In order to learn more about the inputs that went into planning edit-a-thons, we asked program leaders to report on:
The budget that went into planning and implementing the edit-a-thon
The hours that went into planning and implementing the edit-a-thon
Any donations that they might have received for the event: a venue, equipment, food, drink, giveaways, etc.
Budget
The majority of program leaders were able to report budget for edit-a-thons.
In the survey, budget was reported for 16 edit-a-thons. Whereas 7 of these budgets were reported as zero dollars, 9 of the budgets were reported as ranging from $10.00 US to $750.00 US (with an average budget of $359.99).[1][2]
While 62% of direct reports that came in through our survey included budget, this represents only 35% of all edit-a-thons reviewed in this report, because we didn't have budget numbers for the edit-a-thons we mined.
Hours
Most program leaders were unable to provide data for how many staff hours went into implementing edit-a-thons. But, little over half were able to submit data for volunteer hours.
Staff and volunteers put the following time into implementing edit-a-thons, according to respondents:
39% of program reports included staff hours, which ranged from 0 to 200 hours with an average of 3 hours.[3]
54% of program reports included volunteer hours, which ranged from 2 to 215 hours with an average of 15 hours.[4]
Total hours (staff and volunteer hours combined) ranged from 9 to 300 hours with an average of 15 hours.[5]
Donated resources
Edit-a-thons rely more on donated resources than any other reported program.
Program leaders reported use of donated resources for their edit-a-thons more than any of the other programs reviewed in the survey. In most cases, edit-a-thons were held using donated meeting space (85%) and materials or equipment (58%), while donations of food (46%) and prizes/giveaways (23%) were also noted for some events (see Graph 2).
Graph 2: Use of donated resources. This bar graph shows that the majority of edit-a-thons used donated resources. The most commonly donated resources were meeting space and materials or equipment. Edit-a-thons reported use of donated resources more than any other program examined in this report.
