Talk:Wikimedia CEE Hub/Microgrants

Attitude of User:TRistovski-CEEhub and the lackness competence

I just received an e-mail from User:TRistovski-CEEhub regarding the rejection of my microgrant application by saying that "you will be only user responsible for the project, which we mentioned in our Meta page, that we are not funding projects without community involvement (we are considering them as a personal grant)". It's clearly said that "My idea is that to "pay a little amount per page" so people can actually go and get those scans and do a good job". And my team is described as "Just me, and some participants from the Turkish Wikipedia community." And then it's said that "Up to 5 editors with that budget". So it's perfectly clear that the community is involved.

The second thing he said that "You are mentioning prizes and awards for the contributors, but we are missing details about your idea of that and especially details about how this will be conducted". It's written on the application page that there "Contributers will be paid per scanned page". "€400.00" is asked for this and the output is "800 scanned pages". So it's also mentioned.

In the following e-mails that I recieved, he keeps saying "contest" for the project, regardless that I specifically wrote on the application that "The output of the project is 100% certain because it's not a contest so I don't have to give an approximate figure." He also claims that "I spent much more time arguing with me than you spent preparing my grant proposal" His job and responsibility is not critisizing my e-mails, but reading properly and understanding grant applications.

So it seems that the person who is responsible of funding grants is not competent to do his responsibility. He asks me to mention about the things that I already mentioned and keeps using inappropriate words to describe the project. Nanahuatl (talk) 21:09, 12 February 2026 (UTC)

@Nanahuatl is a long-time contributor to Wikimedia projects, and he is a reliable contributor. I do not support @TRistovski-CEEhub's decision and I do not think that he is competent at evaluating grant requests.

For example, he approved @On11oniki's grant request, but the requester misused the grant (700 EURO) and did not create any project. I texted Toni for asking our community's point of views about these kinds of grant requests but he did not ask again.

We need to support reliable users, that's it. Kadı Message 09:26, 13 February 2026 (UTC)

Good morning to you,

As Toni's manager, I would like to clarify that the CEE hub's review of your proposal was conducted in line with the Microgrant programme guidelines and based solely on the information provided in the application you sent. The decision not to fund the proposal at this stage reflects our assessment that certain required elements (particularly clearer structure of community involvement, implementation process of the activity ) were not sufficiently detailed for funding approval. This is a standard part of our evaluation process and is applied equally to all applicants.

The decision not to fund the proposal at this stage reflects our assessment that certain required elements (particularly clearer structure of community involvement, implementation process of the activity ) were not sufficiently detailed for funding approval. This is a standard part of our evaluation process and is applied equally to all applicants.

Hereby I also wish to address the tone of your recent correspondence (both via emails you are sending to Toni and here on Meta). Constructive and respectful communication is essential for us to be able to engage productively with applicants and community members. Please keep in mind that your personal remarks about perceived staff competence, although these can be your opinion, should be voiced in a professional way, respecting UCoC as well.

As already explained by Toni, you remain welcome to:

a) Submit a revised application with additional detail addressing the points raised during the review, or

b) Use the formal appeal process outlined on Meta if you believe the decision should be reconsidered.

Should you decide not to pursue either option, we respect your decision and thank you for your interest in the Microgrant programme.

In the meantime, I encourage you to read our 2025 Micro-grant report, which may serve as a source of inspiration. This report will be accessible on the CEE Hub's Meta page soon.

Best wishes, BKlen-CEEhub (talk) 10:58, 13 February 2026 (UTC)

Hi @BKlen-CEEhub:. I made another application with the points that you both had mentioned. Regards. Nanahuatl (talk) 06:21, 16 February 2026 (UTC)