Grants talk:Simple/Applications/Wiki Education Brazil User Group/2017/H2

Eligibility

Hello, Wiki Education Brazil User Group colleagues!

Thank you for submitting your request for an application on 15 May 2017. We've determined that you are eligible to apply for a Simple Annual Plan Grant (including funding for staff up to 0.5 FTE) and discreet contract services for PR and design, based on your eligibility evaluation for your most recent grant application that reviews your past work, as well as the midpoint report for your current grant. We support your decision to remain on a 6-month funding schedule for the time being, which is appropriate to your budgeting and planning capacity at this time.

We appreciate that you are continuing to adhere diligently to the financial requirements for informal groups in Brazil receiving funding from the Wikimedia Foundation, including limiting the total amount of your funding request to an amount similar to last semester. At this time, you are not eligible to apply for a funding request greater than last year's, due to these requirements. Also, we request that in addition to submitting your regular bank statements, that you also submit a quarterly transaction log, beginning with the first quarter of your new grant.

Some of H2/2016's and H1/2017 's achievements at the midpoint include,

• 1418 images uploaded through Wiki Loves Earth, with 401 images in use. Congratulations on the fact that one of the 2016 contest photos was a finalist for Picture of the Year!
• Preparing for the 2017 Wiki Loves Earth competition in Brazil.
• Recruiting 5 new user group members and 20 new mailing list members during the first 3 months of 2017.
• 65 aerial photographs uploaded through the Rio from Above project, used to improve 215 articles.
• Thematic editathons targeting content gaps and subject matter experts, including 16 Wiki Women and Rio de Museus.
• Working to establish more connections with groups working in the international movement.

We also appreciate that you have submitted quality reports for your past grants, and that you are in regular communication with us about your work and the administration of your grant. We appreciate your ongoing engagement and commitment to your work and the grants process. Nevertheless, due to some confusion around using the reporting templates and a series of missed communications, one of your reports (for your 2016 grant) was significantly late and almost jeopardized your ability to receive funding in the current round. This also made it difficult to assess your eligibility for the current grant from an informed perspective. So there is still work to do in this area!

Finally, note that adherence to Friendly Space Expectations is a requirement of your participation in the APG process, and that this applies to your group's members and leadership. In the event that group members are not adhering to these expectations, they should be formally asked to correct their behavior or leave the group. Adhering to Friendly Space Expectations and employing a Friendly Space Policy as part of your group's offline activities is also a part of your grant agreement, and continuing eligibility for Annual Plan Grants is contingent upon respect for these policies and guidelines. This is important as your group continues to expand your leadership role in the movement.

Best, Winifred Olliff (WMF Program Officer) talk 02:42, 29 June 2017 (UTC)

link to previous grant request

Grants:Simple/Applications/Wiki Education Brazil User Group/2017/H1 rubin16 (talk) 16:05, 12 June 2017 (UTC)

questions from SAPG committee

from rubin16

Hi, guys! thank you for the proposal, just a couple of questions:

• do you have any provisional draft for the 1H spendings? this page has progress till March only.
• what part of the 1H grant will be spend up to July? Will you use it in total?
• the google spreadsheet with the budget breakdown linked from the grant page is locked for viewing

Best regards, rubin16 (talk) 16:08, 12 June 2017 (UTC)

@Rubin16: Sorry for the delay, I was not notified by meta about these questions.

• Yes, we are finishing the reports for the H1 grant, I will publish updated about our spent resources today. I delivered to WMF all original bank statements from the second semester of 2016 and 3 first months of 2017(h1 grant) to Winifred in Berlin and sent some detailed information by email. I will publish updated info regarding the spent money today since we are finishing the H1 grant.
• I will use almost all the requested grant, we have a lot of materials under production that is going to be printed until the next week and other expenses for group meetings, recognition program and wikimania reservations.
• I opened and shared the doc, ping me with your email if your are not able to access the grant table

Again, sorry for the delay, we are in a hurry with many things going on and during the last few weeks I was in Buenos Aires - Argentina attending Iberoconf and some meeting with the local embassy to develop new projects in partnership with Wikimedia Argentina and the local community. Rodrigo Padula (talk) 12:15, 22 June 2017 (UTC)

from Shangkuanlc

Hi dear Wikimedians, I only have a few questions regarding to the new program of Gender equality:

• You said there was a workshop in 2016 collaborating with BBC, can you show us the link? And also, do you keep in touch with them since 2016?
• I didn't see any budget related to this program in the spreadsheet you provide, can you tell me why?

