Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/General Support Fund/Strengthening Wikimedia Communities Through Shared External Grantmaking Knowledge and Collaboration
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Applicant information
[edit]- Organization name or Wikimedia Username for individuals. (required)
- IUP Research Institute
- Do you have any approved General Support Fund requests? (required)
- No, it is my first time applying for a General Support Fund
- You are applying as a(n). (required)
- Group of individuals not registered with an organization
- Are your group or organization legally registered in your country? (required)
- Yes
- Do you have a fiscal sponsor?
- No
- Fiscal organization name.
- N/A
- Please provide links to the following documents if they are available
These documentation can be provided in your local language(s), no translations required.
- Organizational website
- Detailed financial reporting and/or audits
- Documentation of the governance structure, board list, governance processes
- Documentation of the general assembly decision on your plan
Main proposal
[edit]- 1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be a title for the Meta-Wiki page. (required)
- Strengthening Wikimedia Communities Through Shared External Grantmaking Knowledge and Collaboration
- 2. Do you want to apply for the multi-year base funding for 3 years? (required) (only for returning applicants)
- N/A
- 2.1. Provide a brief overview of Year 2 and Year 3 of the proposed plan and how this relates to the current proposal and your strategic plan? (required)
N/A
- 3. Proposed start date. (required)
- 2026-01-15
- 4. Proposed end date. (required)
- 2027-01-15
- 5. Does your organization or group have an Affiliate or Organizational Annual Plan that can help us understand your proposal? If yes, please provide it. (required)
- No
- 6. Does your affiliate, organization or group have a Strategic Plan that can help us understand your proposal? If yes, please provide it. (required)
- No
- 7. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
- International (more than one country across continents or regions)
- USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Poland, EU Countries, Kenya, Ghana. Open to any participants / Videoconference meetings will be likely scheduled AM EST (New York).
- 8. What are your programs, approaches, and strategies? What are the challenges that you are trying to address and how will your strategies support you in addressing these challenges? (required)
The central challenge we seek to address is the limited resources available for Wikimedia-related work and the constraint that such lack of resources represents for the community as a whole. The goal of our proposal is to expand community support by helping volunteers and affiliates find external resources in the form of grant funding. Despite Wikimedia’s global importance as a knowledge commons, contributors and communities often lack access to funding, time, and institutional support for their labor. This represents a major limiting factor on the movement and progress as a whole. The Wikimedia Foundation has historically been generous in terms of providing support for community growth and affiliate development. However, the movement has grown exponentially in the last few decades while internal resources and the Foundation’s overall budget hasn’t been able to support this same growth. As explained in the Movement Ecosystem paper, “if the present trends hold, competition for core movement resources will only increase over time” ("Towards a Healthy Ecosystem").
Aside from the limited growth of Wikimedia funds each year compared to the huge growth of affiliates and the movement in general, there is also a complex situation where affiliates are not always incentivized to share grantmaking knowledge and activities. In a system where people are competing for similar limited resources of funding, it does not make that much sense to share grantmaking opportunities, since it will create more competition for you. This is good for the individual or affiliate but kind of bad for the community overall.
Our major strategy is to encourage integration without competition by opening up the pool of grants that can be applied to, i.e., to large state funders and projects necessitating partners from multiple partners or regions. As an example, the Cooperation in Science and Technology grant (https://www.cost.eu/) that we submitted last year (Buttliere et al., 2024) included 19 Wikimedians from 14 nations, with the majority of those nations being on the targeted list for inclusion. This project is explicitly about incubating further projects by providing funding for travel and presentation, along with further grant making activities, which we intend to use to hold specialized community preconferences for Wikimedia events within Europe.
The goal of the proposal is to help people find external resources for their Wikimedia related work. That is, while the movement has seen enormous growth (especially in terms of new affiliates), the community growth budget hasn't grown at the same rate, and the movement is constrained by the limited resources of WMF.
