Grants:APG/Proposals/2012-2013 round1/Wikimedia Argentina/Proposal form
This proposal form for Wikimedia Argentina's proposal to the FDC for 2012-2013 Round 1 may be viewed in tab view or standard view. To discuss this aspect of the proposal to the FDC, please visit the discussion page.
For some guidelines, please see this example proposal form.
All eligible entities will need to complete this form to request funds from the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC). The completed document must be published in English on Meta by the deadline for each round (23:59 UTC 1 October for Round 1, and 23:59 UTC 1 March for Round 2).
The purpose of this document is to provide the FDC with an overview of your annual plan, the alignment of the plan to the Wikimedia movement’s strategic goals, and the potential impact and effectiveness of the plan. This proposal should complement any annual planning documents you may have: please complete all fields as mandatory and add links to supporting documents where relevant.
Each section of the proposal provides guidance on the amount of detail expected in response to each question or field. If you have additional questions about the form, please contact the FDC support team.
A few terms used in the form:
Basic information
Table 1.
Legal name of affiliated entity | Asociación Civil Wikimedia Argentina |
Contact name | Osmar Valdebenito G. |
Contact position in entity | Executive Director |
Contact username | B1mbo |
Contact email | osmarwikimedia.org.ar |
Entity fiscal year (mm/dd–mm/dd) | 01/01 - 12/31 |
Timeframe of funds currently requested (mm/dd/yy–mm/dd/yy) | 01/01 - 12/31 |
Date posted mm/dd/yy1 | 10/01/12 |
Round submitted (1 or 2) | 1 |
Currency requested2 | ARS |
Exchange rate used (currency requested to $US) and date accessed (mm/dd/yy)3 | 4.69 as 2012-09-27 [1] |
Table 2.
In currency requested | In $US | |
Total annual expenses of entity | 666.904,70 | 143.956,23 |
Amount proposed to the FDC for the coming year's annual plan | 664.894,70 | 143.527,66 |
Amount to be raised from non-FDC sources | 2.010,00 | 428,57 |
If applicable, amount of FDC funds allocated to entity last year | 0 | 0 |
1The proposal is assumed to be final as of the deadline for each round (23:59 UTC, October 1 for Round 1, and 23:59 UTC March 1 for Round 2). After the deadline, the proposal must not be further modified; any further commentary should be included on the talk page.
2Currency requested is defined as the currency in which you wish to receive funds (e.g., EUR, GBP, INR).
3This exchange rate should be used throughout the form.
Background, history, and mission
This section provides the FDC an overview of your entity's background and history. Please respond to each question below with 1-2 sentences to a maximum of a paragraph.
- When was your entity established?
- September 1, 2007.
- What is the mission of your entity, and how does it support the goals of the Wikimedia movement?
- Wikimedia Argentina is a private non-profit association, governed by the regulations of the Argentine Civil Code, approved as a Wikimedia Foundation local chapter. Wikimedia Argentina is dedicated to actively contribute to the diffusion, improvement and progress of free knowledge and free culture in the Argentine. Its goals include the promotion and support for the projects hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation.
- What is its current leadership structure (e.g., executive staff structure, board / governance structure)?
- If you have an organogram or organizational chart for your organization, please provide a link.
- The structure of our Association is composed as following:
- The General Assembly of Members.
- A Board of Trustees composed by 9 elected members, including the following positions:
- President and vice-president.
- Secretary and vice-secretary.
- Treasurer and vice-treasurer.
- Two alternative Board members in case of vacancy.
- An audit comission, composed by 3 members.
- An Executive Director, dependent of the Board of Trustees.
- How many staff are employed by your entity?
- Currently, only an Executive Director.
- Approximately how many volunteers participate actively in your entity?
- Around 30 active members.
- How many members does your entity have?
- 72 members.
Reflection on past activities and innovations
This section provides the FDC with information about your entity's past activities and strategies. Please answer the questions below with your reflections on the past fiscal year. Responses to each question should be one or two paragraphs.
