Grants talk:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/General Support Fund/Maintaing sustainability and community growth towards ensuring free access to knowledge for all

Dear Wikimedia Community User Group Botswana,

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 see the school activation program as a great opportunity for unlocking new audiences and also addressing challenges such as devices. Would you please say more on this program; what is the vision you hold for it, who will be involved, what will the actual implementation look like, what does success at the end of the program look like - the expected and planned cognitive and action based outcomes.
• We would like to see an annual plan of the UG. The application for GSF funding does not reflect the annual plan and is instrumental in the request for funding to support work in the plan.
• We see a huge part of the budget being on admin costs and are curious if there are roles volunteers can hold so that the work needed to be done is not on two people only. We believe a sustainable way of growing the community is in sharing roles and responsibilities in alignment with interest and capacities .
• We see an activity Wiki Loves Botswana challenge and are keen to learn more about it since not much information was shared.
• Would you provide more information on the nature of partnership you will have with the universities and additionally what you mean by ‘We plan to lease with universities like the University of Botswana,... ‘
• Lastly we see a need for the group to develop their competence in contributing to Wikimedia projects and especially, as you see to support others in being contributors. Please share with us the progress being made since this was part of past recommendations and the plan for growing these skills.
• Additional Feedback from expert reviews focusing on community development ;
  • The proposal aims to utilize the team's expertise in gender work and investigate possibilities for extending their efforts beyond Gaborone. The identified areas of focus appear practical and well-suited to tackling significant challenges in the local context.
  • It was unclear how much the community was involved in designing these programs. Wikimedia Community Botswana has been around for a while, and some of these strategies have been previously explored. It would be great to understand the impact of past interventions and what changes they plan to make (iteration) to improve the success of their programs.
  • Diversity and inclusion should go beyond simply creating content based on gender or inviting women to contribute. They should explore strategies that foster an inclusive environment for their target groups, including women. For example, they can provide support for women with childcare and seek feedback from the community on how to improve their work in this area (make it conducive enough for women).
  • Though this community has been established for some time, it is unclear how leaders are fostered and developed within it. The proposed plan is lacking in strategies for enhancing the skills of organizers and providing training opportunities for community members to assume leadership roles.
  • Additionally, the capacity to effectively carry out these projects is not demonstrated, as the proficiency level of trainers, particularly for the local language Wikipedia work, is not mentioned. It appears that the team has not grown, and I would appreciate seeing a plan outlining how to expand the core team and establish a leadership framework to ensure the group's long-term viability.

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, VThamaini (WMF) (talk) 07:42, 15 April 2024 (UTC) Reply

Dear VThamaini (WMF) and Regional Committee,

Thank you for reviewing our application. Please find below responses to the questions

QUESTION 1. We see the school activation program as a great opportunity for unlocking new audiences and also addressing challenges such as devices. Would you please say more on this program; what is the vision you hold for it, who will be involved, what will the actual implementation look like, what does success at the end of the program look like - the expected and planned cognitive and action based outcomes.

ANSWER; The School Activation Program is an opportunity to reach more people and help students overcome barriers like not having access to devices.

Vision:We want to get students excited about sharing knowledge online. By working with schools, we hope to create a community of learners who enjoy contributing to Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects.

Who Will Be Involved: We'll team up with schools, teachers, and students to make this happen. We'll also train enthusiastic students to become leaders and inspire others to join in.

Addressing Challenges:Some students might not have computers or internet at home. To fix this, we'll set up computer labs at schools where students can work on Wikimedia projects. We'll also find ways for students to edit Wikipedia using their phones or without needing the internet.

Unlocking New Audiences:We want to get everyone involved, no matter their background. By bringing Wikimedia into schools, we can reach students who might not have heard of it before. This way, we'll have a more diverse group of people sharing their knowledge online.

Implementation:

For the School Activation Program, we've planned a blend of physical and online training sessions to ensure everyone can participate and stay engaged.

