Grants:APG/Proposals/2013-2014 round1/Wikimedia Israel/Proposal form
Basic information[edit]
Overview of grant request[edit]
In order to support community review, in no more than one paragraph, please provide a brief description of your entity's forthcoming annual plan, with focus areas and key objectives. Please also include the total amount requested in US$.
- 2013-2014 marks a turning point for Wikimedia Israel. In the upcoming year we are aiming to strengthening our collaboration with academic institutions address; Increasing and cultivating our volunteer base; to Improve our interaction with the community; support more small community projects and professionalization our chapter in various ways: creating long-term strategic partnerships and creating an organizational infrastructure that will support all these proposed activities.
Contact information[edit]
Table 1
| Organization information | Legal name of organization | Wikimedia Israel |
| organization's fiscal year (mm/dd–mm/dd) | 01/01-12/31 | |
| 12 month timeframe* of funds currently requested (mm/dd/yy–mm/dd/yy) | 01/01/14-12/31/14 | |
| Contact information (primary) | Primary contact name | Michal Lester |
| Primary contact position in organization | Executive Director | |
| Primary contact username | ||
| Primary contact email | mlester wikimedia.org.il
| |
| Contact information (secondary) | Secondary contact name | Itzik Edri |
| Secondary contact position in organization | Chairperson | |
| Secondary contact username | Itzike | |
| Secondary contact email | itzikwikimedia.org.il
|
*Timeframe should ideally be for a 12 month period that begins after the FDC decision.
Amount requested[edit]
Table 2
Currency requested: ILS
- Currency requested is defined as the currency in which you wish to receive funds (e.g., EUR, GBP, INR). Note that the FDC makes grants in local currency when possible.
Exchange rate used (currency requested to $US): 3.6 as of 09/20/13
- Please use Oanda.com on March 1 2014 to determine the exchange rate. Please use five decimal points.
| Currency requested | US$ | |
| Total annual expenses of organization | 1,714,637 | 473,372 |
| Amount proposed to the FDC for the coming year's annual plan | 1,553,837 | 428,705 |
| Amount to be raised from non-FDC sources | 160,800 | 44,822 |
| If applicable, amount of FDC funds allocated to organization last year | 564,440 | 145,026 |
- Based on the funding amount you are requesting, what is your entity's proposed rate of growth in budget since last year? Please explain your entity's rationale if your proposed budget will increase this year:
2013-2014 marks a turning point for Wikimedia Israel, a change reflected in this application by a substantial increase in funding (a threefold increase). To better address and further our vision, our goal is to significantly expand our scope of activities. In 2014, we plan to address the issues of institutionalization and professionalization of our chapter in various ways: Increasing and cultivating our volunteer base. Creating long-term strategic partnerships. Establishing a systemized model for quantifying the effectiveness of all of the chapter’s activities. As part of a strategic plan initiated in August 2013 by our Board of Governors and Executive Director to expand our community of editors, we plan to recruit a Community Coordinator to oversee the growth in 2014. Several goals were established, amongst them retention and recruitment of editors, as well as renting office space and allocating a community area within it, so editors can meet and work effectively in a space of their own. Developing a wider collaboration with universities and university faculties and strengthening our collaboration with individuals in academic institutions and institutionalizing. Until now, a significant amount of collaborative work has been done by our volunteers and individual professors; some were members of the Wikimedia community, while other kept in constant communication with our editors. On this basis, we will continue to develop our relationship with individuals in academic institutions. However, our main efforts will target partnerships with the institutions themselves or within faculties, to build more sustainable relationships. Developing our collaboration with cultural institutions and libraries. This year, we hope to deepen and strengthen our partnership with the National Library of Israel, as well as to establish similar partnerships with prominent cultural institutions. In 2014, and as part of our institutionalization process, we plan to support and develop more projects initiated by the community of editors and chapter volunteers, and strengthen collaborations with the open content community in Israel (comprising of entities such as the Israeli Internet Association, The Public Knowledge Workshop and other like-minded organizations). Creating a stable and sustainable organizational infrastructure that will support all these proposed activities, including renting office space, establishing clear working guidelines for the Israeli chapter, recruiting two more Members of the Board, recruiting additional volunteers specializing in guidance and instruction, and developing and cultivating existing staff and volunteers. We believe that establishing and then strengthening our chapter’s organizational infrastructure will further WMIL goals in the near and long terms.
Background, history, and mission[edit]
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?
- 26/06/2007
- What is the mission of your entity, and how does it support the strategic priorities of the Wikimedia movement (infrastructure, participation, quality, reach, and innovation)? We note that Wikimedia movement priorities will be interpreted and addressed differently in each context.
- Promoting knowledge and education in Israel by gathering, creating and distributing open content.
- Promoting equal opportunities in access to knowledge.
