply. (required)
- WikiGap, Wiki Loves Monuments
- Other programs and activities if any: N/A
Public policy advocacy
- 9.6.1. What specific laws, or legislative topics, are you targeting with your advocacy plans? Please be as specific as possible. (required)
WMDC staff and board members have attended hearings and panels on Section 230. As the regional Wikimedia chapter in Washington, DC, we will continue to actively engage with the representatives from the Foundation's policy team including Stan Adams and Rebecca MacKinnon on Section 230 and any additional legislation that affects Wikimedia projects.
- 9.6.2. What are the main methods and tactics via which you plan to advocate for this public policy change? Please be as specific as possible. (required)
While Public Policy is not our main activity, we plan to co-facilitate training sessions on how to appeal to local representatives. These will most likely take place as we start to finalize our role in the establishment of the North American Hub. We meet monthly with representatives from the Wikimedia Foundation's policy team (Stan Adams coordinates).
We are planning an edit-a-thon that will take place on Capitol Hill. The goal of this and other potential future editing events is to teach Hill staffers about the structure of Wikimedia projects and the process of Wikipedia editing. The edit-a-thons will begin with a brief overview of legislation, events or themes that are relevant to the edit-a-thon’s topic. We will refrain from COI editing by focusing on historical figures or topics.
Helping Capitol Hill staffers learn how Wikimedia projects work as well as demonstrating the projects’ roles in the free knowledge movement will ultimately be beneficial if/when additional governmental restrictions are proposed.
- 9.6.3. Approximately, how much of the requested budget will you dedicate to public policy advocacy (local currency)?
- 0
- 10. Please include a link to or upload a timeline (operational calendar) for your programs and activities. (required)
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DG8qEVj5M7e1Hzmw9oweS_2c9765UR3XjYrCj4_B-Yc/edit?usp=sharing
- 11. Describe your team. (required)
Staff
Ariel Cetrone, Institutional Partnerships Manager - Salaried, employed since 2017 User:Ariel Cetrone (WMDC) Roles and responsibilities Facilitation of institutional partnerships with GLAMs, universities, affinity groups, associations, etc. with the goal of increasing engagement with Wikimedia projects Partnering with other Wikimedia chapters or projects Presenting nationally and internationally on establishing successful Wikipedia partnerships and user engagement
Ariel will take on more administrative duties in 2025 and become Executive Director for the organization.
Board
Peter Meyer, President, User:econterms John Sadowski, Vice President, User:Antony-22 Diane Shaw, Secretary, User:Uncommon fritillary Sara Snyder, Treasurer, User:Sarasays Rob Fernandez User:Gamaliel Kevin Li, User:L235 Kevin Payravi, User:SuperHamster
Our board members are all Wikimedia editors and give significant support WikiConference North America and other activities.
We anticipate having part-time work for specialists in communications or disinformation policy, however, we are not seeking funding for these positions from the General Support Fund.
- 12. Will you be working with any internal (Wikimedia) or external partners? Describe the characteristics of these partnerships and bring a few examples of the most significant partnerships. (required)
Wikimedia DC works with external partners and other Wikimedia chapters. Two major goals of external partnerships are 1) increasing editors/project participants and, 2) encouraging content creation. This is accomplished by building relationships that lead to internal staff trainings and editing drives with curators, librarians, educational staff (private edit-a-thons) and partner constituents (public edit-a-thons).
Our most robust external partnership to date is with the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum.
Institutional partners (a selection from 2021-2024) American Statistical Association American University Charles Sumner School Museum and Archive City of Fairfax Regional Library DC History Center Delaware Art Museum Georgetown University House of Sweden National Gallery of Art National Museum of African Art National Museum of Women in Arts National Nanotechnology Initiative National Trust for Historic Preservation NewsQ Progressive Policy Institute Protect Democracy Smithsonian American Art Museum Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center Smithsonian Institution Libraries and Archives Smithsonian National American History Museum The Peale Museum Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Tennessee State University University of Maryland University of Nebraska University of South Florida Winterthur Museum, Garden and Library
Internal partners
Past internal edit-a-thon partners (Wikimedia Chapters) include Wikimedia Sweden (through joint WIkiGap events), and Wikimedia Mexico (vaccine-related edit-a-thons).
Community partners: Hub research In April 2023, Wikimedia DC, with support from Wikimedia NYC, launched a research project designed to determine the feasibility of creating a North American Hub. Hubs, within the context of the Wikimedia movement, are collaborative bodies made up of Wikimedia chapters, affiliates, and user groups. The goals of the research project were to 1) determine the needs of North American Wikimedia entities and interested parties 2) determine if and how a North American hub can help meet these needs and grow capacities through collaboration, services, and support, and 3) learn how these findings align with the activities of other hubs, chapters, the WMF, and movement strategy activities. More: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/North_American_Hub_Research_Project
- 13. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select all that apply. (required)
- Increase the Sustainability of Our Movement, Improve User Experience, Provide for Safety and Inclusion, Ensure Equity in Decision-making, Coordinate Across Stakeholders, Invest in Skills and Leadership Development, Manage Internal Knowledge, Identify Topics for Impact, Innovate in Free Knowledge, Evaluate, Iterate, and Adapt
Metrics
editWikimedia Metrics
edit- 14. Please select and fill out Wikimedia Metrics for your proposal. (recommended)
- 14.1. Number of participants, editors, and organizers.