1. Physical Training Sessions:
   • Twice a month, students will gather for in-person training sessions at their schools. These sessions will be interactive and hands-on, focusing on Wikimedia projects, editing skills, and digital literacy.
2. Online Training Sessions:
   • In between the physical meetings, we'll host online sessions. These are great for students who couldn't make it to the in-person sessions or just want to catch up. They'll cover the same material and keep everyone connected.
3. Implementing Different Wiki Projects:
   • We'll roll out various Wikimedia projects in different phases. Each phase will focus on a specific project like editing Wikipedia articles, Wikidata or contributing to Wikiquote etc. This way, students get to explore different aspects of Wikimedia at their own pace.

Metrics and Impact:

Success at the end of the School Activation Program will be measured not only by the quantity of contributions but also by the quality of impact and the development of leadership skills among Wiki Club champions. Here's what we anticipate as the expected outcomes:

1. Functional Wiki Clubs in Schools: Our primary goal is to establish long-standing relationships with schools and ensure the sustainability of Wiki Clubs. Success means having active Wiki Clubs in each school, serving as hubs for collaboration, learning, and contribution to Wikimedia projects.
2. Skilled Wiki Club Champions: We aim to equip Wiki Club champions with comprehensive skills in Setswana Wikipedia, Wikidata, Commons, and other Wikimedia platforms. These champions will become leaders in their schools, providing peer support, one-on-one training, and facilitating access to lab facilities for students when needed.
3. Cognitive and Action-Based Outcomes:
   • Through the School Activation Program, we expect to see significant cognitive and action-based outcomes, including:
     • Increased digital literacy and proficiency in using Wikimedia platforms among students.
     • Enhanced leadership, communication, and collaboration skills among Wiki Club champions.
     • Greater awareness and appreciation of Setswana language and culture through contributions to Setswana Wikipedia, Wiki commons, Wikidata and Wikiquote.
     • Expansion of the Wikimedia community in Botswana, with active participation from students across various schools.
4. Success Metrics per School:
   • To measure success, we've outlined specific metrics for each school, including:
     • Setswana Wikipedia Challenge: Creation of at least 100 articles per school over two months.
     • Wikidata Contribution: Addition of at least 300 instances per school over two months.
     • Wikiquote Contribution: Creation of at least 150 articles per school in both Setswana and English over two months.

QUESTION 2. We would like to see an annual plan of the UG. The application for GSF funding does not reflect the annual plan and is instrumental in the request for funding to support work in the plan.

ANSWER; We appreciate the feedback and recognise the importance of having a clear annual plan that aligns with our funding request to the Grants Committee. While our current application may not fully reflect this plan, we want to assure the committee that we are actively working on finalising it. We've prepared a preliminary draft link for reference and will share the completed plan once it's approved by our board. Transparency and accountability are central to our approach, and we're committed to ensuring that our funding request aligns closely with our strategic objectives.

QUESTION 3. We see a huge part of the budget being on admin costs and are curious if there are roles volunteers can hold so that the work needed to be done is not on two people only. We believe a sustainable way of growing the community is in sharing roles and responsibilities in alignment with interest and capacities .

ANSWER; We understand the concern about high administrative costs. We have a history of collaborating with volunteers on various projects within our community, and we deeply value their contributions. Moving forward, we are committed to expanding our volunteer engagement efforts by exploring ways to engage more volunteers in administrative and programmatic roles, reducing the dependency on paid staff. This will include volunteer recruitment drives and training programs to enhance their capabilities to manage projects.If you go through our community page on some project pages you would see a number of organizers mentioned on some pages. Here are some usernames of the community members we have trained to be event organisers;

• Ms Lito
• Mothusi Sekhomba
• @VNGao
• @JudithShe
• @Abza1
• @KatieKea

QUESTION 4. We see an activity Wiki Loves Botswana challenge and are keen to learn more about it since not much information was shared.

ANSWER: Wiki loves Botswana is a project intended to increase content about Botswana in wikipedia English. This is where we will be training Editors on how to write articles in Wikipedia English and improve stub articles as well. Wiki Loves Botswana is a project where we're working to add more stuff about Botswana to Wikipedia in English. We noticed there's not enough about important people and places from Botswana, so we're working towards training the community on how to write articles for Wikipedia in English. Basically, we want to share more about Botswana's history, famous people, and places.