Thank you in advance for replying. --Liang(WMTW) (talk) 06:28, 16 June 2017 (UTC)

• I have an additional question. You mentioned that you want to purchase a high definition camera, can you elaborate on how you will use that device (the frequency of using it and the purpose of the events of using it) and how you will store that device (in the office or in a volunteer's possession... etc). That would be helpful for us to understand your idea, thank you. --Liang(WMTW) (talk) 04:08, 21 June 2017 (UTC)

Hello @Shangkuanlc:, thanks for your questions.

• Yes we organized 2 edit-a-thons, one in São Paulo and another one at Rio de Janeiro during the same day, through a partnership between our usergroup, Wikimedia UK, BBC UK and BBC Brazil, here you can see an online interview with Juliana Monteiro during the event in São Paulo. I'm in touch with the local BBC's team since them trying to move forward with other initiatives and to organize this year again a new edition of the edit-a-thon about the BBC 100 Women list. We are waiting this year's schedule to start the organization and promotion. Before Wikimedia Conference in Berlin, Julian Monteiro, our GLAM/Partnerships coordinator visited the Wikimedia UK's office to learn and improve our relation. We believe that the international cooperation is really important to evolve our group's activities and general comprehension of the Wikimedia movement in general.
• In our grant proposal, we added a group of generic meetings/events for community engagement and institutional partnerships. So, basically we will promote many activities covering many areas, from GLAM to gender equality. For the last year BBC Women edit-a-thons, BBC Brasil covered great part of the resources needed, including the venue, coffee break and etc. Since we are negotiating a partnership with UN Brazil, we are expecting to have some extra local support for gender equality, that is one of the 17 sustainable development goals that we will cover into this partnership.
• This semester we developed some new activities and partnerships. We are planning to use this equipment to produce videos and photos during all our activities. We will use it monthly/weekly during all activities to produce more content to commons and document better our activities. We are planning 2 main campaigns using this equipment for our communication strategy, the first will be to explain the path of the Wikimedia's money and why is important donate to WMF during the wikipedia's campaigns and what we are doing with this money, in an attempt to expand the understanding of the Wikimedia movement in Brazil and get more donations to at list have a sustainable effort in Brazil( with Brazilians donating more resources than we are using in our projects and grant requests), the second initiative will focus on wikipedia and wikimedia awareness with video interviews with key contributors, researchers and professors, last year WMF published a survey that convinced us to change a little bit our communication strategies and education program efforts. Rodrigo Padula (talk) 12:41, 22 June 2017 (UTC)

Thank you for the comprehensive reply. I have no further questions. Good work on your forthcoming year! --Liang(WMTW) (talk) 01:11, 23 June 2017 (UTC)

Metrics missing

Hey Rodrigo et al., your metrics are missing. Please fill those in the spreadsheet. Thanks Alleycat80 (talk) 23:02, 16 June 2017 (UTC)

@Alleycat80: metrics added. We will improve this metrics during the next months to have a more realistic prevision. We are confirming some partnerships and activities for the next months, so it will change based on the number and kind of partnerships confirmed during the next few weeks. Rodrigo Padula (talk) 12:52, 22 June 2017 (UTC)

PR costs

Also, you've got 1/4 of your grant devoted to buying an expensive camera and for PR services, but these are not justified anywhere. Can you please describe why these are needed? Thanks! Alleycat80 (talk) 23:09, 16 June 2017 (UTC)