Our program, “Strengthening Wikimedia Communities Through Shared Grantmaking Knowledge and Collaboration”, addresses these challenges by building a database of potential grants and helping Wikimedia affiliates and volunteers apply for those grants. We believe Wikimedia is very fitting for opportunities with complex requirements, which need e.g., people from 3 random nations but have substantial funds available and little competition due to the specificity of the project requirements. In this case Wikimedia’s worldwide network can be of great value. We will potentiate this within our specific areas of expertise especially, namely education (Vetter), research (Buttliere and Vetter), and open science (Buttliere).
In order to expand the resource pool available to all Wikimedians, we plan to organize monthly meetups, compile resources, and guide new applicants as they navigate the identification of potential opportunities and proposal process. Instead of competing for the same limited pool of Wikimedia Foundation resources offered through the General Support funds, our goal is to expand opportunities by connecting communities to external grants—particularly large state funders, multilateral projects, and underutilized “niche” opportunities where Wikimedia’s global, distributed network is uniquely positioned to succeed.
One way to solve this problem would be to bring on more editors, but there is a lack of recognition for this work. Our previous research (Buttliere & Vetter, 2024) shows that professional organizations are rarely engaging with Wikimedia, in part because there are no widely accepted, vetted metrics to demonstrate the impact of Wikimedia contributions. To respond to this, our team has begun developing initiatives such as the Individual option for the Program and Events Dashboard (Buttliere, Vetter, Ross, 2024).
Through this work, we have also learned that many high-quality contributors want to do more, but are held back by structural barriers: lack of time, knowledge of how to secure resources, or difficulty competing with larger, established affiliates. Newcomers in particular often feel excluded from funding opportunities in the Wikimedia funding system where experience and existing networks dominate. Additionally, affiliates are not incentivized to share grantmaking knowledge, since competition for scarce resources discourages collaboration. While this benefits individual organizations, it ultimately harms the broader Wikimedia movement.
The less that we are able to fund, the more it is only privileged people who are able to really engage in the community and process.
Below we list grants that are available from the European Union/ European Commission, as a part of their Work Plan 2025. They establish a new work program each year. These are projects which the Wikimedia community could have applied for this last year, but in each case that we know of did not. The idea would be to have someone explicitly looking at these things ahead of time, bringing relevant affiliates and volunteers together for, and identifying ways that Wikimedians and Wikimedia affiliates could be applying for these grants.
—- CHIST-ERA Science in your Language - https://www.chistera.eu/sites/www.chistera.eu/files/CHIST-ERA%202025_Announcement_0.pdf —- —- Topic: “Science in your own language (SOL)” This multilateral call focuses on automatic translation of scientific knowledge in order to overcome language and cultural barriers. It has been designed from a dual perspective. Firstly, to account for the needs of scientists or technologists who generate knowledge in their own language but need to publish, compete or peer review in a different one. Secondly, to assist scientists, technologists or citizens who would like to benefit from the knowledge contained in documents or repositories featuring languages unknown to them. —- Citizens’ engagement and participation - https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/CERV-2025-CITIZENS-CIV?isExactMatch=true&status=31094501,31094502&order=DESC&pageNumber=4&pageSize=50&sortBy=startDate —- European Union Prize for Citizen Science - https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/CERV-2025-CITIZENS-CIV?isExactMatch=true&status=31094501,31094502&order=DESC&pageNumber=4&pageSize=50&sortBy=startDate —- Topic 1: School Education: Enhancing basic skills - https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/ERASMUS-EDU-2025-PI-FORWARD-SCHOOL-BS?isExactMatch=true&status=31094501,31094502&order=DESC&pageNumber=5&pageSize=50&sortBy=startDate —- —- The objective of this priority is to support EU countries in their efforts to enhancing literacy, maths and science skills by implementing effective teaching, learning and assessment practices, with a specific focus on foundational years (ECEC and primary education). —- —- Topic 6: Digital education: Assessment of digital skills and competences