- Promoting the gathering and distribution of free content and especially through the various projects of the Wikimedia Foundation
- Promoting discussion and research and furthering of social, cultural, and practical aspects of free content.
- Promoting volunteer work for the above purposes.
- Strengthening and developing our community of editors.
- Promoting initiatives from within the community and developing significant partnerships to fulfill Wikimedia Israel’s goals, in alignment to Wikimedia Foundation’s strategic plan.
- What is your current leadership structure (e.g., executive staff structure, board / governance structure)? Please explain how budgets are managed and programs are executed between board and staff.
- Executive Director (recruited in August 2013).
- Activities and Logistics Coordinator (recruited in December 2012).
- Community Coordinator (to be recruited in January 2014).
- Academic Activities and Education Coordinator (to be recruited until the end of October 2013).
- We have an active Chairman of the Board, four members in the Board of Governors, and two members in the Audit Committee. In July, the General Assembly authorized the recruitment of two Board members from outside the community, and we are now in the process of recruitment. These two members (from outside the community) will join the organization by the end of the 4th quarter of 2013, with the aim of strengthening the board’s professional capabilities, bringing a new and fresh take on processes and activities, and contributing from their extensive connections and experience.
- The Board of Governors and the ED hold monthly meetings. The chairman and ED hold weekly meetings. All strategic decisions are made by the Board of Governors. In August 2013 a strategic process was put into motion, with the aim of devising an annual work plan for 2014. The Board established WMIL goals, and a budget and work plan were developed accordingly, brought back to the board, and amended per their remarks. The Board was convened in September to further discuss both the budget and the annual work plan.
- The General Assembly holds three to four annual meetings.
- Until now, project budgets were administered by the volunteers, each project overseen by one Board member. After the organizational changes will have been fully implemented (an ED and some paid staff have already been recruited) most projects will be overseen by the Coordinators, alongside a Board member or a volunteer. The general management of the organization will be done by the ED in accordance with a Board approved annual work plan.
- Annual work plan for 2014 was written and approved by the board. Each project has objectives and indicators.
- Expenditures of up to 10,000 NIS (2,780$~)must be approved by one of two approved signatories in the Board; any expenditure exceeding 10,000 NIS must be approved by both approved signatories.
- If applicable, how many members does your entity have, and how do you define membership (e.g., attendance at events, paying dues)?
- 40 registered dues-paying members.
- Activists and volunteers from within the Wikimedia community and the free content community. Their registration and tracking was submitted as a goal in the annual work plan for 2014.
- What is the role of volunteers in your entity (e.g., help develop entity plans, participate in programs, edit Wikipedia)? Approximately how many volunteers does your entity serve?
- Today, our chapter volunteers (including Board members) execute and oversee all activities, from initiating projects to budgeting them and finally putting them into motion. These activities include GLAM projects, Wikipedia editing workshops, lectures, collaboration with individuals in academic institutions and organization of conferences. As aforesaid, at present we lack a systemized model for quantifying activities, but past activities have shown that academic courses reach dozens of students, Wikipedia editing workshops reach thousands of people, and conferences such as the Wiki-Academy attract 150 participants.
- How do you know what the members of the community / communities you serve (including chapter members and broader online volunteers) need and want? How does this influence your strategic planning and decision-making?
- We run a mailing list in which our activists and volunteers can be updated on activities and issues, and where frequent discussions are made. The General Assembly holds three to four annual meetings. In addition, we hold an annual seminar in which we maintain open panel discussions with the editors. The ED, whose tenure began in August 2013, holds meetings with volunteers as needed.
Reflection on past activities and innovations[edit]
This section provides the FDC with information about your entity's past programs, 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"?
- In our 2012 report, we defined "success" as follows: "At the beginning of each project, the project leader approves the success criteria with the board. These success criteria are validated during the project and evaluated at the end to see how many of the goals the project has achieved".
- We now feel that this definition is neither broad nor exhaustive enough. In 2013, as part of the process of institutionalizing and strengthening the Israeli chapter, we came to the realization this this definition does not allow us to examine our activities on the micro level, nor does it include clear criteria for accurately measuring our goals. and ensuring lessons are learned and implemented between projects. Therefore, we have re-defined the term during 2013: Success is achieved when an activity generates a significant contribution to further our vision and our strategic goals. Success is measured by the shared road taken to further our goals - planning, creating partnerships, recruiting volunteers and more, and by the end result - increasing our number of editors, recruiting new editors and contributing to the quality and quantity of content in the Hebrew Wikipedia as well as Wikipedias in additional languages. This is a more holistic concept of success. In our annual work plan for 2014, we have defined quantifiable goals for the first time. Since this is the first year in which we measure them, these goals are relatively modest. In 2013, we are already able to measure our successes in a number of areas:
- Increasing our number of partnerships with cultural institutions; Ongoing relationship with The Israel Museum Jerusalem and The National Library of Israel. Partnership's growth began with Israel Philharmonic Orchestra ; The Israeli Cartoon Museum and Beit Hatfutsot, the Museum of the Jewish People.