@Alleycat80: I added comments about the camera and communications above, I will add this information inside the projects/programs to be more clear. Basiaclly, we changed our communication plans/efforts based on the WMF survey results published last year, to improve the wikipedia awareness and number/amount of donations to Wikimedia here in Brasil. Great part of the local population dont know what wikipedia is and mainly, and for the people that uses wikipedia, they dont know why they have to donate. So we are creating a PR and comunication strategy to explain people what wikipedia is and why is really important to donate to our movement Rodrigo Padula (talk) 12:56, 22 June 2017 (UTC)

from Becksguy

Thanks for the responses @Rodrigo Padula: Two remaining items need a bit of clarification:

1. I understand needing a camera and what it will be used for, that is not an issue, but why a full frame DSRL at $4K. Are the photography requirements that high that requires a more expensive camera vs. a less expensive half frame DX camera. Or are the lenses the expensive part?
2. What will eventually happen to the camera when the project is done? Is there a person designated that will be responsible for its safekeeping for future use? Thanks - Becksguy (talk) 16:13, 22 June 2017 (UTC)

Hello @Becksguy:, thanks for your questions and help to improve this proposal. We are planning to buy a full frame camera with 2-3 lens(and probably buy extra lens later), extra battery, flash kit for professional photo/video production. This equipment will be used for communication projects, interviews and the full documentation of our International Wikipedia Scientific Conference in november, and, we have bigger plans under discussion(not all defined yet for the next yearts) to expand GLAM and photo activities. You can see other projects and reports here and GLAM activities under development here, another project that we will use this equipment is on Rio from above. We are currently in touch with the gov department responsible by all museums from Rio de Janeiro and some other important states and our idea is to create an itinerant GLAM project, to move to many institutions digitalizing content, we already have 2 photographers as volunteers to do this job in Rio de Janeiro and we will work to get local funding to organize the entire project, that's why it's not directly list inside this proposal.

Since I'm responsible by this grant request, I will be responsible to manage this equipment through our user group and in the future(next 6 months) with the formalization of our group as an institution(NGO) it will be stored in our office(if available), any member (with responsibility) will be able to request the equipment for wiki related projects and events, including we can share this equipment if not in use with other wikimedia affiliates in Brasil.If approved, we will create a page on our meta area to list all equipment and history of usage to share with the entire community. In 2016 I proposed the creation of the Graph Lab inside pt.wiki, another idea is do add a Photo request area where I will list the available equipment in a way that active members can request photos or the use of this equipment for wiki purposes. In case of any problem or issue within the group or equipment, we will contact the grant committee and WMF to define the strategy or to where we will have to send the equipment back. For sure we will work with transparency and all applied resources in this equipment will be very useful for our group and wikimedia projects. All content produced and uploaded to commons will be identified and marked as "Produced with an equipment bought by WMF" or something in this way identifying clearly the results and impact of this grant usage. Please, ping me if you have any additional concern regarding this proposal/idea. Rodrigo Padula (talk) 16:57, 22 June 2017 (UTC)

@Rodrigo Padula: Thank you for a rapid and full response. All my concerns/questions have been satisfactorily answered here or elsewhere. - Becksguy (talk) 18:00, 22 June 2017 (UTC)

Simple Annual Plan Grants Committee recommendation

Committee recommendations

Funding recommendations: The committee recommends funding this grant in the requested amount of $32,930 for 6 months. The committee has some specific recommendations for the next six months. In the previous recommendations, the committee encouraged you to move toward developing better planning processes and thinking about your work in a more strategic frame. We recommend that you take steps in this direction over the next six months. We understand your reasons for requesting a large amount for PR expenses, and appreciate the explanations you offered on the discussion page. We would like to see some detailed reporting at the midpoint and endpoint of the grant that addresses (1) the process for selecting and engaging the PR contractor; (2) management of the PR contractor’s work; and (3) an assessment of how the PR contractor’s work is leading to program impact that justifies this cost. As noted on the discussion page, the cost for your camera is very high. We recommend that you carefully track any content that results from this camera purchase, along with any other benefits to your work resulting from the purchase, as you have stated you intend to do. The committee recommends that you develop specific metrics and targets to measure progress in your gender gap work, and that you consult local experts and other Wikimedia organizations that have expertise in this area. Committee members with expertise in this work are also available to consult with. We recommend that you think about how to sustain your group’s activities in the long term. Continue to emphasize volunteer engagement and retention, and include more developed and specific targets in these areas. Non-WMF funding may also be a way to supplement the high contractor costs associated with this grant. In the future, the applicant should reply promptly to any requests from the committee or WMF staff.