https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/ERASMUS-EDU-2025-PI-FORWARD-DIGITAL-SC?isExactMatch=true&status=31094501,31094502&order=DESC&pageNumber=5&pageSize=50&sortBy=startDate —- —- Projects under this topic will focus on the assessment of individual students’ digital skills at primary and/or secondary level including VET, the end of the secondary education cycle and explore the feasibility of assessment practices that are explicit about the level of digital skills in a variety of contexts (e.g. if digital skills are developed through a specific subject or in a transversal way). These projects will allow to identifying factors and criteria which are necessary for developing a comprehensive and robust assessment methodology for digital skills, thus supporting the creation of a progression model to assess digital skills. —- —- Topic 8: Digital education: Innovative data collection and exchange approaches in primary, secondary education (including vocational education and training) for data-informed decision-making - https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/portal/screen/opportunities/topic-details/ERASMUS-EDU-2025-PI-FORWARD-DIGITAL-DM?isExactMatch=true&status=31094501,31094502&order=DESC&pageNumber=5&pageSize=50&sortBy=startDate
An additional strategy of this grant is to stimulate external grantmaking by developing lists of people who are looking for external funding, potentially relevant grants that Wikimedians can be going for, and getting people together in virtual coffee hours to talk about specific grants together (in monthly meetups)
Our strategic focus includes the following four pillars of engagement and 3 work packages (WP1-3).
Pillars of engagement include:
1. Knowledge sharing: maintaining databases of funding opportunities and potential applicants; Capacity building: training contributors in grant writing and external funding navigation; 2. Collaboration: organizing networking sessions and preconferences to incubate projects; 3. Integration: promoting multi-partner, cross-regional grant applications over competitive, siloed approaches; 4. Inclusion: prioritizing individuals and communities that have been under-supported or that have fewer resources for competing in the grant ecosystem (both internal and external).
Work packages include:
Work Package 1 (WP1): Administration WP1 ensures the effective management and coordination of the project. The Principal Investigator (PI) will oversee administrative setup, ongoing maintenance of project documentation, and final reporting. Deliverables include an established project team, regular progress reports, and a comprehensive final grant report. These activities provide the organizational foundation necessary for the success of all subsequent work packages.
Task 1.1 – Setting up the grant administratively Task 1.2 – Maintaining administration (e.g., updates on Meta, general coordination) Task 1.3 – Final reporting for the grant to Wikimedia
Work Package 2 (WP2): Community & Development Activities This work package involves identifying grant opportunities, organizing learning sessions, and writing grants.
Task 2.1 – Database of Relevant Grant Opportunities
- Identify current grant opportunities relevant to Wikimedia work, with relevant information such as links to Request For Proposals (RFP), due dates, and legibility.
- Update the database to ensure that upcoming and expired opportunities are added and removed..
- Encourage specific individuals in the movement to apply
- Workload: Half a day a week for the entire grant period for both grant partners.
Task 2.2 – Monthly Community Learning/Organizing Sessions
- Sending emails ahead of time with grants
- Developing presentation materials for meetings
- Hosting the actual meetings
- Follow-up on meetings (e.g., Meta updates, follow-up emails
- Developing network/community for grants
- Set up 10 colloquiums with successful grantees to share knowledge and build capacity.
- Workload: 2 weeks full time to set up; 2 days per month per partner to maintain
Task 2.3 – Grants Written The idea is to facilitate external grant proposals. To this end we have found major success in opening our regular Friday meetings to others. The idea is to focus once a month on helping a team that is aiming for one of these grants to find partners and develop their project. Additionally, we hope to be able to also help lead grants in this area.
- Acting as a ‘Clearinghouse’ e.g. brokering collaborations and sharing learnings about external grantmaking that can benefit all Wikimedia communities.
- Matchmaking funders with researchers for funding - finding coincidences of wants to fund research of interest to both parties.
- Host online virtual coffees to meet and discuss specific funding opportunities.
- Workload: 2 days per week for both grant participants i.e., read proposal, develop feedback.
- Submitting a good grant = 2-3 months full time depending on size and complexity.
