Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Wiki Loves Monuments 2025 in the United States (ID: 23481689)
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Applicant Details
[edit]- Main Wikimedia username. (required)
johnsearsmedia
- Organization
N/A
- If you are a group or organization leader, board member, president, executive director, or staff member at any Wikimedia group, affiliate, or Wikimedia Foundation, you are required to self-identify and present all roles. (required)
N/A
- Describe all relevant roles with the name of the group or organization and description of the role. (required)
Main Proposal
[edit]- 1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be the Meta-Wiki page title.
Wiki Loves Monuments 2025 in the United States
- 2. and 3. Proposed start and end dates for the proposal.
2025-08-31 - 2026-03-31
- 4. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required)
United States of America
- 5. Are your activities part of a Wikimedia movement campaign, project, or event? If so, please select the relevant project or campaign. (required)
Wiki Loves Monuments
- 6. What is the change you are trying to bring? What are the main challenges or problems you are trying to solve? Describe this change or challenges, as well as main approaches to achieve it. (required)
Wiki Loves Monuments is an annual photography campaign and contest that focuses on gathering photos of registered historical sites from all around the world. From the official "about us" page, "Cultural heritage is an important part of the knowledge Wikipedia collects and disseminates...An image is worth a thousand words, in every language at once and local enthusiasts can (re)discover the cultural, historical, or scientific significance of their neighborhood."
The first challenge we aim to tackle for Wiki Loves Monuments in the United States is improving our photographic coverage of historic sites, as we do every year. In the United States, the National Register of Historic Places is the main national register with over 80,000 listings. On the English Wikipedia, WikiProject National Register of Historic Places tracks what percent of NRHP sites have been illustrated on Wikipedia, which is currently at 86% as of June 2025. Beyond the national register, however, are hundreds of thematic and geographic registries on the national, state, and local levels that catalog thousands of additional historic sites that can be illustrated by contest participants. Wiki Loves Monuments in the United States has a guide for finding historic sites across the country through these various federated registries.
The second challenge we aim to tackle is the onboarding of new Wikimedia contributors. Several Wikimedia projects, including the English Wikipedia, have more or less stagnated in the number of active editors. Especially with the rise of AI and Wikipedia losing human traffic, more than ever do we need to tap into creative ways to bring on new Wikimedia contributors. Bringing photographers to contribute to Commons is one way to onboard new contributors in a fun and relatively easy manner. In fact, roughly 70%-90% of participants to Wiki Loves Monuments in the US each year are brand new registrants, making it an effective way to introduce people to contributing to Wikimedia. Once a new user has contributed to Wiki Loves Monuments, we can continue to invite them to participate in future Wiki Loves events, and hopefully encourage long-term contributions across Wikimedia projects.
A third challenge and goal for us, particular to this year, is to really push Wiki Loves Monuments in the United States to its greater potential. The United States has participated in Wiki Loves Monuments eleven times (2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024). A directory of past events can be found at wikilovesmonuments.us. Together, these contests have resulted in over 80,000 photo uploads of historic sites across the country. However, over the last several years, Wiki Loves Monuments in the United States, while successful, has been relatively limited in scope as only the necessities were done (setting up the event, monitoring uploads, running the judging process, and distributing the prizes). This was mainly due to the team's limited capacity and a lack of a large Wikimedia affiliate backing the event (many other national Wiki Loves Monuments campaigns have the backing of national-level chapters, which the U.S. lacks). However, there is plenty of potential for expansion. This year, we are expanding the WLM-US team to increase capacity, better promote the event, and organize collaborations with Wikimedia affiliates and third-party organizations. Combined with a bigger budget ask for organizing and events with affiliates, we plan to really push the event forward to attain greater results.
- 7. What are the planned activities? (required) Please provide a list of main activities. You can also add a link to the public page for your project where details about your project can be found. Alternatively, you can upload a timeline document. When the activities include partnerships, include details about your partners and planned partnerships.
During the month of October, Wikimedians and the general public will be invited to upload their photos of historic sites in the United States to the Wikimedia Commons. The primary method to attract participants will be a central notice across Wikimedia sites. We will also do promotion via social media and collaborating with external organizations, such as historical societies.
We will have an event page, similar to our 2024 event page, that has information and instructions for participating. We have state-level guides and the Wiki Loves Monuments Map to help people find historic sites across the country. After October, we will have a jury of 10-15 judges who will determine the top-10 photos for the contest, in a process similar to our 2024 judging.
New for 2025 are prize categories that are meant to encourage more coverage and more engagement. In addition to the typical top-10 winners we select, we plan for at least the following new categories:
- Best and most photos of places that did not previously have photos on Wikimedia Commons
- Best drone shot or unusual vantage point
- Best indigenous historic site
The goal of these prizes is to increase contributions that help fill in gaps and increase diversity in coverage, and to encourage more novel ways to photograph historic monuments. Other national WLM competitions have done similar prizes in the past, such as Ireland providing prizes for the best photo of a previously unphotographed site per province. As with every year, the winners will receive gift card prizes and certificates, and the top-10 will be submitted to the Wiki Loves Monuments international jury.
