About Communications

The Communications department leads the Foundation's efforts to openly and effectively share information — about the Wikimedia movement, the Wikimedia projects, and the Wikimedia Foundation’s own work — with a global audience that includes volunteer editors, site readers and other stakeholders. The department’s work areas are:

Audience development
Digital media
Brand
Corporate communications
Community communications development
Public / media relations

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Program 1: Share our culture

Team: Department-wide, Jeff Elder (lead)

Strategic priorities: Reach and Communities

Time frame: Ongoing

Summary

Share the Wikimedia story, values and experience. Through our projects and platforms, we tell the stories of the communities, initiatives, history, and people — of Wikimedia and the Foundation. Through these stories we reflect our accomplishments, help to spread understanding of the values that make us a community, and serve as a beacon to future readers, contributors, donors, and staff members.

This is required to fulfill our vision of sharing all knowledge with everyone. When people understand Wikimedia they want to participate and they learn ways to do so. This includes community members, donors, Foundation staff, thought-leaders, and partners.

Goal

Engage our audiences, particularly in places we have underserved. Explain our values and be accountable to them. Integrate with activities happening across the movement. Attract project and movement participants. Improve talent retention and recruiting.

Outcomes

Outcome 1: We originate media that captures the culture and values of the Foundation and movement
Outcome 2: We expand reach and engagement with Wikimedia communities
Outcome 3: We expand reach and connection to underserved communities

Objectives

Objective 1: Social media: Grow and balance our social media followers through campaigns for specific groups; develop brand advocates around specific causes and events; engage daily on our channels about Wikimedia as a major brand
Objective 2: Creative projects: Continue efforts like the annual report that act as traditional nonprofit transparency and spread awareness of our projects and values
Objective 3: Video production: Record Wikimedia movement achievements and create assets that can be shared by Wikimedians
Objective 4: Blog and storytelling: Explain the work of the Foundation in a number of fields to find new staff, researchers, open technology contributors, donors, patrons, and other supporters

Milestones

Milestone 1: Quarterly campaigns to tell the story of Wikimedia’s impact (community initiatives and experiences) on our social platforms, with supporting short-form videos
Milestone 2: Quarterly campaigns to increase the engagement of a specific audience on our social platforms
Milestone 3: Brand, design, and digital media plans that support and align to fundraising campaigns and goals, most significantly big english in Q2
Milestone 4: Development of the Wikimedia Foundation annual report Q1 through its distribution in Q2 or Q3

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Program 2: Lead the narrative

Team: Cross-team, especially: Juliet, Jeff, Sam, Ed, Heather, and Minassian Media (external PR agency)

Strategic priorities: Reach and Communities

Time frame: Ongoing

Summary

Define narratives to support the Wikimedia mission and Foundation’s strategic objectives. Wikimedia is directly impacted by changes in policy, technology, media, culture and society. We should be included in the most visible and important conversations on these topics so we can advocate for our values and positions. We need to build and protect perceptions that affect our ability to reach organizational goals.

We have an opportunity to tell the Wikimedia story around the world by introducing and advocating for specific narratives that support our mission and values. Building on the Foundation’s messaging strategy developed in FY16-17, we will continue to refine our key messages and present them in influential venues, for example through the media, public speaking, and original content (blog and social). This program supports the Community strategic priority by empowering community members to tell their own stories, and supports the Reach priority by working to clarify global discourse and understanding of Wikimedia.

Goal

Position Wikimedia as a leader in the conversations and policies that are key to our vision’s growth and durability. Ensure that the public discourse around Wikipedia, the Wikimedia movement, and the Foundation is correct and understood. Clarify misinformation or misunderstandings that appear in global media.