- Releasing online content: at least 1,300 files were uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, amongst them 100 rare images and 16 audio files of Jewish prayers and songs for the Jewish New Year.
- Exposing new audiences to Wikipedia through increase of the number of lectures to the general public; such as gifted students and senior citizens.
- Developing our existing projects (like the Wikipedia Academy).
- Please give at least three examples of successful programs or activities that your entity has completed, and explain why they were successful. If available, provide links to information.
- Wikimania: in 2011, the Israeli chapter hosted the international annual conference of Wikimania. The conference was organized by our volunteers (the Israeli chapter did not have paid employees on its staff in 2011) without any additional funding to the basic funding given by the Wikimedia Foundation. The conference was considered a success, and was organized on a modest budget, in accordance with the movement's values.
- Wiki-Academy: an annual conference held since 2008, attracting 150 to 200 participants each. In 2013, the conference's main theme was "The Underrepresentation of Women Editors", with the participation of Bishakka Datta (a Wikimedia Foundation Board member). The conference gained 15 mentions in the media, and was followed by a meeting of the community of Wikipedians.
- Hackathon: Israel has long since been dubbed the “start-up nation”, and it is well known for its brilliant programmers and wide range of high-tech companies. In 2013 we held our first Hackathon, with the participation of 40 programmers, and another Hackathon will be held later this year. The Israeli chapter plans on strengthening and developing ties with Israeli programmers, with the aim of engaging them in our activities.
- 10th anniversary celebrations for Wikipedia Israel: as part of this year's celebration, the Israeli chapter has organized a conference for 100 community members, to mark their contribution and thank them for their work. The festivities were accompanied by a large PR push, with 22 mentions in the media – from magazine covers to TV and radio references. The event peaked with a unique collaboration between WMIL and senior news reporters from Channel 2, the leading commercial channel in Israel. For the first time ever, Israeli news reporters wrote Wikipedia articles, and the project received daily coverage during prime time – a free exposure worth millions of NIS.
- Amendment to the Copyright Act: after a three-year legal battle, Wikimedia Israel succeeded in changing the Copyright Act by enabling free use of state-owned images. This battle was accompanied by wide coverage, partnerships with other institutions, and collaborations with different government ministries to release images prior to the Amendment.
- Wiki-GLAM project with the National Library of Israel: since June 2013, we have a Wikipedian in residence in the National Library. The collaboration with the library has met quantifiable goals, and we are in the process of developing and strengthening this collaboration. 1,300 files were uploaded to Wikimedia Commons, amongst them 100 rare images and 16 audio files of Jewish prayers and songs for the Jewish New Year. We also held a Wikipedia editing workshop, with the participation of 12 library employees, four of whom are now active Wikipedians. More than ten articles have already been written by library employees. Another Wikipedia editing workshop held in the library was open to the general public. One of the high points of our collaboration is the online library reference desk established by library employees and Wikipedia editors, which focuses on helping and supporting article development for Wikipedia.
- What are the plans/strategies that did not work for your entity in the past? What did your entity learn from those experiences? What changes were made after learning from these experiences?
One of our main goals in 2013 is to improve our relationship with the community of editors. We wished to retain veteran editors, assist in the onboarding process of new editors, and foster a mutual and supportive relationship between the chapter and the community. This goal was not fully attained, due to the heavy workload borne by volunteer leaders in the chapter – the Board of Governors and a few other volunteers. The relationship with the community has therefore not improved (though it has not suffered). The understanding that an emphasis should be given to this issue led to the decision to hire staff that will support volunteer activities and alleviate volunteers from some of their logistic-administrative duties, thereby enabling them to engage in leadership missions.
Another challenge we have experienced is the recruitment of quality personnel to the chapter. Towards the end of 2012, we hired an Activities and Logistics Coordinator to help the volunteers to take point on projects. One of the goals in 2013 was to hire an ED to manage the day-to-day activities in the chapter, thereby alleviating the coordinator to deal only with her pre-defined responsibilities. An ED was hired, but over time it was clear that she had neither the capabilities nor the managerial experience to further the goals of the chapter. After a period of three months we parted ways, and embarked on a thorough process to redefine our requirements, increase the salary and standards for hiring, as well as turning to an HR company to locate a new ED. During August 2013, a new ED was hired.
This ongoing process harmed the chapter’s ability to fulfill its vision in 2013. Six months were spent in locating and training an ED, and the process of professionalization was hampered. This resulted in a great amount of work for the Board of Governors (among other duties, they had to deal with budgetary issues, day-to-day management and producing reports for the FDC). The professionalization process was re-ignited in September, and we hope to catch up on our goals’ schedule by the end of the 1st quarter of 2014.