We would also like to give small grants of $250-$500 to affiliates and other wiki groups across the United States, to organize local WLM and photo-themed events, especially smaller ones and developing groups (like in Texas). These events can be photo walks (to photograph historic sites together), or edit-a-thons to create and edit articles on historic sites, and to add photos of historic sites to Wikipedia articles. We will also encourage these groups to collaborate with their local historical societies and other similar groups to help promote the campaign. Particular to the United States are its numerous user groups that vary in activity levels; Wiki Loves Monuments can be a great opportunity for these groups to increase engagement with their local communities.
With a larger organizing team this year, we also plan to make a more concerted effort to promote the event via social media and by reaching out to historic societies and similar groups to help promote the event. Our increased capacity also means we can dedicate more effort to updating our state guides for helping participants find local historical sites to photograph.
- 8. Describe your team. Please provide their roles, Wikimedia Usernames and other details. (required) Include more details of the team, including their roles, usernames, Wikimedia group, and whether they are salaried, volunteers, consultants/contractors, etc. Team members involved in the grant application need to be aware of their involvement in the project.
- John Sears (User:Johnsearsmedia): John Sears is a Brooklyn-based documentary filmmaker and photographer, as well as an enthusiastic WikiPortraits contributor. Originally from the mountain west and armed with a B.A. In Media Arts from the University of Arizona, John has earned credits across a wide range of disciplines, including directing non-profit short docs, independent feature documentaries, and photographing for WikiPortraits the 2024 Nobel Laureates in Stockholm and the American Association for the Advancement of Sciences conference.
- Bea Phi (User:Phibeatrice): Bea is an active Wikipedian trained through the Wikimedia Immersive Training in the summer of 2024. Since then, they have singlehandedly written over 345 original articles from scratch, placing them in the top 2500 of Wikipedians ranked by article count in history within one year of training. Their articles are mostly concentrated in the areas of literature, film, and music—specifically with regard to the Asian diaspora—as well as the relevant areas, here, of contemporary art and architecture. In May 2025, they were named an Editor of the Week. Outside of Wikipedia, they have worked in archival and database roles for arts nonprofits including the Asian American Writers’ Workshop, Poets & Writers, BOMB Magazine, and others.
- Kevin Payravi (User:SuperHamster): Kevin is a longtime Wikimedia contributor, having joined in 2007. In addition to day-to-day editing, Kevin has helped lead and run Wiki Loves Monuments in the United States since 2016. For 2025, Kevin will be playing a more minor role than prior years, mainly focusing on on-wiki tasks and tech. Over the years, Kevin has also, helped organize WikiConference North America, Wikipedia Asian Month, and WikiPortraits. Kevin also co-founded the Ohio Wikimedians User Group and serves on the board of Wikimedia DC.
- Laura Soito (User:Quercusechinus): Laura is a librarian at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and enjoys working with community partners to organize local Wiki events. Laura has also helped run Wiki Loves Monuments in the United States since 2016.
- Timothy Holdiness (User:Ktkvtsh): Timothy is a contributor to both Wikipedia and the Wikimedia Commons, and has helped organize Wiki Loves Monuments in the United States since 2023.
- 9. Who are the target participants and from which community? How will you engage participants before and during the activities? How will you follow up with participants after the activities? (required)
Wiki Loves Monuments in the United States is of interest to anyone who has any combination of interest in photography, history, and free media. This event naturally targets people in the United States, but we have also attracted contributors from other countries who have visited the United States and photographed historic sites.
The main driver to the event is our central notice that runs across Wikimedia projects. Visitors to Wikimedia sites will see a banner inviting them to upload their photos and participate in the contest. Secondary ways to attract participants is mass-messaging previous participants; promoting on our social media profiles; and working with Wikimedia affiliates and external organizations (such as local historic sites) to promote the event.
Participants will be updated after the event via mass-message on-wiki, to thank them for their participation, inform them of the results of the contest, and invite them to participate next year.
The small grants to local user groups across the country, especially new ones (like in Texas), will help engage people locally. Again, if it is too short notice for groups to do something during the actual month, the small grants can then be used for any photo event that improves Commons.
- 10. Does your project involve work with children or youth? (required)
No
- 10.1. Please provide a link to your Youth Safety Policy. (required) If the proposal indicates direct contact with children or youth, you are required to outline compliance with international and local laws for working with children and youth, and provide a youth safety policy aligned with these laws. Read more here.
N/A
- 11. How did you discuss the idea of your project with your community members and/or any relevant groups? Please describe steps taken and provide links to any on-wiki community discussion(s) about the proposal. (required) You need to inform the community and/or group, discuss the project with them, and involve them in planning this proposal. You also need to align the activities with other projects happening in the planned area of implementation to ensure collaboration within the community.