- How does your entity define and measure "success"?
- It depends on the nature of each working area or even particular projects. In general, we measure success regarding what particular contribution are we making to the promotion, diffusion and enrichment of Wikimedia projects. The education program is aimed at fostering the use of Wikimedia resources at school; GLAM success is measured by partnerships and by putting such partnerships in action, freeing contents and making them available in Wikisource, Commons or the proper Wikimedia project and so forth. Although each project has its own quantifiable measures of success, we don't use it as a stand-alone parameter but as an input for an overall analysis of the total impact in the goals of our Association. Most of the impact of our activities (like improving credibility, increasing reach or diversifying participation) are not simple to quantify so they need a more comprehensive analysis.
- Please give at least three examples of successful activities that your entity has completed. If available, provide links to information about these activities.
- Wikimania 2009 is still one of the most succesful events of Wikimedia Argentina, not only because of its performance but also for the high level of involvment of the community of volunteers and local participation. Together with Iberoconf 2011, both events has been a challenge for our organization and became great opportunities to test our logistic and organizational skills.
- We have yet to serialize our Education program, and we're into it, but we consider our experience in the matter significant and successful. We've given a considerable number of talks and workshops, mostly aimed at secondary school teachers, and we've developed the "Wikipedia en el aula" booklet, which has been issued by the national Ministry of Education. In that capacity, we are part of the Advisory Committee of Conectar Igualdad, the nationwide initiative for digital inclusion that has given more than 2 million netbooks for Argentine secondary students.
- In the past months, we have engaged with different communities of speakers of indigenous languages like Aymara and Guaraní. Both are official languages in neighboring countries like Bolivia and Paraguay and very used not only in the indigenous communities in the country but also in the inmigrant population in urban centers like Buenos Aires. Wikimedia Argentina organized workshops to support the projects on those languages and is producing the first handbook in Guaraní on how to edit Wikipedia. The Chamber of Deputies of Buenos Aires Province recently released a declaration congratulating Wikimedia Argentina's efforts for the difussion of those languages.
- What are the plans/strategies that did not work for your entity in the past? What did your entity learn from that experience / those experiences?
- On 2011, Wikimedia Argentina decided to hire an Executive Director to be in charge of the operational activities of the Association. This first step on professionalization, although needed, wasn't clearly studied. Objectives, dynamics and processes weren't well defined, and that affected the development of the organization, especially when tasks assigned to the ED weren't considered. After a year, there was a new search for an ED and now a more thoughtful process was established, including an open call for applicants and a clear definition of the responsabilities of the ED.
- What else has your entity learned or innovated upon that could benefit the broader Wikimedia movement?
- Wikimedia Argentina has engaged in the past years with different Wikimedia groups in Latin America and Southern Europe, creating Iberocoop as an initiative to support the development of Wikimedia on a regional level. The use of local languages (Spanish, Portuguese and Italian) on international discussions instead of English has been extremely successful, making possible to work on projects across borders, and we expect that the Wikimedia movement moves towards real multilinguism so different groups usually excluded (especially in developing countries) can be fully integrated.
Where available, please link to the following to provide supplemental information to the FDC:
- Link to previous completed fiscal year annual plan
- Not available for 2011; Annual Program Plan for 2012 (grant)
- Link to previous completed fiscal year annual report
- Link to previous completed fiscal year grant report (if your entity has received funds from the FDC)
Year-to-date progress
This section provides the FDC information about how your entity is progressing against the current fiscal year's planned budget (revenues and costs).
Please provide the relevant information below. "Year to date" refers to the period between the start of your entity's current fiscal year and the date of submission of the proposal(+). If it is helpful to link to your entity's current fiscal year plan and budget, please do so.
Table 3.
Current fiscal year planned budget Year-to-date actuals+ Variance In currency requested In $US In currency requested In $US % Revenues (from all sources) 416.585,00 101.607,35 438.773,84 100.854,86 + 5,33% Spending 416.300,00 101.537,84 283.854,07 † 63.078,68 -31,82%
+ Actual year-to-date financials should be provided as close to the proposal submission date as possible; best approximations are sufficient.
