Wikipedia 20/Grants

• Wikipedia 20 Celebrate the birthday
• Events Plan or join an event
• Press and social media Get the word out
• Resources Visual materials to use and share
• Results Impact around the world
• Discussion Collaborate with others

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Each year, the Wikimedia Foundation offers a diverse range of grants to individuals, groups and organizations with plans to support the Wikimedia movement. For Wikipedia’s 20th anniversary celebrations, the Wikimedia Foundation has allocated a budget for communities and groups planning to hold Wikipedia 20 celebratory events through the Rapid Grants Program. Other funding opportunities are also available to some plans that don’t meet the criteria for a Rapid grant through other grant programs. You can find detailed information on them in the other grant opportunities section below.

What is a Rapid Grant

The Rapid Grants program funds Wikimedia community members – individuals, groups, or organizations contributing to Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia or Commons – to organize projects throughout the year with a budget ranging from $500 USD, up to $2,000 USD. Rapid Grants can fund common events in the movement such as edit-a-thons and workshops in addition to small-scale experiments that don't need extensive review to get started.

Applications are accepted between the 1st and 15th of each month and decisions are typically made by the end of that month. Rapid Grants are meant to be simpler grants that can be reviewed in a short amount of time with limited back-and-forth with the grant applicant. There will also be opportunities to revise your proposal based on staff feedback. Examples of expenses that a Rapid grant covers include: Food for community organized events, expenses for editing sessions, transportation for a photo walk, prizes for writing contests, internet data costs for virtual events, and more.

For more details on the Rapid Grants program, please visit the Rapid Grants landing page on Meta-wiki.

Rapid Grants for Wikipedia 20 celebrations

The grant application process for Wikipedia 20 Rapid Grants will follow the normal process observed by the program applicants. There are some key resources that we request you to review before preparing your grant application:

• The eligibility criteria for Rapid Grants that must be met to receive funding, and the funding guidelines that provide guidance on what needs can be supported.
• The list of countries the Wikimedia Foundation has 1) sent grant funding without major issues related to funding restrictions, or 2) not yet funded. Please review the instructions on the page if your country does not appear in the list.
• If you are planning any in-person activities, please review the COVID-19 Risk Assessment Protocol.

Timeline for applications

Applications for Rapid Grants are open during the first half of each month, and a decision on the application is typically ready by the end of that month.

Other grant opportunities

If your plans for the Wikipedia 20 celebration event don’t meet some of the eligibility criteria for a Rapid Grant (e.g. your budget is expected to exceed 2,000 USD), you may want to consider reducing the scale of your activities, or to explore other grant opportunities that may better support your plan.

Start a Rapid Grant application for Wikipedia 20

You can start your application for a Wikipedia 20 Rapid Grant here.

Wikipedia 20 event communications

How do you plan to promote and document your Wikipedia 20 event? Here are a few ideas:

• List your upcoming event on the Wikipedia 20 page.

• Take photos, if possible, during the event and upload them to Wikimedia Commons.
• Promote your event and share the photos on social media using the 20th birthday hashtag (#Wikipedia20). See here for tips on social media messaging.
• Share the event updates on Diff.

Contacts

• For more information related to communications support for Wikipedia 20, please email wikipedia20wikimedia.org
• For questions related to Rapid Grants, please contact rapidgrantswikimedia.org
• For questions related to Conference & Event Grants, please contact conferencegrantswikimedia.org
• For questions related to funding restrictions or eligibility requirements for Wikimedia Foundation grants, please contact grantsadminwikimedia.org

Other resources to support Wikipedia 20 celebrations

However you celebrate, this set of links and recommendations can help you plan a great event, and get people in your community involved in celebrating Wikipedia at 20 years old.

• List your event on Wikipedia 20 Events to promote it and organize with other community members. Your event can help inspire other communities to do something similar for their celebrations.
• Use the 20th anniversary visual materials for your event.
• Watch this page for tips and inspiration on how to organize and run an event, and this page for resources, messaging, and other materials to support media outreach and social media promotion for your Wikipedia 20 celebration.

Further readings

• Wikipedia 20 Rapid Grants survey report.