Grants talk:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/General Support Fund/Egypt Wikimedians User Group Annual Plan 2023-24

Comments after revision of Regional Committee

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Dear Egyptian Wikimedians,

Thank you for submitting your request for General Support Funding. We reviewed and discussed your proposal and would like to share comments, recommendations and questions for you to engage with. Your responses and comments will support the committee and staff in making a final funding decision.

We are excited at the opportunity to fund Egyptian Wikimedians after many years of being unable to do so due to various funding restrictions. We are hopeful that if successful, this will enhance the contribution by Wikimedians in the country to Wikimedia projects and our movement. We found the plan shared to be comprehensive and with a clear vision of revamping the community and contributing to specific Wikimedia projects.

Questions and Recommendations;
We, however, find the plan to be ambitious, especially given that there are several projects proposed, some with metrics [ creating 3000 articles ] that we find a bit unrealistic for the moment you are in. We are also unclear about the state of the current, active and coordinated capacity to achieve the shared project plan.

We recommend that you reduce the scope of the project to give you room to implement the plan and, while at it learn and adjust as needed. We encourage focusing on quality and less on the volume of activities and also thinking about risks such as burnout of volunteers and the core team.

A few areas you can review include the quantity of trainings, edit-a-thons, and GLAM projects. We understand the excitement that comes with revamping a community and also recognise the work and time it takes to do it the right way. We request that you provide clear connection between the strategies named and the specific Wikimedia projects linked. For instance, you mention working on Wikisource, but is unclear on the specific contributions being made and what programs and enabling partnerships will be part of the project. Where there are partnerships, what is the expected outcome of that collaboration? We also do not see Wikisource-related metrics in the metrics section of the application.

This is one of the areas to serve as an example. To help us understand each program better and its concrete contribution to the Wikimedia projects, please review the application to reflect this. It is unclear to us the capacity available or to be developed to implement the proposal. Please share a team plan and the expertise/experiences present to support the implementation of the programs. What will be the engagement of volunteers look like in the implementation of the plan? We would like to know more on the engagement of the community; In the development of the proposal

In how in the future, including during the planned implementation of the plan, they would share their feedback on the value of the work being done and inform future work. Metrics: Is there a specific approach you are planning to use in identifying the 3000 articles to be created? Please note we still find this number ambitious and recommend it’s review. Budget: We also wanted to check with you on the costs shared since we thought, based on the much we know of Egypt they were low. Please clarify if they reflect the current economic situation.

Review from our gender experts; The proposal does include participation in gender-gap content campaigns. What about “Fomenting female leadership within the movement (either staff, members or boards)”? Does the group have available data on gender within their organization and communities? Will they implement any affirmative actions to achieve gender diversity within its programs and communities? (ie. gender quotas, specific pieces of training aimed at women and gender-diverse people, child care, creating tailored programming that allows these audiences to contribute more easily, etc.). For reference on the topic, please review the gender balance criteria at https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Affiliates_Strategy/Review No more questions. If the applicant needs support in creating and implementing affirmative actions for gender equity, we are here to support them.

Regarding the schedule for our review process, please complete your review and responses to committee feedback by the 1st of May 2024. After this time, the Regional Committee will begin a final review of the proposal to make a formal decision.

Thanks again for your work on the proposal and for supporting our review. On behalf of the Regional Committee, Aristidek5maya (talk) 11:30, 12 April 2024 (UTC)Reply

reply

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Greetings, and thank you for your comments:

  • We reviewed the preparations for the annual plan and found that there was a typographical error, because what is meant by 3,000 articles is the total and includes creating 1,000 articles and improving 2,000 articles. We will try to modify Metrics to correct it.
  • About 65% of the activities that were set in the annual plan we have already been carrying out in the past years, and we have experience and a team that can implement this. We expect that when we obtain the grant we will have the resources to implement many activities. In the worst case scenario, perhaps we can implement 94% of the plan. Therefore, there is no fear about the quality of the activity or that volunteers will become tired.
  • for "edit-a-thons" we will add metrics about it in application.
  • Regarding the Wikisource & GLAM point, We will add the expected outcomes in application, but please know that we face challenges in putting numbers on it for several reasons:
    1. We have a plan and steps and we are targeting a list of specific topics, but we do not yet know whether these topics (whether books or documents) will be available or not (or perhaps they may not allow us to photograph them according to the laws), and if that happens we will move to the next topics on the list.
    2. Also the documentation process may contain images (uploaded to commons first) and may be published directly in Wikipedia or may be used in Wikisource as sources (many pages). So the issue is dynamic unlike Wikipedia articles for example.
    3. Unfortunately, due to the lack of funding previously, we are doing GLAM activities for the first time, and this matter requires (try - evaluation, then improvement). The plan may change many times.
Therefore, we have set a small budget for all of GLAM activities for this year To learn from the experience and help us plan for the coming years.
  • Regarding the Metrics: we will use (eventmetrics.wmflabs.org/).
  • Regarding the budget: prices in Egypt are somewhat low, but main reason for low costs in our budget because we know that the financial allocations for the MENA region are low. We tried to squeeze a lot of expenses and some activities that we canceled (like: Wiki love Folklore) in order to rationalize expenses. Anyway We will re-check expenses and prices again.
  • for gender experts: 50% of our board are female (+ chairperson) and 45% of our team are female, we already have a training program (to recruiting organizers) aimed at women and gender-diverse people. Also, in the user group's charter there is an explicit clause requiring diversity and reducing the gender gap, and prohibiting the establishment of any rules that affect the gender balance.

On behalf of Egypt Wikimedians User Group. --Ibrahim.ID 02:58, 25 April 2024 (UTC)Reply

General Support Fund Approved at Local Currency Equivalent of 29,364.61 USD

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Dear Egypt Wikimedians User Group,

Congratulations! Your grant is approved in the amount of 29,364.61 USD, with a grant term starting July 1, 2024 - July 31, 2025.

Thank you for submitting your application seeking General Support Funds - Wikimedia Community Fund. The Middle East and Africa Regional Committee and Staff have reviewed your application and recommended full funding in the amount 29,364.61 USD for the period of July 1, 2024 - July 31, 2025.

We see that Egypt Wikimedians are a well established group with a history of impactful activities, and we value your work. We hope that this grant will support in activating projects and activities for the community. We see your plan as ambitious with a relatively low budget and we look forward to seeing the impact of your activities this year.

After a thorough review of your proposal, we recommend that you grow with caution, considering the relatively small budget, and to maintain the motivation of your team. We would like further clarification on how you plan on contracting third parties or service providers. We noticed that there is a large overlap between the Board of Trustees and the executive team.

We see this as a risk to the healthy development of the user group in the future, please share a plan on how you will ensure that there is a separation between the executive team and the board of trustees, to promote transparent and clear governance with no conflicts of interest.

We wish you the very best in the start of your journey and look forward to learning more about the impact you achieve.

Best regards from the MEA Regional Committee and Staff, FElgueretly-WMF (talk) 06:43, 9 June 2024 (UTC)Reply

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