QUESTION 5. Would you provide more information on the nature of partnership you will have with the universities and additionally what you mean by ‘We plan to lease with universities like the University of Botswana,... ‘

ANSWER: The phrase "lease with universities" was a typographical error; it should have been "liaise with universities".We plan to form partnerships with local universities such as the University of Botswana and Francistown Library, to host events and establish dedicated spaces for Wikimedia contributors. These partnerships will provide both logistical support and access to academic resources.

QUESTION 6. Lastly we see a need for the group to develop their competence in contributing to Wikimedia projects and especially, as you see to support others in being contributors. Please share with us the progress being made since this was part of past recommendations and the plan for growing these skills.

ANSWER: Our community members have been actively involved in attending training sessions organized by various support groups, including Wiki in Africa, Wiki Loves Women Focus Group, African Wikipedian Alliance, AFLIA, Earth Hub, and Art & Feminism. These sessions have been invaluable in helping them develop their editing skills, which they generously share with and support other contributors within the Wikimedia projects.In the past, we've successfully conducted several training sessions aimed at providing new editors with the foundational skills needed to contribute effectively to Wikimedia projects.Looking ahead, we plan to expand our training offerings with advanced workshops. Additionally, in the past we have also invited experienced editors from other Wikimedia communities to facilitate training with our community and we plan to continue with this.

Based on the past recommendations to grow our skills, we have made significant progress in empowering community organizers and currently working towards grooming Wiki club champions since it was highlighted as a past recommendation. Currently, we have active members within the community who consistently organize events. To further enhance their skills and capabilities, we have a capacity-building workshop scheduled for the end of May. This 2 day workshop aims to train these active participants to become trainers of trainees, equipping them with the necessary skills to effectively lead and mentor others within the community.

QUESTION 7. The proposal aims to utilise the team's expertise in gender work and investigate possibilities for extending their efforts beyond Gaborone. The identified areas of focus appear practical and well-suited to tackling significant challenges in the local context. It was unclear how much the community was involved in designing these programs. Wikimedia Community Botswana has been around for a while, and some of these strategies have been previously explored. It would be great to understand the impact of past interventions and what changes they plan to make (iteration) to improve the success of their programs.

ANSWER: The proposal aims to use our team's expertise in gender work to explore expanding our efforts beyond Gaborone. The areas we've chosen to focus on seem practical and well-suited to addressing big challenges in our local community. Regarding community involvement, we've made sure to talk to people in our community through surveys and group discussions when designing our programs. This helps us understand what they really need. Here's a link to one of the surveys we conducted with the community. Building on our past experiences, we're now concentrating on providing more robust support for content creation in local languages and enhancing assistance for female contributors.

QUESTION 8. Diversity and inclusion should go beyond simply creating content based on gender or inviting women to contribute. They should explore strategies that foster an inclusive environment for their target groups, including women. For example, they can provide support for women with childcare and seek feedback from the community on how to improve their work in this area (make it conducive enough for women).

ANSWER: In our proposal, we've allocated funds for childcare during workshops to ensure inclusivity, particularly for women. This demonstrates our commitment to creating safe spaces for all participants. We'll continually seek community feedback to enhance these efforts, ensuring they effectively meet the needs of all attendees.

QUESTION 9. Though this community has been established for some time, it is unclear how leaders are fostered and developed within it. The proposed plan is lacking in strategies for enhancing the skills of organizers and providing training opportunities for community members to assume leadership roles.

ANSWER: We understand our community has been there for some time hence and also got derecognised therefore as we are currently on our second general support fund since 2020 we have been running on rapid grants having one or two events per year which was not quite sustainable for the community. Therefore on our first APG we worked hard towards sensitizing the community and creating an image for ourselves to be known despite facing misconceptions of Wikipedia in our local community. On our current general support fund we face an issue of receive funds 2 months late due to issues beyond control regarding international transfer banking issues with our Fiscal sponsor hence this cause us to push back reschedule our projects to a later date hence we are yet to carry out programs like the capacity building and boot camp workshop with our community. Leadership Development: We recognize the need for fostering new leaders within our community. We plan to establish a mentorship program pairing new volunteers with experienced community leaders.