In addition, many components of the 2012 budget were found to be irrelevant. This was due to time restraints, lack of relevant know-how, and lack of professional support for the Board. As a result, components were budgeted unrealistically. Office costs were extremely under-budgeted, without taking into consideration staff hiring or the future need to rent additional office space. The accounting budget was evaluated on the basis of 2011 numbers, which was significantly lower. In addition, some components were not inserted at all.
Learning from our past mistakes, this year’s budget was professionally planned by both the ED and the Chairman of the Board to take into account future growth in human resources and the chapter’s goals. The budget was constructed after consultations with professionals, numerous Board meetings and discussions with colleagues in like-minded organizations.
In 2014, we plan to hire a Community Coordinator to liaise between the chapter and the community. The coordinator will study the needs of the community, and build a schedule of meetings accordingly. New office space will serve the professional staff, the Board of Governors, and will function as a new home for the community.
- What else has your entity learned or innovated upon that could benefit the broader Wikimedia movement?
- In cooperation with other leading chapters, Wikimedia Israel has already started to discuss its experience (both positive and negative) of transitioning from an all-voluntary organization to an established, professionalized chapter.
Please link to the following to provide supplemental information to the FDC:
- How does your entity share its work with your community and with the wider Wikimedia movement? For instance, publishing case studies on Meta, blog posts, newsletters, speeches at conferences, etc.
- As aforesaid, the lack of professional support for the volunteers, and the many internal issues we had dealt with, has hampered Wikimedia Israel’s ability to fulfill its tremendous potential. Nevertheless, in the past months, Wikimedia Israel has started to send monthly updates on its activities; and it is active on the movement’s international blog as well as the blog in the chapter’s website, social media (Facebook, Twitter & Youtube . The Chairman is highly active in the international community, participates in various international work groups, and is involved in the field of PR and grants. Members of the Board of Governors are active in GLAM forums and activities such as WLM. In the last Wikimania in Hong Kong, the volunteers led two discussion panels, and operated the famous beach stand in the chapter zone. Wikimedia Israel hopes to continue to lead and share its knowledge and experience on an international level, as well as strengthen its involvement within the international community.
- Link to most recently completed fiscal year annual plan
- Link to most recently completed fiscal year annual report and financial report
- Link to most recently completed fiscal year grant report (if your entity has received funds from the FDC)
- Link to your entity's strategic plan if you have one
- Link to your organogram or organizational chart if one exists
- Link to your entity's current fiscal year plan and budget
Key programs / initiatives and objectives of the upcoming year's annual plan[edit]
These tables are intended to provide an overview of your entity's upcoming year annual plan and its alignment with the movement's strategic priorities; please provide short phrases or 1-3 bullet points for each program below. You can also link to any other documents that you think might be helpful as context.
Please ensure that your proposed programs are SMART; that is, specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely.
If you feel you have a program that fulfills a strategic goal that is not immediately identified with a movement strategic priority ('readership' rather than 'editorship', for instance), please add that in the table and offer us your rationale.
Finally, please also note which programs are the entity's priorities.
Wikimedia Israel’s annual strategic plan for 2014 focuses on six areas:
- Strengthening the existing volunteer base.
- Recruiting new volunteers.
- Building an organizational infrastructure.
- Increasing the chapter’s resource (both fundraising and in-kind donations).
- Establishing long-term collaborations.
- Establishing Wikimedia Israel’s role as a leading chapter both in Israel and abroad.
Program 1[edit]
Strengthening the existing volunteer base
- What are the objectives of this program? Please use SMART criteria to explain these goals.
- Strengthening the existing volunteer base.
- Strengthening relations between the community (especially the active editor community)and the chapter.
- Which Wikimedia movement strategic priority (or priorities) does this program address and how?
- Increase participation
- What key activities and/or milestones are associated with this program?
- After recruiting a Community Coordinator, we plan to hold four annual meetings, with 15 volunteers convening in each. In the 3rd quarter of 2014, we plan to hold a weekend seminar with at least 40 participants. This activity will be organized in collaboration with the community.
- With the aim of supporting new initiatives from within the community, we plan to simplify the process of applying for micro-grants, and assist editors in the application process.
- In 2014, the chapter plans to approve two to three major projects. The staff will assist the editors in applying for the projects and in executing them.
- Opening a community area in the office for the use of the editors, for small meetings, instructions and collaborative work.
- How will your entity document, track, and measure successes and challenges of this program?
- Constructing a plan of activities together with the community, in order to reach as many participants as possible, and address issues that are relevant to the community.
- Registering the volunteers present in every meeting. A computerized pool will be created in 2014.
- Receiving feedback from participants on contents.
- Supporting and assisting editors in the application and execution of initiatives.
- Inviting the community to use our new community area. The coordinator will track and document the use of the room and the activities held there, and will remain in constant communication with the community for feedback.
