Grant Advisory Committee

As announced in March 2011, the Foundation's new Wikimedia grants program involves a Grant Advisory Committee, made up of volunteers from the Wikimedia community. The role of the GAC is to provide feedback on grant requests – helping to improve applications and projects for which funding is sought, ensuring that sufficient information is provided and that estimates or goals are realistic – and generally to advise applicants and the Foundation on improving grants and the grants process.

Wikimedia Foundation
Official website

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Committees

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Community-wide

• Affiliations
• Funds Dissemination
• Grant Advisory
• Language

Board

• Audit
• Board elections
• Ombudsman

Staff

• Communications
• Research

Disbanded

• Events
• Fundraising
• Nominating
• Special projects
• Static content
• Trademarks
• Wikimedia Research Network

Goals

The GAC has two fundamental goals:

1. To encourage and mentor chapters and other groups to:

• learn about and understand the Wikimedia Grants program;
• draw up compelling project plans with an emphasis on strategic alignment and measures of success;
• request funding.

2. To help the Foundation evaluate requested grants, not by a yes/no vote, but by deliberation and evaluation of strengths and weaknesses of individual proposals on the talk page of each proposal.

The task

Members are tasked with the following:

1. To peruse requests. The committee's attention will be pointed to new grant requests by Asaf Bartov, who manages the Wikimedia Grants program at the Foundation. Each member of the GAC is not required to engage on every request, but is encouraged to engage on as many as possible. Members are expected to scrutinize a request and either leave comments and questions on the talk page, declare that they have no objection to the request, or abstain.
2. To offer feedback and to request improvements. This is done in terms of clarity, focus, detail, and goals, on the talk page of the request (or privately if absolutely necessary). Committee members typically ask questions, offer advice or encouragement, or express concerns or point out potential problems.
3. To make assessments. This is done on the talk page when a request has stabilized following any appropriate improvements, in terms of:

• Fit with the mission and strategic priorities of Wikimedia.
• Potential for impact in the projects that the grant aims to support.
• Availability and readiness of volunteers and other non-financial resources required to implement the grant.
• Degree to which the grant will add new knowledge to, or spur innovation in, the Wikimedia movement.
• Efficiency of proposed use of funds.
• Quality of the proposed measures of success.
• Sustainability of impact beyond the duration of the grant.

Membership

Current members

1. Béria Lima (WMPT) since July 2011
2. Ilario (WMCH) since July 2011
3. Kiril Simeonovski (WMMK) since July 2011
4. Lankiveil (WMAU) since July 2011
5. Mayur (Hindi Wikipedia) since July 2011
6. Packa (WMCZ) since July 2011
7. Polimerek (WMPL) since July 2011
8. Solstag (MCL) since July 2011
9. ProtoplasmaKid (WMMX) since July 2012
10. Kirill Lokshin (WMUS-DC) since July 2012
11. Namayan (WMPH) since July 2012
12. Nasir Khan Saikat since July 2012
13. 3BRBS (WMCL) since July 2012
14. NLIGuy since July 2012
15. Delphine Ménard since July 2012
16. Viswanathan Prabhakaran since July 2012
17. Thomas Souza-Buckup since July 2012
18. Tony1 since July 2012
19. Itzike since July 2012
20. Thuvack (WMZA) since July 2012
21. Mile Kiš (WMRS) since July 2012

Former members

1. Bduke (WMAU) (resigned February 2012)
2. Harel (WMIL) (resigned March 2012)
3. Isha (WMAR) (resigned April 2012)
4. marctaltor (WMES) (July 2011 – June 2012)
5. Mstislavl (WMRU) (July 2011 – August 2012)
6. Yuri Perohanych (WMUA) (July–September 2012; resigned due to joining the FDC)
7. Abbas (WMKE) (July 2011 – November 2012)
8. Sudhanwa Jogalekar (WMIN) (July 2011 – Jan 2013)
9. Cindamuse (July 2012 – February 2013) resigned due to current health concerns
10. Katie Chan (WMUK) (July 2012 – February 2013)
11. Josepnogue (Amical) (July 2011 – March 2013)
12. Surya Prakash.S.A. (July 2012 – March 2013)
13. Wifione (July 2012 – March 2013)

Inactivity

GAC members who have not engaged on any request for at least four months will be asked privately whether they're still interested in serving on the GAC or whether they would like to step down. GAC membership of those who do not step down but who remain inactive for another month will lapse and be terminated.

See also

• Informal observations on the best and worst practices from the grant proposals we have reviewed, as "accumulated wisdom" for applicants, GAC members, and staff.
• Table of the status of current and former grants
• Applications currently under review