Capacity Building: We are committed to expanding our core team by recruiting and training individuals who can take on leadership roles in the future, ensuring the sustainability and growth of our community group as well further enhance our community skills participating in communities such as Wiki Mentor to source expert mentors for our community.

QUESTION 10. Additionally, the capacity to effectively carry out these projects is not demonstrated, as the proficiency level of trainers, particularly for the local language Wikipedia work, is not mentioned. It appears that the team has not grown, and I would appreciate seeing a plan outlining how to expand the core team and establish a leadership framework to ensure the group's long-term viability.

ANSWER: Regarding leadership development, we acknowledge that there has been a gap in clearly demonstrating how leaders are fostered within our community. This is partly due to our community's history of derecognition and subsequent revival which we got recognition this month. We've been working hard to overcome challenges and rebuild trust within the community. During our general support fund in 2022 cycle, we focused around areas such as raising awareness and establishing our presence despite facing misconceptions about Wikipedia. However, delays in funding disbursement during our current second general support fund cycle have impacted our ability to execute planned programs hence we had to reschedule programs to a later date, therefore programs such as capacity-building workshops(boot-camp) had to be rescheduled.

In response to these challenges, we are taking proactive steps to address them. We recognize the importance of fostering new leaders within our community and plan to establish a mentorship and peer to peer support strategy in our community,this initiative will pair new volunteers with experienced community leaders to provide guidance and support, ensuring the sustainability of our community group. Moreover, we are committed to expanding our core team by recruiting and training individuals who can take on leadership roles in the future. We understand the need to enhance our community's skills and capabilities, and we are exploring opportunities to participate in communities like Wiki Mentor to access expert mentors.

Regarding project execution, the delays in funding disbursement have indeed affected our ability to carry out planned activities, including the capacity-building boot camp workshop. We've faced challenges beyond our control, such as delays in receiving funds due to international transfer banking issues with our fiscal sponsor. Despite these setbacks, we remain dedicated to our goals and are actively working to reschedule postponed projects.

We have encountered challenges and we are committed to addressing them and improving our community's capacity, leadership development efforts, and project execution. We appreciate your understanding and support as we navigate these issues and strive to ensure the long-term viability of our group.

Thank you! Shoodho (talk) 16:17, 24 April 2024 (UTC) Reply

Dear Wikimedia Community User Group Botswana,

Thank you for submitting your application seeking General Support Funds - Wikimedia Community Fund. The MEA Regional Committee and Staff have thoroughly reviewed, discussed and deliberated upon your application and made the decision not to fund your project.

Here are a few points to note on the decision:

• Given the past resourcing efforts made, the committee found it challenging to see the impact so far. By impact we mean:
  • Growth in volunteer community engagement
  • Volunteer engagement in leading programming
  • Significant Wiki project contribution
  • We remain not confident in the Wiki skills of the volunteer community. We see the trainers for example being brought in having minimal contributions on the focus Wikipedias and we are unsure of their expertise in contributing to the main wikipedia’s such as e.wp
• It remains unclear even having a number of conversations on what the vision of the group is and we know that this lack of vision then limits the direction the development of relevant programming for the community.
• Overall in future requests, we would hope to see impact , improved metrics , a clear vision and leadership development progress.
• Please connect with groups like Igbo Wikimedians, Uganda Wikimedians UG, to learn about their journey including how they have been able to grow their communities leveraging varied forms of resourcing beyond finance.
• For applications , please look at groups such as Yoruba Wikimedians UG to learn how their programming is informed by a theory of change and strategic vision.

Please note that for the rapid fund application, you will need to organize better the project for more clarity on the areas of concern shared above.

We hope to continue having regular conversations over the course of your project experimentation. Do set up a regular schedule to connect with your MEA Programme Officer based on your needs.

We thank you for your participation in the grant application process and hope to continue supporting you in future projects.

Best regards from the MEA Regional Committee and Staff, FElgueretly-WMF (talk) 06:19, 9 June 2024 (UTC) Reply