Grants:Project/Rapid/UG LV/Wiki Loves Earth 2020/Report

Report accepted

This report for a Rapid Grant approved in FY 2019-20 has been reviewed and accepted by the Wikimedia Foundation.

To read the approved grant submission describing the plan for this project, please visit Grants:Project/Rapid/UG LV/Wiki Loves Earth 2020.
You may still comment on this report on its discussion page, or visit the discussion page to read the discussion about this report.
You are welcome to Email rapidgrants at wikimedia dot org at any time if you have questions or concerns about this report.

Goals

Did you meet your goals? Are you happy with how the project went?

We run successful Wiki Loves Earth 2020 photo competition. We exceeded our most important goals, but did not meet some minor ones.

Outcome

Please report on your original project targets. Please be sure to review and provide metrics required for Rapid Grants.

Target outcome	Achieved outcome	Explanation
1000 photos uploaded to Wikimedia Commons	1 268	Extended timeframe helped a bit, but again we found a new user who contributed his private archives of nature photos.
30 participants uploading a photo	31
15 newly registered participants	20
10% distinct photos used in Wikipedia articles	5%	There was a lack of volunteers in adding images to the wikis.
our press release published in notable online publication	not published	We clearly lack skill and influence in this area.

Learning

Projects do not always go according to plan. Sharing what you learned can help you and others plan similar projects in the future. Help the movement learn from your experience by answering the following questions:

What worked well?
- We had 6 different photographers in top 10, no one had more than 2 images. We had a rule of max 3 images in top 10.
- Our Facebook and Instagram posts with images from contest got good attention (views, likes, new followers). We did post on a regular schedule.
- The amount of money spent on prizes was about right, there were enough skilled enthusiasts with good equipment participating.
- Jury was able to do everything on time thanks to fast initial image selection.
- We managed to get help from Wikimedia Eesti as a fiscal sponsor, as our bank account used for previous grants was nor active anymore.
What did not work so well?
- Our press release was not published by serious media. Our skills learned at Wikimedia conferences were not enough.
- There was a lack in enthusiasm at the final part of contest among the organizers.
- Small amount of images were added to wikis.
- We worked with a fiscal sponsor for the first time (WMEE) and we were not aware that the prize money is subject to taxes. The situation was resolved by WMEE who covered the cost overrun.
What would you do differently next time?
- We did not hold an awards ceremony because of COVID-19 pandemic. We will try to do that in out next contests when possible.
- This contest was run for 2 months, next time we are sticking to 1 month as there was no big benefit from the longer time-frame.
- Prepare some promotional materials for social media and printed posters.
- Create an action plan on how to engage people on social media to convert them to participants.
- Try using advertisements on Facebook (we have never tried that before).
- Define roles and expectations for each member of organizing team.
- Run ISA challenge during the contest to engage non-photographers.

Finances

Grant funds spent

Please describe how much grant money you spent for approved expenses, and tell us what you spent it on.

Funds were spent for prizes of competition and small gifts for jurors. All costs are displayed in EUR.

Item	Planned	Actual	Comments

Awards for participants	600	550	Gift cards
Gifts for jury members	80	82.59	Gift cards
Miscellaneous	50	158.15	Taxes
Total	730	790.74	Cost overrun was covered by WMEE

Remaining funds

Do you have any remaining grant funds?

No.

Anything else

Anything else you want to share about your project?