Grants:Project/Rapid/UNI Feminist 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/UNI Feminist 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?

Recruit new editors

We were very successful in our recruitment of new editors. Partnering with faculty to include edit-a-thons as a course activity continues to be the single best recruitment method on our campus.

Increase skills for existing editors

This year we opted not to run post-edit-a-thon surveys, so we do not have a strong indication of whether we met this goal. Anecdotally, existing editors often helped teach new editors skills, which is a skill unto itself. Many participants learned a variety of skills we have not previously taught like norms in formatting and creating sections as well as linking. In previous edit-a-thons, we have focused on adding citations, clarifying existing language, and adding new content. The interest in developing broader editing skills is a positive sign for future edit-a-thons.

Add or improve content, especially information about or relating to women and minoritized groups

Some of the articles we improved include: women's suffrage, Annise Parker, Transgender issues and transphobia, the Mende People, Sylvia Tait, African American culture and beauty, Yoruba art, and the Tulsa race massacre.

Increase knowledge of Wikipedia on campus and in our community

The strong recruitment of new editors indicates an increase in knowledge of Wikipedia in our area. Though the Diversity in Comics edit-a-thon (cancelled due to COVID-19) was designed to recruit more members of our local community, thus increasing knowledge locally, we are happy with our outcomes.

Outcome

Please report on your original project targets.

Target outcome	Achieved outcome	Explanation
Number of edit-a-thons=4	Four edit-a-thons: Voter Rights (locally renamed "Representation Matters: Celebrating the 19th Amendment"), Women in Red, Art+Feminism, and Redlining(a bonus edit-a-thon that presented itself as an opportunity after we applied for the grant)	We had originally planned four editathons, but the opportunity to add a fifth on Redlining presented itself as we collaborated with a Political Science class. Because we believe feminism must be intersectional and supporting identity groups is part of feminist practice, we believe adding this event was within the scope of our grant. We are glad we did because the event was very successful, but also, unfortunately, one of the editathons we had planned, Diversity in Comics, was set to take place as part of the annual RodCon (local comic con held at Rod Library) event at UNI. Due to COVID-19, RodCon was canceled, which also canceled the Diversity in Comics edit-a-thon.
Number of edit-a-thon participants=60	62	We estimated we would have 15 editors per edit-a-thon, and that is almost exactly what we averaged.
Number of new editors=20	36	Partnering with classes continues to be an effective method of recruiting new editors.
Number of of articles created or improved=120	117	We expected each participant would edit two articles on average. Enough opted to edit only one, so we fell just shy of our goal.
Number of repeat participants (for projects that include a series of events)=20	17	We came close to our goal, but fell a little short. It is highly likely we would have a had a few more repeat participants if we were able to hold the Diversity in Comics event in tandem with RodCon.
Number of programs about Wikipedia (e.g. presentations)=1	2	We gave two invited presentations to classes about the importance of editing and diversifying content on Wikipedia before the campus shutdown due to COVID-19.
Number of program participants=40	36	Here's another one where a large presentation we had planned was cancelled due to COVID-19, so we fell a little short. However, we still feel good about this outcome.

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? Working with faculty members was highly successful. Creating edit-a-thons that coincided with their class content made it easy for students to use class materials when editing Wikipedia. Collaborating with student organizations was also successful especially when we were able to hold the edit-a-thon during their scheduled meeting time. It was also helpful to be able to provide food of their choice. Holding edit-a-thons in the library and inviting librarians to join the events was also advantageous. Partnering with a student group for childcare that required a down payment instead of paying the entire amount, was successful because it allows us to provide the service without committing all childcare funds available. We found a way to transition the edit-a-thons online when COVID-19 prevented us from meeting in person. The online edit-a-thons had high participation numbers and worked very well. We used Zoom to hold a synchronous, instruction session, then everybody turned their video feed off and got to editing. Participants could use chat or reinitiate their video feed to ask questions and share their edits.
What did not work so well? Distributing prizes by mail was a challenge in large part due to changes in processes resulting from COVID-19. Getting approvals, ordering supplies, and navigating internal mailing processes was time consuming. Many of these challenges were singular events that arose due to COVID-19. If we were to need to mail prizes (or rethink entire events) in the future, the experiences of this semester will make it possible and much easier.
What would you do differently next time? Moving scheduled edit-a-thons to take place online was required due to COVID-19. However, because of its high success, we may continue to provide an online option in addition to in-person edit-a-thons when the pandemic is over.

Finances

Grant funds spent

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

Food=$267.89
Childcare=$150
Mailing Supplies=$21.78
Postage=$18.61
Prizes/Swag=$157.95

Wikipedia globe buttons $10x2=$20 (for completing Wikipedia bingo)
Wikipedia notebooks $8x5=$40 (most contributions prizes, culminating contribution prize)
Wikimedia Pin set=$40 (most contributions prizes)
Wikipedia water bottle $15x1=$15 (culminating contribution prize)
Wikipedia tote bag $25x1=$25 (culminating contribution prize)
Tax and shipping=$17.95

Remaining funds

Do you have any remaining grant funds?

Remaining funds from this grant have been returned to WMF in the amount of US$1,383.77.

Yes, we have remaining funds due to the cancellation of an edit-a-thon and the need to move two edit-a--thons online. Moving the events online because of the pandemic also created a surplus of funds that we had intended to use for food and childcare. In total, we have $1383.77 remaining. The original budget is outlined below:

Food and drink = $250 x 4 edit-a-thons = $1000
Childcare = $200 per event x 4 edit-a-thons = $800
Advertising (Facebook Boosts) = $15 x 4 edit-a-thons = $60
Swag = ($30 x 4 edit-a-thons) + ($10 x 2 programs) = $140

Wikipedia globe buttons $10x2=$20 (for completing Wikipedia bingo)
Wikipedia notebooks $8x5=$40 (most contributions prizes, culminating contribution prize)
Be Bold mugs $10x4=$40 (most contributions prizes)
Wikipedia water bottle $15x1=$15 (culminating contribution prize)
Wikipedia tote bag $25x1=$25 (culminating contribution prize)

Anything else

Anything else you want to share about your project? The edit-a-thons we held were featured in UNI's first ever Diversity Newsletter. https://diversity.uni.edu/sites/default/files/DEI%20Newsletter_May2020.pdf