Program 2[edit]
Recruiting new volunteers
- What are the objectives of this program? Please use SMART criteria to explain these goals.
- Recruiting new volunteers.
- Developing guidance methods and tools for effective instruction, and assisting in the onboarding process of new editors.
- Recruiting inactive members back to the community as active editors.
- Which Wikimedia movement strategic priority (or priorities) does this program address and how?
- Improve quality; Stabilize infrastructure; Increase participation
- What key activities and/or milestones are associated with this program?
- Mapping target populations with the aim of finding new editors, and working closely with at least two chosen groups.
- Holding introductory meetings and Wikipedia editing workshops for the chosen groups.
- To maximize the effectiveness of the lectures and the workshops, we will meet with the volunteers that conduct them to learn their needs for better instruction and guidance. Mapping their needs will enable us to provide them with the best tools, as well as thank them for their significant, important work.
- After mapping said needs, training tools will be built.
- Until recently, the chapter lacked training tools and the necessary knowledge to develop instructional plans. Our new ED has extensive experience and knowledge in the field, and will build an training plan in collaboration with volunteers.
- A considerable number of people have tried to edit Wikipedia articles, but through lack of proper assistance have failed to become active members in our community. We wish to bring them back to active editing using a central-notice campaign and off-line meetings. Together with our spokesperson, we plan to build a unique marketing plan for their recruitment. In addition, we will hold three editing workshops throughout Israel.
- Keeping in constant touch with the workshop participants after workshop completion.
- How will your entity document, track, and measure successes and challenges of this program?
- Registering the participants in our mailing list.
- At least 15 participants in each meeting (30 in all). After every meeting, at least ten articles will be written.
- 10% of the participants are active editors after six months.
- Using improved instructional tools to enhance the quality of lectures and editing workshops, so that the Wikipedia editing policies and principles will be understood from an early stage. Indirectly, this will increase the number of editors in the community.
- 15 participants in each meeting; participants will write a total of 20 articles.
- 10% of the participants are active editors after six months.
Program 3[edit]
Building Organizational Infrastructures
- What are the objectives of this program? Please use SMART criteria to explain these goals.
- Recruitment of new Board of Governors members and development of the Board.
- Recruitment of additional staff and their development.
- Recruitment of volunteers with the aim of strengthening organizational infrastructures.
- Documentation of the volunteer pool.
- Renting office space and allocating an area for the exclusive use of the community.
- Developing procedural guidelines.
- Which Wikimedia movement strategic priority (or priorities) does this program address and how?
- Stabilize infrastructure
- What key activities and/or milestones are associated with this program?
- Recruitment of new Board of Governors members and development of the Board: a monthly meeting of the ED with the board, and two annual meetings for training and team building activities. The process recruitment of two Board members from outside the community already started. These two members (from outside the community) will join the organization by the end of the 4th quarter of 2013, with the aim of strengthening the board’s professional capabilities, bringing a new and fresh take on processes and activities, and contributing from their extensive connections and experience.
- Recruitment of additional staff and their development: recruitment of a Community Coordinator to oversee volunteer activities, as well as recruitment of a member of the National Service. For the staff to function effectively, it must be supported. The ED will initiate the process and meet with the staff, and throughout the year we will hold scheduled meetings with every coordinator, as well as weekly staff meetings. In addition, we will hold a three-day seminar for training and team building activities.
- Recruitment of four volunteers to strengthen the organizational infrastructure.
- Computerizing the volunteer pool in a three-stage process: characterization, integration of CRM software, and data input.
- Renting office space that will also serve the community. The new offices will be multi-functional, and an area will be allocated for the exclusive use of the community.
- Developing procedural guidelines by the 1st quarter of 2014, among them: writing project application forms, writing guidelines for activities, writing micro-grants application guidelines, writing guidelines for activities abroad and updating the travel reimbursement guidelines.
- How will your entity document, track, and measure successes and challenges of this program?
- Increased effectiveness of the Board of Governors. The board will define its functions and responsibilities, and measure itself accordingly.
- Meeting goals defined in the annual work plan for each staff member according to his/her responsibilities. A quarterly report will be submitted by the ED to the Board concerning goal attainment.
- Better communication between the staff and the community.
- Tracking of, communicating with and supporting volunteers. As an indirect result, this will lead to an increase in the number of Wikipedia articles.
- Strengthened relations with the community, with an increased number of editors reaching the office and working together.
Program 4[edit]
Increasing the chapter’s resources
- What are the objectives of this program? Please use SMART criteria to explain these goals.
- Fundraising to the amount of $40,000.
- In kind donations to the amount of $27,000
- Which Wikimedia movement strategic priority (or priorities) does this program address and how?
- Stabilize infrastructure
- What key activities and/or milestones are associated with this program?
- Mapping of financial channels to further fundraising.
- Writing of marketing material to further fundraising.