Work Package 3 (WP3): Dissemination & Impact This package emphasizes the dissemination of project outcomes and the promotion of awareness across diverse audiences. Activities include presentations at Wikimania, regional WikiWorkshops, and disciplinary conferences. Through these efforts, the project shares lessons learned, resources, and best practices, extending its reach and impact within both the Wikimedia and broader academic communities.
Task 3.1 – Presentation at Wikimania Events Task 3.2 – Presentation at WikiWorkshop for researchers Task 3.3 – Presentation at disciplinary conferences
Overall, too many funding opportunities in the broader grant landscape are going untapped by Wikimedia communities. Without greater education, shared knowledge, and support in navigating these processes, valuable resources continue to be left on the table and many Wikimedia projects remain unpotentiated due to lack of time or resources. Our project addresses this gap by equipping contributors with the tools, strategies, and collaborations they need to successfully compete for and secure external funding—turning missed opportunities into sustained growth for the movement.
We believe initiating these actions, making people aware of the opportunities, and brokering these collaborations will have a strong positive effect on the community.
This project meets the Strategy 2030 and Wikimedia Community goals by helping people get credit and resources for the work that they are doing. More than this, the goal is to help WikiCommunities bring in additional resources so that they can do more work.
This grant benefits the community by developing capability to get outside grants, thus also easing the budget problems that are occurring. This project is conceived of as a part of a larger initiative to ease the budget constraints of the foundation, especially by building capacity for Wiki organizations to seek and get funding from outside organizations.
The project will support communities that may have funding problems especially now. The goal of this project is to help underserved communities in terms of the funding landscape get training and resources that they need, especially from larger state funding. Especially with the recent funding problems as caused by the recent administration, the goal of this grant is to help teams move to more stable and larger state funding agencies, especially in developing regions.
- 9. What categories are your main programs and related activities under? Please select all that apply. (required)
| Category | Yes/No |
|---|---|
| Education | No |
| Culture, heritage or GLAM | No |
| Gender and diversity | No |
| Community support and engagement | Yes |
| Participation in campaigns and contests | No |
| Public policy advocacy | No |
| Other | Yes |
Community support and engagement
- 9.4. Select all your programs and activities for Community support and engagement.
- Off-wiki training of community members, Organizing meetups, conferences, and community events, Supporting community members' participation in events and conferences, Offering non financial support and services to community members (equipment, space, books, etc.), Other
- Other programs and activities if any: Grantmaking literacy, support, and capacity
Other categories
Grantmaking literacy, support, and capacity
- 10. Please include a link to or upload a timeline (operational calendar) for your programs and activities. (required)
- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jDuM_g_szxs0CJ1JcHmEOPPvzQsbaDz8jahsElJ2riU/edit?usp=sharing
- 11. Describe your team. (required)
Matthew Vetter (PI/Co-Lead) Matthew Vetter is a Professor of English at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and chair of the CCCC Wikipedia Initiative and WikiProject Writing. His research focuses on Wikipedia-based education, Wikimedia policy, and the intersections of generative AI and writing. Vetter has published widely on the role of Wikimedia in higher education and serves as co-editor of the open access textbook series Writing Spaces and chair of the CCCC Wikipedia Initiative, which promotes Wikipedia literacy and contribution among writing studies specialists. He has also been an active Wikimedia volunteer for over a decade, teaching for popular community organizations such as Wiki Education and running multiple training and edit-a-thon sessions for academic communities. More than anything, he has been an active promoter of the free knowledge movement in the postsecondary educational sphere. From 2021 to 2025, Vetter served on the Wikimedia Regional Grants Committee for North America, giving him extensive experience with Wikimedia funding processes and community priorities. He currently is a member of the Global Resources Distribution Committee, which sets the resource distribution strategy and policy for grantmaking across the movement. Within this project, he will co-lead the grant, mentor community members in proposal development, and host regular learning and organizing sessions. His role is part-time salaried effort through the grant.