Wiki Loves Monuments in the United States is a near-annual event since 2012. Over the years, our event has developed as a result of input from various groups, including the international Wiki Loves Monuments team, the Wikimedia Commons community, our judges, and our participants.
We have also engaged photographers who are involved in the WikiPortraits community. While many people enjoy the "live" aspect of photographing events, others prefer a more leisurely pace, which Wiki Loves Monuments allows.
- 12. Does your proposal aim to work to bridge any of the content knowledge gaps (Knowledge Inequity)? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)
Not applicable
- 13. Does your proposal include any of these areas or thematic focus? Select one option that most applies to your work. (required)
Not applicable
- 14. Will your work focus on involving participants from any underrepresented communities? Select one option that most apply to your work. (required)
Not applicable
- 15. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select one that most applies. (required)
I do not know
Learning and metrics
[edit]- 17. What do you hope to learn from your work in this project or proposal? (required)
We always learn new things with each run of the contest, including:
- Learning about hundreds of historic sites and which ones still need to be documented
- Learning about new cultural heritage organizations and their registries
- Learning about the types of historic sites people are interested in, based on what is submitted and used across Wikimedia sites
- Ways that people are interested in both capturing and consuming historical and cultural heritage, particularly in the context of current events
- New and growing technologies that are being used to capture historic sites (e.g. drones, panoramas, photo spheres, etc.)
We also want to see if providing funding in a coordinated campaign across the country with local user groups can spark more local engagement.
- 18. What are your Wikimedia project targets in numbers (metrics)? (required)
| Other Metrics | Target | Optional description |
|---|---|---|
| Number of participants | 500 | Wiki Loves Monuments' participation each year can vary widely, from as few as ~260 participants to nearly 2,000. The primary driver of participation is the central notice banner; the frequency with which the banner is configured to appear, as well as if there are other concurrent banners running, can greatly influence the number of participants we get.
For 2025, we will aim for 500 participants. This is up from our ~380 participants last year, but slightly less than our ~590 participants in 2021. Note that the reduction of Wiki Loves Monuments visibility on the central banner has led to a decline in participants since 2019. As a result, In addition to the central notice banner, we plan to put more effort into promoting the campaign via mass-messaging past participants, posting on relevant WikiProject talk pages, and our collaboration with affiliates in the United States. The upload period will also coincide with WikiConference North America 2025 in New York City, where we can promote the campaign. Through these efforts, we believe we can bring participation back up to at least 500. Our number of editors is the same as the number of participants, as participation in the event means contributing a photo to the Wikimedia Commons. |
| Number of editors | 500 | Our number of editors is the same as the number of participants, as participation in the event means contributing a photo to the Wikimedia Commons. |
| Number of organizers | 4 | We expect ~4 core organizers, as well as a jury of ~10-15 members. |
| Wikimedia project | Number of content created or improved |
|---|---|
| Wikipedia | |
| Wikimedia Commons | 5000 |
| Wikidata | |
| Wiktionary | |
| Wikisource | |
| Wikimedia Incubator | |
| Translatewiki | |
| MediaWiki | |
| Wikiquote | |
| Wikivoyage | |
| Wikibooks | |
| Wikiversity | |
| Wikinews | |
| Wikispecies | |
| Wikifunctions or Abstract Wikipedia |
- Optional description for content contributions.
5000 new photos
- 19. Do you have any other project targets in numbers (metrics)? (optional)
No
| Main Open Metrics | Description | Target |
|---|---|---|
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
- 20. What tools would you use to measure each metrics? Please refer to the guide for a list of tools. You can also write that you are not sure and need support. (required)
Not sure and will need support.
Financial proposal
[edit]- 21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)
- 22. and 22.1. What is the amount you are requesting for this proposal? Please provide the amount in your local currency. (required)
5000 USD
- 22.2. Convert the amount requested into USD using the Oanda converter. This is done only to help you assess the USD equivalent of the requested amount. Your request should be between 500 - 5,000 USD.
5000 USD
- We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.
Yes
Endorsements and Feedback
[edit]Please add endorsements and feedback to the grant discussion page only. Endorsements added here will be removed automatically.
Community members are invited to share meaningful feedback on the proposal and include reasons why they endorse the proposal. Consider the following:
- Stating why the proposal is important for the communities involved and why they think the strategies chosen will achieve the results that are expected.
- Highlighting any aspects they think are particularly well developed: for instance, the strategies and activities proposed, the levels of community engagement, outreach to underrepresented groups, addressing knowledge gaps, partnerships, the overall budget and learning and evaluation section of the proposal, etc.
- Highlighting if the proposal focuses on any interesting research, learning or innovation, etc. Also if it builds on learning from past proposals developed by the individual or organization, or other Wikimedia communities.
- Analyzing if the proposal is going to contribute in any way to important developments around specific Wikimedia projects or Movement Strategy.
- Analysing if the proposal is coherent in terms of the objectives, strategies, budget, and expected results (metrics).