- Meeting potential donors from at least two foundations in the course of 2014.
- Mapping the chapter’s needs to locate channels for in kind donations.
- Mapping potential donors in kind and approaching them – at least four institutions.
- Recruiting professionals volunteers from the field of guidance (in kind donation).
- How will your entity document, track, and measure successes and challenges of this program?
- Fundraising and fundraising in kind
Program 5[edit]
Creating long-term strategic partnerships
- What are the objectives of this program? Please use SMART criteria to explain these goals.
- Building and executing a working model for academic partnerships.
- Developing and establishing collaborations with academic and cultural institutions.
- Initiating photography projects and contests.
- Developing collaborations with the free content community in Israel.
- Developing a strategic partnership with the Ministry of Education.
- Which Wikimedia movement strategic priority (or priorities) does this program address and how?
- Increase participation.
- Improve quality.
- Increase reach.
- What key activities and/or milestones are associated with this program?
In the academic field:
- Gaining familiarity with models used in leading chapters.
- Building Israeli model for a lasting collaboration with an academic institution.
- Establishing partnerships with three academic faculties.
Regarding cultural institutions:
- Establishing partnerships with three cultural institutions, and strengthening our existing collaborations.
Photography projects:
- Two photography-centered projects throughout the year.
- Acquiring one sponsor at least for each project.
- Establishing a new partnership in connection with each project.
Two Hackathons:
- Revolving around tools/extensions needed to further the chapter’s goals, as well as Wikimedia’s, such as Hebrew interfaces for existing tools, or specific developments needed to haste local GLAM partnerships
Ministry of Education:
- Establishing a working plan.
- Introducing Wikipedia to executives in the Ministry.
- Establishing an annual working plan with ministerial departments.
- How will your entity document, track, and measure successes and challenges of this program?
In the academic field:
- Members of each faulty will write 15 articles.
- At least 10% of course participants are active editors after six months.
Within each partnership/collaboration:
- Writing ten articles at least by institution employees.
- Uploading at least 500 files.
- One public event for each institution.
- At least 1,000 new images for each photography project.
- 30 programmers in each meeting/event.
Ministry of Education:
- Success criteria set in collaboration with the Ministry's representatives.
- Three meetings with Ministry executives throughout 2014 for the purpose of introducing the chapter and establishing a shared working plan.
- Successful introduction, establishing collaboration for building a shared work plan.
Program 6[edit]
Establishing Wikimedia Israel’s role as leader both in Israel and abroad.
- What are the objectives of this program? Please use SMART criteria to explain these goals.
- Establishing Wikimedia Israel as a leading chapter within the movement.
- Establishing Wikimedia Israel as a leader in the promotion of free content and accessibility to content in Israel.
- Wiki-Academy conference.
- Which Wikimedia movement strategic priority (or priorities) does this program address and how?
- Increase reach.
- Encourage innovation.
- What key activities and/or milestones are associated with this program?
- Participating in conferences and introducing the chapter's projects.
- Six blog posts in the international blog.
- Monthly updates in the international mailing list.
- Ten mentions in the media.
- Two editorial pieces.
- Five meetings with policy-makers.
- Monthly updates in the Wikimedia newsletter.
- Issuing an end-of-year booklet to sum the chapter's activities and projects in Hebrew and in English.
- 150 participants. Ten lecture proposals. Five mentions in the media about the conference.
- How will your entity document, track, and measure successes and challenges of this program?
- Replicating projects in other chapters.
- Every mention in the media generates a new partnership and/or approach from the members of the general public to attend activities.
Additional context for the upcoming year's annual plan / SWOT[edit]
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, education program expertise, experience with outreach, governance structure, community participation, fundraising)?
- Reputation
- Active volunteers - vibrant community
- Motivated board
- Entrepreneurial volunteers
- Secure funding / permanent financing
- International initiative
- Quality activities provided for free
- Professionalization of processes within the chapter and recruitment of employees, started in 2013
- High media visibility
- Effective use of Sitenotices and CentralNotice in Wikimedia projects.
- What external opportunities enable your entity's plan (e.g., socio-political context, community participation, fundraising)?
- Approaches to other fundraising channels
- Building significant partnerships with universities and cultural institutions
- Increasing collaborations between chapters
- Visual editor which will helps to bring new editors
- In Israel, extensive knowledge and experience in programming can be utilized to assist us in our activities
- Cooperation with Universities will possibly bring in new editors
- Opportunity to change the negative image of Wikipedia in groups who oppose it
- Marketing opportunities following the Hebrew Wikipedia's 10-year anniversary events
- 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)?
