Grants talk:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/General Support Fund/Zambia’s Wikimedia Knowledge Without Borders Project 2026

-Feedback regarding your application-

Dear Wikimedia Zambia,

Thank you very much for your application and we appreciate that your grant application works with the wikimedia mission and has advocacy on open knowledge and inclusion. We also noticed that the knowledge equity dimension is appropriately considered in the activities, content and target groups.

The WMF Community Resources team and the Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Funds Committee have convened to review your application and we have the following points for feedback before reaching a final decision. Upon reviewing your application, we would like to bring your attention to a number of points:

- The Committee is asking why you did not use the Foundation template for your application? Your proposal is difficult to read and understand. Can peer support from Wikimedia Botswana or South Africa help you re-work your application using the Foundation template and providing clear and relevant information?

- The Committee also noticed that the proposed timeline is unclear and vague. Eg. - Campaign activities are planned for each quarter. The next quarter the same campaign is continuing. How can you explain this approach?

- Finally the Committee noticed that the number of articles are planning to create per year (50 articles) is very small for a general support funding.

The Committee recommends that you re-submit a new application using the formal template shared by the Foundation.

Thank you very much, and please feel free to share your feedback in this discussion page by Sunday, November 9, 2025 at 12 PM UTC.

Wishing you the best of luck.

On behalf of the WMF Community Resources team and the SSA Regional Funding Committee, WBuloso-WMF (talk) 18:24, 31 October 2025 (UTC)

Hi @WBuloso-WMF, Thank you for the feedback and guidance. Please find our responses below:

We acknowledge that the initial submission did not follow the Foundation’s standard template. It was initially difficult to explain the format to some of our team members, so we first drafted a version for internal understanding before transferring the content to the official template. This was an oversight on our part, and we take full responsibility. We have now redone the budget using the Foundation’s standard Google Sheet template.

We also acknowledge and apologize for the vague timeline in the original proposal. The continuous scheduling of “campaign activities” across quarters is a deliberate strategic choice aimed at maximizing both content output and community engagement. This approach reflects the inherently overlapping nature of major Wikimedia campaigns and the practical realities of coordinating them. For example, Wiki Loves Earth (typically June–July) naturally overlaps with the preparation and follow-up required for Wiki Loves Monuments (typically September–October). Each quarter maintains active momentum — one quarter focuses on campaign launch and execution, while the next emphasizes essential follow-up activities such as judging, categorization, content integration, and reporting. This structure ensures continuous community involvement throughout the year while optimizing resources and maintaining quality outcomes.

Our initial target of 50 articles was a strategic choice focused on quality and mentorship-driven editing. The emphasis was on developing new editors and improving the depth and reliability of existing content rather than prioritizing volume alone. Nonetheless, we acknowledge the importance of demonstrating broader content impact. We will review and adjust this target upward in the revised application. Our commitment is to set a more ambitious yet sustainable goal for new article creation that aligns with the scale of general support funding and reflects the full scope of our activities.

I submit this for the Committee’s consideration.

Isaac Kanguya✌ (talk) 09:44, 9 November 2025 (UTC)