Strengths identified by the committee: This program plan includes a variety of simple and well-defined programs with ambitious metrics. In particular, partnerships are a high potential area for impact, with well-developed metrics that focus on content. This plan builds on programs and experience from the first half of 2017, and there is evidence that the group is learning and improving programs over time. Achievements over the past two years have been impressive. We appreciate that this plan articulates a specific goal to recruit new volunteers as part of the user group. This will continue to be important to sustaining this group’s work, especially considering the high costs of maintaining a dedicated contractor for this work. The applicant has done a good job reporting on past grants, including reporting concrete results that are quantified by metrics in the midpoint report for the first half of 2017. It is impressive to see a small organization coordinating effectively with global initiatives such as Wiki Loves Monuments and Wiki Loves Earth, and good to see that this plan incorporates ideas and approaches from different Wikimedia groups around the world.

Concerns identified by the committee: The plan emphasizes several aspects of diversity, including a program specifically addressing the gender gap; however, it is difficult to see how this work is reflected in the budget and this program lacks SMART objectives. If the group is pursuing this area seriously, it would be good to see this area become more developed. Contractor and PR costs are high, relative to the size of this group, and this should be continually monitored. We recognize that this group has plans to raise non-WMF funding once the user group formalizes, and this may be a good idea if they plan to continue this model. More emphasis on sustaining and growing a community of volunteers should be included in the plan, especially considering the large size of the annualized budget. This should include more developed metrics (and clear targets) for editor and volunteer retention. Despite past recommendations, the group continues to function with no strategic plan or map.

On behalf of the Simple Annual Plan Grants Committee. Kirill Lokshin (talk) 18:58, 27 June 2017 (UTC)

@Kirill Lokshin: thanks for all comments and support for this proposal. I would like to request to the committee to nominate someone, if possible, to help us to develop our strengths, fix the concerns and guide us to develop a strategic plan or map during the next few months. Our group is growing very quickly, with very relevant initiatives but we are doing some steps sometimes bigger than our legs, the committee's guidance for sure can help us to follow the best practices and calculate better our initiatives and metrics. best regards Rodrigo Padula (talk) 02:44, 29 June 2017 (UTC)

WMF approval

Decision from WMF

Funding decision: Many thanks to the committee for this recommendation and to the Wiki Education Brazil User Group for preparing this application. I am approving the committee's recommendation to fund this grant in the amount of $32,930 for 6 months. To the committee's recommendations and requests, I will add that your group will need to continue to be diligent with your financial reporting (as you have been) and also ensure that you are submitting timely reports on Meta in the appropriate format. It is also imperative that you respond in a timely way to requests from WMF and the committee regarding your grants or grant applications. As noted in your eligibility assessment, we have specific requirements that apply to any informal group that we grant funds to in Brazil, and you must adhere to these requirements if you want to receive your grant. These will include the monthly submission of a spending plan, bank statements and a transaction log. Also as noted in your eligibility assessment, we expect your group and its members to adhere to friendly space expectations and appropriately address violations if they occur. This is a condition of your grant agreement, and it applies to any group receiving a grant. I am looking forward to continuing our work together over the next 6 months, and to supporting you in implementing the committee's recommendations.

Best, Winifred Olliff (WMF Program Officer) talk 05:09, 30 June 2017 (UTC)

Extension of grant term approved until 31 January

Due to receiving the funds one month late, we have extended the end date of this grant until 31 January. The final report will now be due on 2 March. Best, Winifred Olliff (WMF Program Officer) talk 17:16, 22 December 2017 (UTC)