Grants:Project/Example agreements

The Project Grant program ended 30 June 2021. This page is no longer applicable, and for now, remains as a historical reference for the grant agreement template used for the Project Grant program.

For current grant programs, go to Grants:Start.

Purpose and background

These grant agreement examples are provided for information only. They are not intended for use with any specific project or grant, and may not be suitable for the needs of other projects or organizations. These examples do no constitute a grant offer or legal advice. If you receive a grant offer from the Wikimedia Foundation, Wikimedia Foundation will contact you at that time to provide an appropriate grant agreement specific to your project and your organization. While these examples are updated regularly, minor changes do sometimes occur. If you have concerns, you may need to contact the WMF Grants Administrator for the most current version of this example.

These documents are used by WMF to make project-specific grants awarded through Project Grant program. They are intended for international use. These agreements are significantly different from the agreements used by WMF to make general support grants or travel reimbursements. They outline specific project goals and activities in an Appendix, and grantees are required to stick to their budgets and report or request permission for any significant changes to their budgets. Reporting and payment schedules are defined more generally in these agreements in order to allow for more flexibility in the grantmaking process. Therefore, your program officer or grants administrator will work with you to define these details more specifically at the time your grant is processed.

Grants awarded through the quarterly rounds of funding for the Project Grant program generally have these requirements:

• They all require grantees to use funds for charitable and educational activities, and they all prohibit using funds for lobbying, support of political candidates or campaigns, voter registration drives, or other propaganda.
• They all name a grantee, a grant amount, a grant term and an effective date and they all outline the specific purposes of the grant in an appendix. Grantees need to use grant funds for the purposes described and are required to report financial variances of 20% or greater (or any other threshold defined by WMF) to WMF.
• They all require you to submit a brief monthly update within fifteen (15) days of the end of each month during your grant term.
• They all require you to submit a midpoint report to WMF 15 days after the midpoint of your grant term.
• They all require you to submit a final report to WMF 30 days after the conclusion of the grant term and to maintain accurate and detailed records about your use of the grant money (for 4 years after the conclusion of the grants term).
• They all require return of excess funds within 30 days of the conclusion of the grant term.
• They all have a payment schedule of two installments, with the second installment dependent on WMF's receipt, review, and acceptance of your midpoint report.

At the same time, individuals, groups, organizations, and fiscal sponsors may need to use different types of grant agreements even if they are awarded grants through the same program or process. Responsibilities may be different for groups, organizations and individuals. Here is a table outlining the key differences between the four types of project grants: grants to individuals, grants to groups, grants to organizations, and fiscal sponsorships.

Types of Project grant agreements

This summary is not a legal document, and you will need to consult the terms of your own grant agreement to understand the requirements with your grant.

Key difference	Project grants to individuals	Project grants to groups	Project grants to organizations	Fiscal sponsorships
Re-granting permitted with WMF approval	No	Yes	Yes	Only to the grantee
Separate bookkeeping account required	No	No	Yes	Yes
No commingling of Grantee's personal funds with the Grant funds required	As instructed by WMF	Yes	N/A	N/A
Joint account required	No	Yes	No	No
Bank account statement required	No	As instructed by WMF	No	No
Changes to individuals with access to grant funds	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Changes to leadership (board, staff, key personnel)	No	Yes	Yes	Yes
Potential or actual legal or regulatory actions related to the grant	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Potential or actual legal or regulatory actions related to the grantee	No	Yes	Yes	Yes