Table 3. details: † Including operational expenses up to July 2012 and other fixed costs (honoraries for the rest of the year and office rental for 2012-3). More updated result up to September 2012 will be available in mid-October.
Based on the variance percentages above, please describe how your entity is progressing against revenue and spending targets. If you expect your entity to be significantly under or over target on either revenue or spending, please provide a detailed explanation.
- Spending consider up to july 2012 and some fixed costs, has executed more than two thirds of the total annual budget. We expect to end the year closer to the target of the Annual Program. The 2012 Annual Program was funded with a grant given by the Wikimedia Foundation.
Key initiatives and objectives of the upcoming year annual plan
The table is intended to provide an overview of your entity's upcoming year annual plan and its alignment with the movement's strategic goals; please provide short phrases or 1-3 bullet points for each initiative in the table below. Feel free to add more details below the table (1-2 paragraphs per initiative). You can also link to any other documents that you think might be helpful as context.
If you feel you have an initiative that fulfills a strategic goal that is not immediately identified with a Wikimedia strategic goal ('readership' rather than 'editorship', for instance), please add that in the table and offer us your rationale.
Please link to your entity's strategic plan if you have one.
- Strategic plan link: Strategic plan
Table 4.
Key initiatives What are the objectives of this initiative (include metrics)? Which Wikimedia strategic goal(s) does this initiative address? What key activities / milestones are associated with this initiative? How will your entity accomplish this initiative? How will your entity measure and track success of this initiative? Outreach To promote Wikimedia projects to general audicences and engage with communities, increasing participation (new readers, editors and volunteers) Increase participation, Increase reach. - Workshops and presentations
- Videos about projects (ie., Commons)
- Wiki Loves Monuments 2013
- Merchandising
- Printed materials
- Edit-a-thons
We want to engage more our volunteers in our activities, increasing our "team" of participants in events and projects. Also, we expect to improve the material given to audiences to have better impact. Number of participants in events (contests, workshops, presentations). Education Increase participation and adoption of Wikimedia project on Educational environments (secondary and terciary, mainly). Increase participation, Improve quality, Increase reach. - Workshops at schools (with students and/or teachers).
- Partnership with gubernamental and educational institutions.
We expect to design an Education Program for Wikimedia Argentina to face this initiative in a more comprehensive way. We also plan to be more involved with universities and establish a program similar to Campus Ambassadors within the country. Institutions involved, participants in activities. Federalization Increase the participation of people from outside Buenos Aires in the activities of Wikimedia Argentina and Wikimedia projects. Increase reach, increase participation. - Design activities and participate in events in other provinces across the country.
- Agreements with institutions outside Buenos Aires.
We have assigned a budget for transportation considering 5 regions in the country, so it will be possible to organize and participate in events in other cities. Also, we have assigned a fund for participation of members in activities in Buenos Aires like general assemblies or internal workshops so they can be more involved in the Association. Number events outside Buenos Aires, participants in activities, agreements with institutions. GLAM activities Engage with cultural institutions and promote the cooperation of them with the Wikimedia communities. Encourage the release of materials under free licenses by cultural institutions. Improve quality, Increase reach, Encourage innovation - Digitalization of books and documents
- Cooperation agreements with public and private institution.
- Installation of QR codes at museums.
- Wikisource workshops to libraries.