All metrics provided are optional, please fill them out if they are aligned with your programs and activities.
| Metrics name | Target | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of all participants | 100 | Individuals attending or participating in conferences, bootcamp or non-edit-a-thon gatherings led or co-led by WMDC |
| Number of all editors | 200 | WMDC will facilitate 20-30 editing events, including training sessions and edit-a-thons. Based on past metrics, these events would accommodate approximately 150-250 editors, depending on the number of repeat editors. |
| Number of new editors | 140 | |
| Number of retained editors | 30 | |
| Number of all organizers | 45 | This includes Wikimedia staff, volunteers, and representatives from WMDC’s institutional partners. On average, about 60% of our annual institutional partners have hosted and coordinated events or initiatives with WMDC in previous years. |
| Number of new organizers | 15 |
- 14.2. Number of new content contributions to Wikimedia projects. (recommended)
| Wikimedia project | Created | Edited or improved |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia | 200 | 400 |
| Wikimedia Commons | 100 | 100 |
| Wikidata | ||
| Wiktionary | ||
| Wikisource | ||
| Wikimedia Incubator | ||
| Translatewiki | ||
| MediaWiki | ||
| Wikiquote | ||
| Wikivoyage | ||
| Wikibooks | ||
| Wikiversity | ||
| Wikinews | ||
| Wikispecies | ||
| Wikifunctions / Abstract Wikipedia |
- Description for Wikimedia projects contributions metrics. (optional)
This is based on annual averages tracked within the outreach dashboard. It does not include any edits made on tracked content in the days after events. Our members are active on other platforms such as Wikidata and Wikisource but do not keep as detailed records of contributions on those platforms.
Other Metrics
edit- 15. Do you have other quantitative and qualitative targets for your project (other metrics)? (required)
- No
| Other Metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
Budget
edit- 16. Will you have any other revenue sources when implementing this proposal (e.g. other funding, membership contributions, donations)? (required)
- Yes
- 16.1. List other revenue sources. (required)
We anticipate applying for a movement strategy/hub grant for $25,000 to give out as small grants to North American Wikimedian project.
We have a continuing contract with the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum that ends in early 2025, and we may bid for another one, which would be around $9,000.
Membership dues and donations are normally under $2,000/year.
We have already received a Newmark grant that extends into 2025.
- 16.2. Approximately how much revenue will you have from other sources in your local currency? (required)
- 10000
- 17. Your local currency. (required)
- USD
- 18. What is the total requested amount in your local currency? (required)
- 116540 USD
| Year | Amount (local currency) |
|---|---|
| Year 1 | N/A USD |
| Year 2 | N/A USD |
| Year 3 | N/A USD |
- 19. Does this proposal include compensation for staff or contractors? (required)
- Yes
- 19.1. How many paid staff members do you plan to have? (required)
Include the number of staff and contractors during the proposal period. If you have short-term contractors or staff, please include them separately and mention their terms.
- One programmatic FTE
Contract bookkeeper for financials
- 19.2. How many FTEs (full-time equivalents) in total? (required)
Include the total FTE of staff and contractors during the proposal period. If you have short-term contractors or staff, please include their FTEs with the terms separately.
- One
- 19.3. Describe any staff or contractor changes compared to the current year / ongoing General Support Fund if any. (required only for returning grantees)
- We would like to widen the assigned duties of the current partnerships manager to encompass those of an executive director. Her title would change to Executive Director and we request funding for a 5% salary increase in keeping with this promotion.
- 20. Please provide an overview of your overall budget categories in your local currency. The budget breakdown should include only the amount requested with this General Support Fund (required).
| Budget category | Amount in local currency |
|---|---|
| Staff and contractor costs | 102840 USD |
| Operational costs | 9200 USD |
| Programmatic costs | 4500 USD |
- 21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)
Additional information
edit- 22. In this optional space you can add any other additional information about your proposal or organization that you think can help us when reviewing your proposal. (optional)
Our organization is trying to take a leadership role in a prospective North American Hub.
We anticipate offering a GLAM camp and other programmatic offerings in 2025 that are externally funded by a grant from the Newmark Foundation.
By submitting your proposal/funding request you agree that you are in agreement with the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and the Universal Code of Conduct.
We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.
- Yes
Feedback
edit- Please add any feedback to the grant discussion page only. Any feedback added here will be removed.