Brett Buttliere (PI/Co-Lead) Brett Buttliere is an Assistant Professor at the University of Warsaw, Institute of Europe and the Americas, and member of the Science of Science Lab. His research focuses on digital infrastructures for science, open knowledge, and community engagement. In recent years, he has become an advocate for deeper collaboration between Wikimedia and the scientific community, leading efforts such as the development of Wikimedia Impact Metrics, the Wikimedia Impact Tracker, and the Wikimedia Impact Visualizer. Buttliere has also organized multi-national Wikimedia collaborations, including a COST Action proposal that united 19 Wikimedians from 14 countries. Within this project, he will co-lead activities, oversee development of the grant opportunity database, and model grant writing by leading an external proposal submission. His role is part-time salaried effort through the grant.
Advisors / Collaborators
We anticipate including additional advisors with expertise in Wikimedia grantmaking, scientific funding programs, and EU research infrastructure. Advisors will provide guidance, review key deliverables, and help expand networks for collaboration. These roles are expected to be voluntary.
Thus far, Frank Schulenberg of Wiki Education, has agreed to serve as an advisor on the project.
We have an extensive network in the science community, including all of the members of the WikiScience Hub (75+) and the WikiScience COST Action. These are not only target members for the grant, but also a great community of advisors.
Volunteer Contributors In addition to the core team, we expect engagement from Wikimedia volunteers who will participate in the monthly sessions, contribute to the database of opportunities, and lead or co-lead supported grant applications. These contributions will be unpaid/voluntary, but supported by training, mentorship, and the shared resources created by this project.
- 12. Will you be working with any internal (Wikimedia) or external partners? Describe the characteristics of these partnerships and bring a few examples of the most significant partnerships. (required)
Our project will collaborate with both internal Wikimedia partners and external collaborators to expand funding opportunities and strengthen community capacity.
Internal partners include: Let’s Connect – Peer Learning Program: Let’s Connect is a multilingual, community-led initiative that fosters skill-sharing, networking, and capacity-building across 44 countries and 70 language Wikipedias. Through Learning Clinics, Connectathons, and workshops, participants gain training in project management, grantwriting, volunteer engagement, and other essential skills. Partnering with Let’s Connect allows us to leverage their established network, facilitate mentoring, and provide structured support for contributors pursuing external funding opportunities.
Wiki Science Hub: The Science Hub serves as a thematic center for scientific and scholarly Wikimedia activities, supporting affiliates and contributors in finding partners, navigating grants, and standardizing reporting for science-focused initiatives. Collaboration with the Hub connects participants to a global network of scientific contributors and provides guidance for developing cross-institutional, externally funded projects.
External partners will include academic institutions, multilateral funders, and niche grant-making organizations. These relationships expand opportunities beyond Wikimedia Foundation General Support funds, offering mentorship, co-application possibilities, and access to new networks. For example, our prior COST Action initiative successfully mobilized 19 Wikimedians from 14 countries, demonstrating the potential of external collaborations. Together, these partnerships create a layered support system combining community-driven training, thematic expertise, and external funding networks, enabling participants to secure grants while fostering cross-regional collaboration and sustained growth for Wikimedia communities.
- 13. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select all that apply. (required)
- Increase the Sustainability of Our Movement, Invest in Skills and Leadership Development, Manage Internal Knowledge
Metrics
[edit]Wikimedia Metrics
[edit]- 14. Please select and fill out Wikimedia Metrics for your proposal. (recommended)
- 14.1. Number of participants, editors, and organizers.
