Grants talk:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/General Support Fund/Enhancing stability and development. General support grant 2024-2026
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General Support Fund proposal approved in the amount of 1,467,976 PLN[edit]
Congratulations! Your proposal is approved for partial funding over a period of three years in the amount of 1,467,976 PLN with a grant term starting 1 January 2024 and ending 31 December 2026. This total is distributed over three years in the following manner:
- Year 1: 474,935 PLN
- Year 2: 489,183 PLN
- Year 3: 503,858 PLN
This multiyear grant incorporates a 3% budget increase between Year 1 and Year 2, and also between Year 2 and Year 3. You will be able to submit a different budget for Years 2 and 3 when your annual plan and other changes are submitted, but please keep in mind that there are significant growth limitations on the budget for the General Support Fund.
The committee supports funding for Wikimedia Polska over the next three years with the following comments and questions:
- We appreciate that as Wikimedia Polska grows, it is investing in some areas to support its long-term stability, such as auditing support, seeking to split off CEO and COO roles, and seeking additional staffing support to identify and pursue different funding opportunities.
- The committee appreciates the level of detail provided around Wikimedia Poland’s finances overall, especially around its current revenue sources.
- The committee wanted to learn more about an earlier idea from Wikimedia Poland’s regarding an interest in supporting Ukranian refugees around educational needs, which was brought to our attention in 2022. What engagement or efforts (in 2023 or 2022) around education or other programmatic areas has the chapter done related to this community in Poland? Does the chapter expect to continue working with Ukranian refugees during this funding period, and if so, what does this work include?
- We are also glad to see that Wikimedia Poland will continue maintaining its microgrant program. When these programs are scaled and maintained adequately, can often provide many kinds of efficient and targeted support relative to the Rapid Fund program.
- The committee was not able to support the requested level of growth in the proposal. While we understand that this request is partly based on increases in inflation in Poland, and that inflation is an eligible rationale for requesting an increase, the overall budget for funding in the region has grown only about 8.5% overall since last year, and funding growth next year is expected to be even smaller. We also lack sufficient funds to fully cover the recent effects of inflation in the region. The committee stresses the need to 1) prioritize your current budget carefully, 2) prepare subsequent funding requests that are more modest in growth, and 3) continue seeking other funding sources to support additional growth for your organization because this kind of growth will not be possible through the General Support Fund at this time, nor in the near future.
The Regional Committee looks forward to your involvement and support for Wikimania next year in Kraków, but more generally, appreciates your broader support for Wikimedia movement volunteers in Poland and the region.
On behalf of the Regional Committee, I JethroBT (WMF) (talk) 07:49, 28 November 2023 (UTC)