Wikimedia CEE Hub/Project Funding

The following document was drafted in autumn 2024 to address the question of how project funding up to 5000 USD could be conducted by the CEE Hub in Central and Eastern Europe. It was shared with the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) on December 18th, 2024, and discussed in a presentation on December 19th, 2024.

CEE Hub 2025 presentation on December 19th 2024, the part about this proposal starts at 46:20

Slides of the recording, direct link to the relevant slides

This proposal has not been agreed upon by the Wikimedia Foundation (any agreement would be published as a separate document to this one) and may change substantially based on the WMF's feedback.

Envisaged process

The CEE Project Incubator (working title) is a funding program developed by the CEE Hub to support communities and affiliates conduct projects and activities that require funds up to 5000 USD / 4500 EUR. This is done using the following approach.

Rationale

The Wikimedia 2030 Strategy] process outlines recommendations that were supposed to be implemented together, either in parallel or in sequence, ensuring that like in any well-balanced ecosystem, certain systems would not end up dominating or crowding out other aspects of the strategy implementation. In practice this means designing processes that include multiple recommendations and tackle the inequality and inefficiencies together, instead of individual processes that are not aligned and heading in different directions.

What this means for the CEE Hub and implementing a funding program like this, is, that the process doesn’t start when the grant application has been received and doesn’t stop when the final report has been submitted, but aims to provide a continuous framework for communities, affiliates and individuals to work in, build skills, partnerships and capacity, run regular projects and participate in the local or regional discourse more equally.

Building upon a concept introduced during the 2030 strategy process, the CEE Hub wants to introduce a new staff member that solely focuses on proactively communicating, supporting and building structures in the communities that are the main focus of this project incubator program, similar to how national affiliates currently work with groups of Wikimedians within their own national borders. This goes as far as, in cases where a push for greater equity requires it, this staff member would also be involved in the projects themselves.

Greater involvement in the planning, implementation and evaluation stages of these projects also comes with the expectation to use the available funds in a more efficient way, keeping alive the CEE mentality of accomplishing much with little, finding ways to provide more communities with these kinds of opportunities. How much or how little the staff member is involved shouldn’t play a big role in deciding which projects to award funding - ideally we envisage a process where the actual funding decision would be made with little surprises left and a clear pipeline of projects that are in various stages of planning/implementation. This is then also closely linked to the WMF budget planning process, which would be supplied with a regular update on the projects planned and implemented in the region and what the scope of the project incubator program could be in the next WMF annual plan.

Actual process

We are describing this from the viewpoint of the CEE Hub, from when the initial show of interest happens up to the point where the final project plan is submitted to the WMF for approval and financing.

• CEE Hub surveys the landscape in CEE and collects something like “Letters of intents” from interested groups and work with them on developing ideas
  • Based on the letters of intents start reaching out, collecting information on who is involved and ask the WMF to do a preliminary background check
• The staff member works with the group/person/partner on developing the idea or talking through the already existing project plan, giving feedback both on the content and the finances
  • Establishing connections (also by supporting projects and visiting communities in person proactively visiting and talking to communities and people
  • Understanding the situation and potential, offering insights and starting points for partnerships/projects/campaigns
  • In some cases this relationship would go further in the sense of being actively involved as a contact person for the partnership organisation if the community in question does not have the resources to fully cover the project
• If required: After letter of intent and first steps in communication, work with the project group on ensuring that goals, resources and outcomes align in a meaningful way (not in a super strict way, but just in terms of asking simple questions)
• Connect the project group to people who have done this kind of project before, provide them with materials and knowledge that comes from similar projects
  • Coordinate with local affiliates should they exist
  • Connect them with organisations that run or support certain Wikimedia projects (like Wikidata) and create synergies where possible
  • Clarify the viewpoint of affiliates and communities whose work could potentially overlap with this project
• Accompany the project team when finalising the project plan and preparing content and financial plans for submission
• The CEE Hub publishes their decisions and recommendations to the WMF on financing a project plan, for the WMF to make the final financing decision after doing their background checks
  • The WMF then justifies their decision based on funding levels and their overall strategy (or not, outside of the control of the CEE Hub at that point)
  • The WMF will still directly send the funds to the grantees (administration stays with the WMF)
• WMF then contacts the project group to deal with the administrative tasks
• Project group conducts the project, with or without the staff member being involved
  • Support can be also offered in terms of check-ins (hitting certain milestones, facilitating project meetings, etc.)
• Evaluation: After the project has finished, a final report is submitted and accepted by either the WMF or the CEE Hub committee
  • One option would be for the WMF to receive one regional report that includes a review of the past year’s projects and outcomes as well as a projection about future finances based on all the preparatory work and outreach done by the staff member, supplemented by the work of the other staff members in the CEE Hub
    • One benefit for the CEE Hub would be to have a way better understanding of dynamics, groups and processes in the CEE region and be better able to support and predict them
• The WMF would then incorporate the final report and projection into their budget planning process for the upcoming year

Process visualisation

Planning phase

Implementation phase

Evaluation phase