We expect to continue our plan of commodate of DaL scanners to institutions and install one in our office, making easier to upload books and documents to WM Commons and Wikisource. We have been in talks with different GLAM institutions in the past months and we expect to sign agreements with them in these year. We also want to increase our knowledge of GLAM projects, attending GLAM-WIKI 2013 and bringing experts to teach about their projects. Agreements signed, new material uploaded to Wikimedia projects. Organizational strengthening Improve knowledge and abilities of WM-AR members and staff to make better and more efficient programs in the future. Increase participation, Stabilize infrastructure, Encourage innovation - Techno Conference
- Internal workshops
- Tutorships
Our goal is to have a more prepared team of volunteers and staff to engage with organizations, give presentations, put programs into practice and develop tools to help projects under development. Number of participants in activities organized. Diversification Encourage the participation of volunteers from communites under represented in the Wikimedia movement Increase reach, increase participation - Publish the outcomes of Wikigénero 2012
- Manuals in other languages (Guaraní, Aymara)
In the past year, Wikimedia Argentina engaged with different communities, especially with gender-focused groups and indigenous people. We expect to continue the development of materials in indigenous language to support the Wikimedia projects on those languages, take up again the agreement signed with INADI and put into effect the discussions of Wikigénero. Number of participants in activities organized from under represented groups.
- Workshops and presentations
Table 4. details:
Additional context for the upcoming year annual plan / SWOT
Please provide 1-2 paragraphs for each response below. SWOT stands for your organizational strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
- What organizational strengths enable your entity's plan (e.g., leadership, governance structure, community participation, fundraising)?
- Although the composition of the Board has always included new figures, most of its members have been part of the organization of the chapter for some time, so they have experience in the administration of the chapter. Also, they are experienced Wikimedians so they can understand and represent more easily the voice of the community and become a legitimized leadership for the chapter.
- Wikimedia Argentina has participated in several complex activities like Wikimania 2009 and has successfully finished them. There is an important experience in hosting large events, organizing groups of volunteers, engage with public and private institution, etc.
- The chapter has become a respectable entity about free knowledge, being recognized as an important voice by the media and the government in different discussions (for example, in the case of Internet regulation or intellectual propierty).
- What external opportunities enable your entity's plan (e.g., socio-political context, community participation, fundraising)?
- As part of Iberocoop, Wikimedia Argentina is able to involve volunteers from other Latin American countries to give feedback about its activities, increase and diversify participation and design projects with a regional level instead of a local one. Wikimedia Argentina's efforts can be easily expanded to other Ibero-American communities, increasing the impact of its actions to the second largest community of speakers in the world.
- What are key risks or threats that would prevent you from achieving your plan (e.g., leadership turnover, governance challenges, lawsuits, fundraising, community participation, socio-political context)?
- Wikimedia Argentina has recently started the path towards professionalization so still most of the hard work relies on the hand of volunteers and their initiative. Although volunteers participation is expected and is one of the greatest strengths of our movement, sometimes it is difficult to realize some activities that don't gather enough relevance for volunteers and where you can't demand results or responsabilities.
- How will you minimize these risks and threats?
- One of the innovations of Wikimedia Argentina's plan for 2013 is the incorporation of activities of Organizational strengthening. The idea is to increase the number of volunteers, make them more "professional" and identify better their interest so we can be in line with them when their help is needed.
Financials for the upcoming year's annual plan
- Provide your financial overview for the upcoming year in the format below.
- Please link to your detailed budget (translation into English highly recommended) in addition to completing the tables below.
- Detailed budget link: See budget proposal.
- Revenues
Please list anticipated revenues, by source (e.g., FDC, Wikimedia grants programs, public funding, membership fees, local donations, event fees)
Table 5.
Revenue source Anticipated (in currency requested) Anticipated (In $US) Funds Dissemination Committee 664.894,70 143.527,66 Members fee 2.010,00‡ 428,57
Table 5. details: ‡ Members fee calculated considering 72 members (full and adherents) and a payment rate of 30%. Currently, annual fee is ARS 100.
- Current entity staff (e.g., Included in year-in-progress budget)
Role / functions might include program administration, finance, fundraising. Please include both part-time and full-time staff.
Table 6.
Role / Function Number of staff Percentage of staff time+ Executive Director¹ 1 100%
+Please include estimates of the percentage allocation of staff members. For example, for full time staff, you would put 100% in this column. For half time staff, you would put 50% in this column.