- Lack of internal procedures
- FDC dependency
- Difficult to respond to all organizations or institutions that seek partnerships with us
- Lack of training programs for volunteers
- Limited experience in fundraising
- Low communication between the community and the organization
- Lack of office facilities
- Lack of management experience among some members of the board
- Active volunteers overloaded, and unable take on more assignments
- Difficulty in recruiting new volunteers
- The chapter has yet to build an evaluation and measurement process
- Unfriendly editing interface (VE is still not ready to be fully used)
- Wikimedia/Wikipedia Brands do not belong to us
- Expert volunteers drop out
- Closed editors' community
- How will you minimize these risks and threats?
We deal with these risks and threats in a number of ways:
Building an organizational infrastructure that entails:
- Writing project application forms, writing guidelines for activities, writing micro-grants application guidelines, writing guidelines for activities abroad and updating the travel reimbursement guidelines.
- Recruitment of additional Board members from outside the community and re-defining the Board of Governors’ functions.
- Recruitment of staff that will be able to address more factors and assist volunteers in leading projects.
Additional fundraising:
- Using the connections of our ED and Board of Governors members to meet with foundation representatives. The first meetings will be held in 2013.
- Building a model for partnerships taking into account financial components.
Chapter-community relations:
- Recruitment of a Community Coordinator from within the community.
- Building an annual work plan in collaboration with the community.
- Mapping target populations with the aim of finding new editors, and building a specialized work plan with them.
- Reaching out and recruiting inactive editors.
Financials: year-to-date progress[edit]
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. Actual year-to-date financials should be provided as close to the proposal submission date as possible.
Identify the year-to-date for which you are reporting, month/year to month/year:
Table 3
Current fiscal year planned budget Year-to-date actuals Projected final amount In currency requested In $US In currency requested In $US In currency requested In $US Revenues (from all sources) 564,440 145,026 687,717 191,032 737,717 204,921 Spending 564,440 145,026 306,312 85,086 725,575 201,548
Table 3 details, if necessary:
- Exchange rates vary according to the date which money was received.
- We set the rate to $ 1 $ = 3.6 NIS, since the rate is not fixed.
- At the end of the 2012, the Board failed to report reserves of NIS 120,000 (33,000$) due to an unfortunate failure to fully understand the implications of the FDC requirements. These funds were effectively used to establish a stable infrastructure of employed staff which was critical for the successful operation of Wikimedia Israel. In addition, additional funds were received from sponsorships provided by Google and the Israel Internet Association.
In spite of major organizational changes within the organization, we managed to successfully meet the vast majority of our goals. But, in regard to recruitment and rental of office space there was some delay in the processes. These targets will be met by the end of the fourth quarter of 2013.
- Revenue up-to-date includes also some donation WMIL got during the year from individual donors and sponsoring for WLM 2012 (that we got only at the beginning of 2013) and Wikipedia Academy.
- Projected final amount include 50,000 ILS (13,888$) sponsorships to WLM 2013.
- Based on the variance percentages above, please describe how your entity is progressing against revenue and spending targets. If your projected final amount shows your entity to be significantly under or over target on either revenue or spending, please provide a detailed explanation.
Financials: upcoming year's annual plan[edit]
Please note that the FDC staff is currently exploring alternatives to wikitables for financial information. This issue will be addressed by the time the proposal creation tool is launched on September 1, 2013. Provide your financial overview for the upcoming year in the format below.
Please link to your detailed budget in a publicly available spreadsheet file (translation into English highly recommended) in addition to completing the tables below. Detailed budget link:
Financial sustainability[edit]
- What other donors support your work through grants beyond those in the Wikimedia movement? If your entity does receive funding from other donors, please list a contact person. Note that the donor's contact details can be sent directly to FDCsupport@wikimedia.org if you prefer not to publish it here.
Note that the FDC staff may contact these donors.
- Donations were received from several sponsorships provided by Google Israel (30,000NIS), the Israel Internet Association (20,000 NIS) and the Society for Preservation of Israel Heritage Sites (20,000 NIS). Some of our sponsor supports us with in-kind donations (like Google, who give us to uses their conference floors for meet-ups and hack-a-thons), the IDC who hosting the annual conference and ext.. Contact information in regard to these organizations will be provided upon request.
- What are your entity's plans for achieving long-term financial sustainability?
- In 2014, we plan to establish working relationships with several charitable foundations that have expressed possible interest in supporting Wikimedia Israel. It is our declared intent to establish reliable sources of alternative income in addition to funds received from the FDC and to attempt to reduce the FDC part in the chapter financing . We hope that by 2015 we will have achieved solid connections with philanthropic foundations. This is certainly a factor of the recent hiring of professional management staff who will be actively involved in this process. It is important to point out that Wikimedia Israel has always been active in soliciting funds from charitable organizations. It is our ultimate goal to stabilize this endeavor.
