Wikimedia Blog/Drafts/Funding projects and pizza, Wikimedia Foundation grants are here to help

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Emily Temple-Wood, a Loyola University student studying molecular biology and veteran Wikipedia editor is a familiar face to this blog. Last time we wrote about her in 2013, she had spearheaded the WikiProject Women Scientists and continues to contribute to various projects and articles to this day.

She has edited Wikipedia since she was 10, and is also the vice president of Wikimedia D.C. even though she lives in Chicago. Her work goes beyond editing and writing and extends to running workshops and doing outreach work. But as Temple-Wood puts it, “Grants are awesome and you should also should get a grant,” to get funding for Wikipedia-related projects that would benefit from additional funding.

Temple-wood’s first grant was a projects and events grant in which she used to run a series of workshops on Wikipedia contributing. She said a huge learning lesson from her experience running the workshop was that social media advertising was integral to getting more people to come.

“When we advertised the workshops just using flyers only three people came and that was my roommate and her boyfriend mostly because I promised them that there will be free pizza,” Temple-wood said.

But because the grant program was flexible, Temple-wood said her first experience running workshops off of grants ended up being an invaluable learning experience stemmed from a low turnout and free pizza.

“We started off with no impact, no people and a total disaster but I ran 10 workshops or even more that’s how many I did,” Temple-wood said. “In the end we had a really successful smooth model [for workshops].”

So you have an idea of a project you would like to get funding for what’s next?

If you have a great idea but are unsure of how to turn it into a successful grant proposal for the Wikimedia Foundation, turn to IdeaLab. It’s a place where you can meet and get feedback from various veteran Wikipedians who can help you through the process of applying for a Wikimedia grant.

“We’re really into community collaboration,” adds Temple-wood. IdeaLab also supports those who are interested in the Individual Engagement Grant which accepts applications twice a year.

“The grant application can be about anything that’s how fluid and flexible the grant programs are so if there is something that you want to try submit it to the IdeaLab,” Temple-wood says.

For those who just want to start off small, just to get Wikipedians together to discuss a new project idea or educate others on Wikipedia editing, Temple-wood recommends the project and events grant, which she dubs as the “buy pizza grants.”

“Really the three things you need for a successful workshop are Wikipedians, pizza and social media advertising,” laughs Temple-wood.

Interested in learning more about grants? Click on the links in this article to learn more about what you can get done.

Profile by Yoona Ha, Communications Intern Interview by Victor Grigas, Wikimedia Foundation Storyteller

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