Outcomes

Outcome 1: The Foundation initiates storytelling that is aligned with messaging strategy
Outcome 2: Through Foundation and community spokespeople, we include Wikimedia narratives and values in relevant international media
Outcome 3: We create new opportunities and resources for staff and community members to speak with the media, and publicly at events

Objectives

Objective 1: Communications: Build a messaging platform that aligns Foundation communication around key organizational goals
Objective 2: Executive Director and Board: Support in public speaking, interviews, and statements
Objective 3: PR: Proactive pitching of priority issues, daily media responses and press releases
Objective 4: Crisis communications: Clarify public misunderstanding, and react to both internal and external issues
Objective 5: Foundation announcements: Assist with clear communications in and out of the organization
Objective 6: Media connections: Further develop relationships with journalists and other media experts, pitch important initiatives

Milestones

Milestone 1: Refreshed messaging strategy for FY17-18 based on strategic direction and upcoming milestones in the community and organization. Shared with organization and community in Q1.
Milestone 2: Development of speaking calendar with spokespeople and narratives identified in Q1. Spokespeople (Foundation and community) appear in proactive speaking opportunities aligned with messaging strategy (Q2 - Q4)
Milestone 3: Spokesperson training plan in place for community and Foundation spokespeople by Q2.

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Program 3: Connect and amplify

Team: Lead: Mel Kramer

Strategic priorities: Reach

Communications (This work touches on every other part of the Comms team.)
Other teams across the Foundation after we identify our highest priority audiences, determine how we’re currently reaching them, and brainstorm on platforms or strategies that will deepen our reach.]'

Time frame: Ongoing

Summary

Build a strong network of people and organizations that build, distribute, use, support and influence our work. Wikimedia seeks to serve every single person, but our Communications should focus on specific audiences. This helps us achieve the most impact and know when we’re reaching our goals. By piloting new forms of targeted engagement, we’ll reach the audiences that most directly impact our work across the Foundation and build a strong network that will amplify our influence in the world.

Goal

Ensure that we are reaching organizations and people who can help spread our mission, find collaboration partners and organizations that will help amplify our work, and build buy-in with other communities and organizations who can support the Wikimedia mission.

Outcomes

Outcome 1: Support organization’s programmatic goals by reaching priority audiences with tailored messaging and materials (ex: GLAM, educators, funders)
Outcome 2: Our messages and material reach more people and new audiences through collaboration with networked organizations and people
Outcome 3: Increase opportunity for future collaboration and build community of allies for specific topics

Objectives

Objective 1: Cooperate with Wikimedia community: Connect with leaders in our own movement
Objective 2: Identify audiences: Find high-priority audiences who can amplify the work of our community and teams
Objective 3: Audience research: Learning the needs of our users to improve our products and other offerings
Objective 4: Interventions: Develop programmatic or platform-based projects based on strategies identified
Objective 5: Capacity building: Build our understanding in this area
Objective 6: CRM: Develop a customer relationship management tool to support audience development
Objective 7: Leverage like-minded organizations: Connect and share work

Milestones

Milestone 1: 3-5 audiences are identified and strategies are developed with teams, approximately one per quarter.
Milestone 2: 3+ strategic campaigns with success metrics implemented by the end of FY 2017.

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Program 4: Build awareness

Team: Department-wide, Zachary McCune (lead)

Strategic priorities: Reach and Communities

Time frame: Ongoing

Summary

Develop repeatable systems for promoting community messages & explaining Wikimedia projects to new audiences. A large portion of the world doesn’t know Wikipedia, and this is our main growth area. In the coming years, with billions of people accessing the Internet for the first time, and new generations of children matriculating in schools, our projects have great potential to attract new contributors. Wikimedia’s vision of universal knowledge won’t be achieved without their contributions.

Goal

Develop repeatable systems for promoting community messages and explaining Wikimedia projects to new audiences in lower awareness regions. Adapt media approaches to work across distinct cultures forming best practices for community marketing.

Outcomes

Outcome 1: Prototypes for Wikipedia brand messaging and values to develop common approaches across regions and create repeatable frameworks
Outcome 2: Fulfilled New Readers objectives, specifically increased awareness for Wikimedia projects where Wikimedia understanding and usage is low

Objectives

Objective 1: Community marketing advisory committee: Build a team of community members from around the world who are experienced or interested in supporting awareness efforts
Objective 2: Awareness benchmarks: Establish awareness numbers and measure to know if we’re succeeding
Objective 3: Global agencies and partners: Find regional experts to plan and execute on awareness efforts
Objective 4: Awareness campaigns: Pilot plans and measure against benchmarks, fresh and localized messaging
Objective 5: Campaign guidance: Share what we learn with the whole Wikimedia movement to join us in improving awareness for Wikimedia

Milestone

Milestone 1: Planned milestones are captured in the New Readers/Awareness subset.