All metrics provided are optional, please fill them out if they are aligned with your programs and activities.
| Metrics name | Target | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of all participants | 400 | Number of all participants: 300-500
Description: This includes individuals engaged in training workshops, Learning Clinics, Connectathons, and collaborative grant-seeking sessions. Participants may be editors, non-editing contributors, and new or existing Wikimedia community members. |
| Number of all editors | N/A | N/A |
| Number of new editors | N/A | |
| Number of retained editors | N/A | |
| Number of all organizers | N/A | N/A |
| Number of new organizers | N/A |
- 14.2. Number of new content contributions to Wikimedia projects. (recommended)
| Wikimedia project | Created | Edited or improved |
|---|---|---|
| Wikipedia | ||
| Wikimedia Commons | ||
| Wikidata | ||
| Wiktionary | ||
| Wikisource | ||
| Wikimedia Incubator | ||
| Translatewiki | ||
| MediaWiki | ||
| Wikiquote | ||
| Wikivoyage | ||
| Wikibooks | ||
| Wikiversity | ||
| Wikinews | ||
| Wikispecies | ||
| Wikifunctions / Abstract Wikipedia |
- Description for Wikimedia projects contributions metrics. (optional)
Other Metrics
[edit]- 15. Do you have other quantitative and qualitative targets for your project (other metrics)? (required)
- Yes
| Other Metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| Partnerships | Number of partnerships established between Wikimedia communities and external funders (target: 10–15 partnerships) | 15 |
| Grant Proposals | Number of grant proposals submitted by participants following project support (target: 20–30 proposals) | 30 |
| Grantwriting skills | Participant satisfaction and perceived skill improvement measured via post-event surveys (target: 80% of respondents report moderate to significant improvement in grantwriting or collaboration skills) | 80 |
| Database use | Other Metric 4: Focus group interviews with participants related to their uses of the database and its impact on their community. | 2 |
| Database hits | Number of hits to the database link. | 750 |
Budget
[edit]- 16. Will you have any other revenue sources when implementing this proposal (e.g. other funding, membership contributions, donations)? (required)
- No
- 16.1. List other revenue sources. (required)
N/A
- 16.2. Approximately how much revenue will you have from other sources in your local currency? (required)
- N/A
- 17. Your local currency. (required)
- USD
- 18. What is the total requested amount in your local currency? (required)
- 110400 USD
| Year | Amount (local currency) |
|---|---|
| Year 1 | N/A USD |
| Year 2 | N/A USD |
| Year 3 | N/A USD |
- 19. Does this proposal include compensation for staff or contractors? (required)
- Yes
- 19.1. How many paid staff members do you plan to have? (required)
Include the number of staff and contractors during the proposal period. If you have short-term contractors or staff, please include them separately and mention their terms.
- 2
- 19.2. How many FTEs (full-time equivalents) in total? (required)
Include the total FTE of staff and contractors during the proposal period. If you have short-term contractors or staff, please include their FTEs with the terms separately.
- PI Vetter is committing .63 FTE during the spring, summer, and fall breaks throughout the project year. This is time committed outside and beyond his full teaching load.
Dr. Buttliere is expecting to commit between 2 and 3 days a week throughout the project year, thus approximately .5 FTE, with the other portion being in kind matching from the University of Warsaw.
Overall, the project is paying for 1 FTE, including all taxes and relevant social contributions, split between the co-PIs.
- 19.3. Describe any staff or contractor changes compared to the current year / ongoing General Support Fund if any. (required only for returning grantees)
- N/A
- 20. Please provide an overview of your overall budget categories in your local currency. The budget breakdown should include only the amount requested with this General Support Fund (required).
| Budget category | Amount in local currency |
|---|---|
| Staff and contractor costs | 96000 USD |
| Operational costs | 14400 USD |
| Programmatic costs | 110400 USD |
- 21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)
Additional information
[edit]- 22. In this optional space you can add any other additional information about your proposal or organization that you think can help us when reviewing your proposal. (optional)
Original budget document via SharePoint: https://iup0-my.sharepoint.com/:x:/g/personal/mvetter_iup_edu/EXw4QldflTFCmAbrnaIni1sBD0eK2wnU_Rs2W--o2fhaRQ?e=wanW08
By submitting your proposal/funding request you agree that you are in agreement with the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and the Universal Code of Conduct.
We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.
- Yes
Feedback
[edit]- Please add any feedback to the grant discussion page only. Any feedback added here will be removed.
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