Revenues[edit]
Please list anticipated revenues, by source (e.g., FDC, Wikimedia grants programs, grants from institutional donors, public funding, membership fees, local donations, event fees)
Table 4
Revenue source Anticipated (in currency requested) Anticipated (In $US)
Funds Dissemination Committee 1,553,837 428,705 Educational Fund 160,000 44,600 Membership Fees 800 222
Table 4 notes, if necessary:
- The first meeting with an educational fund in regard to establishing a solid working relationship to advance the academic program will be held in early October 2013. Since this is a long-term process, our hope is that funds will be available from the middle of 2014 or, at the latest, during 2015.
Current entity staff and long-term contractors[edit]
Role/functions might include program administration, finance, fundraising. Please include both part-time and full-time staff and long-term contractors.
Table 5
Role / Function Number of staff Percentage of staff time* Executive Director 1 100% Academic Activities and Education Coordinator 1 100% Activities and Logistics Coordinator 1 100% Accounting Contractor 10% Legal Advisor Contractor pro bono Half a day in a month
*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 5 notes, if necessary:
- National Service volunteers serve for a year or more in civil positions in lieu of military service. NGOs often utilize the assistance of National Service volunteers for administrative tasks. A token sum is involved in the recruitment process. We will give priority to volunteers from the Wikipedia community.
Proposed new staff and and long-term contractors for upcoming year's annual plan[edit]
Role / functions might include program administration, finance, fundraising. Please include both part-time and full-time staff and long-term contractors.
Table 6
Department (e.g. Programs, Communications) Number of current staff Percentage of current staff time* Number of upcoming staff Percentage of upcoming staff time* Rationale for hiring new staff We plan to hire a full time community Coordinator. This individual will work to strengthen the volunteer community and strengthen the relationships between the community and the organization National Service volunteer 1 50% Sort term We plan to ask for a part-time administrative assistant who will work 5 hours per day. This individual will assist all departments in administrative functions.
*Please include estimates of the percentage allocation of staff members and long-term contractors. 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 notes, if necessary:
Summary of staff and long-term contractor expenses[edit]
Table 7
In currency requested In $US Percent increase Current staff expenses 264,899 73,583 Proposed increase for current staff expenses 558,920 155,256 211% Proposed increase for new staff expenses 182,800 50,777 0 Total staff expenses 741,720 206,033
Please estimate the percentage of overall staff time spent on programmatic work, as opposed to administration:
Table 7 notes, if necessary:
- The planned staff structure is dedicated to a real increase in the number of on-going projects and collaborations with various organizations. For this purpose, two coordinators will be recruited: the Educational Coordinator (end of 2013) and the Community Coordinator (beginning of 2014) will manage relevant projects in their particular fields of interest. The activity coordinator will manage administrative issues and will be involved in all the projects to ensure that they are always within the scope of the work plan. The Executive Director will, obviously, lead and be responsible for all of these activities.
- Duration of employing during 2013: Executive Director (1st period):4-6/2013 Executive Director (2nd period) 9-12/2013 ; Activities and Logistics Coordinator (part time) 1-5/2013 ; Activities and Logistics Coordinator (full time) 6-12/2013 ; Academic Coordinator 11-12/2013.
Expenses by program / initiative[edit]
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, microgranting initiatives, 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 8a
Program / initiative In currency requested In $US Editors' meetings 46,500 12,916 Microgrants 30,000 8,334 Development of training tools 15,000 4,167 Recruiting new editors 20,000 4,167 Re-recruiting inactive users 6,000 1,667 3 projects Wiki Loves Monuments/earth/air 62,000 17,222 2 Hackathon 20,000 5,556 Board Development and staff Development 6,000 1,667 Office space (including rent, municipal taxes and VAT) 141,432 39,287 Event Management 20,000 5,556 4 GLAM projects 66,600 18,222 Education programs 110,000 30,556 Elef-Milim 2000 556 Wikimania scholarships 38,516 10,669 Wikimania Chapter meetings 19,440 5,400 Volunteers’ travel reimbursement & Insurance 39,000 10,833 Participation in international conferences of the movement
32,400 9,000 Wikimania staff + board 33,140 9,206 5th Wikiacademy 45,000 12,667 Registrar fees 1300 361 5% reserves (including Program & staff) 81,749 22,542 Total program expenses (should equal the sum of the rows) 970,577 265,134
Table 8 notes, if necessary:
Summary of total revenues and expenses[edit]
Table 9
In currency requested In $US Total cash balance as of proposal submission 282,774 78,548 Total revenues 1,714,637 473,372 Total spending 1,632,988 453,607 Net (revenues less expenses) 81,649 22,680 Operating reserves,* if applicable
Table 9 notes, if necessary:
- The 81,649 NIS / 22,680 US$ are in line with our reserves policy.
Verification that this proposal requests no funds from the Wikimedia Foundation for political or legislative activities[edit]
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
Once complete, please sign below with the usual four tildes. No changes can be made to the documents after the deadlines for completion passes, and documents will automatically be considered 'submitted' after the deadline closes.