Table 6. details: ¹ The Executive Director has worked in the past year as a «freelancer» without a formal contract, under a locación de servicio scheme. This is not sustainable in the long run and the Board has decided to move into a relación de dependencia (formal working contract) starting with the next fiscal year (Jan 1). Although there is an important increase in costs because of the legal benefits for an employee (social security contributions and associated costs) the Executive Director will only have an adjustment “in cash” (i.e. net salary) according to inflation, in line with private estimations and general annual wage increases. It must be noted that, because of changes in the exchange rate, the monthly net salary does not suffer significant changes if measured in USD.
- Proposed new staff for upcoming year annual plan
Role / functions might include program administration, finance, fundraising. Please include both part-time and full-time staff.
Table 7.
Role / Function Number of staff Percentage of staff time+ Duration Rationale for hiring new staff Assistant 1 30% from March We expect to hire an assistant according to the needs of the Association under the supervision of the Board and the Executive Director, focused on a specific area or project. Communications is one of the proposed areas, although others can be considered (for example, a GLAM activity).
+Please include estimates of the percentage allocation of staff members. For example, for full time staff, you would put 100% in this column. For half time staff, you would put 50% in this column.
Table 7. details:
- Summary of staff expenses
Table 8.
In currency requested In $US Current staff expenses 120.000,00 25.586,35 Proposed staff expenses 91.000,00 ¹
40.500,00 ²19.402,99
8.635,39Total staff expenses 261.500,00 55.756,93
Table 8. details:
- ¹ Increase in Executive Director honoraries (per legalization and inflation increase).
- ² Expenses for the assistant.
- Expenses by program/initiative
Expenses are costs associated with any programs, initiatives, or projects your entity manages (e.g., event costs, materials, transportation). Please exclude any staff costs that are included above. “Programs / initiatives” might include education programs, outreach programs, etc. Please include any administration costs (e.g., office space rental, utilities) affiliated with each program along with any overall administration costs that are not affiliated with any particular program (e.g., Administration should be considered a "Program" under the first column.)
Table 9.
Program / initiative In currency requested In $US Administration 59.807,00 12.752,00 Global engagement 100.158,00 21.355,65 Organizational strengthening 27.008,00 5.758,64 Outreach materials 41.500,00 8.848,61 Federalization 40.000,00 8.528,78 Wiki Loves Monuments 2013 31.200,00 6.652,45 Techno Conference 24.104,00 5.139,45 GLAM activities 21.000,00 4.477,61 Techno ConferenceGender-gap (Wikigénero)8.000,00 1.705,76 Reserves (10% of the subtotal) 60.627,70 12.927,01
Total expenses 405.407,70 86.440,23
Table 9. details:
- Summary of total revenues and expenses
Table 10.
In currency requested In $US Total Revenues 666.904,70 143.956,23 Total Spending 666.904,70 143.956,23 Net (revenues less expenses) 0 0 Reserve balance, if applicable+ 106.433,44 † 22.693,70
+ Cash reserve balance should include cumulative reserves and any net revenue
Table 10. details: † Reserves at the end of the past fiscal year on December 31st, 2011.
- Verification that this proposal requests no funds from the Wikimedia Foundation for political or legislative activities
Enter "yes" or "no" for the verification below.
- The term “political or legislative activities” includes any activities relating to political campaigns or candidates (including the contribution of funds and the publication of position statements relating to political campaigns or candidates); voter registration activities; meetings with or submissions and petitions to government executives, ministers, officers or agencies on political or policy issues; and any other activities seeking government intervention or policy implementation (like “lobbying”), whether directed toward the government or the community or public at large. Grants for such activities (when permitted under U.S. law and IRS regulations) should be sought from the Wikimedia Grants Program.
I verify that this proposal requests no funds from the Wikimedia Foundation for political or legislative activities Yes
- This form was created by: Osmar Valdebenito, B1mbo (talk) 20:57, 1 October 2012 (UTC)