Talk:Wikimedia CH/Call for projects 2017/Kiwix training in Senegal

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Hi Gabe, I think this is a great project focusing on empowerment with the trining of local contributors and I, as a wikipedian and member of WMCH fully support it! --Nattes à chat (talk) 09:27, 24 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you. I think that I have just about finished editing my project proposal and am now waiting to see how it goes. GastelEtzwane (talk) 13:03, 24 August 2016 (UTC)[reply]

WMCH project submission feedback[edit]

Dear GastelEtzwane,

Thank you very much for participating in the Wikimedia CH call for projects 2017! We truly appreciate the time and effort spent for submitting your ideas.

The WMCH team has carefully examined your request for project funding. In order to be fully transparent, we provide answers on the discussion pages directly within a given project’s submission page, so that the community can access all the information.

Unfortunately, we did not receive any formal metrics from past editions of this interesting project from you, although having asked for it on several occasions. We also tried to look up your report following your Rapid Grant request but were unable to find it. Under these circumstances, we therefore felt that it was difficult for us to assess your request and give it due consideration, as some elements stayed unclear. We did not understand for instance, who - during the 8 months project time frame - would receive the coordination fee and what particular competencies this person should bring in accordance to the specific job description of deploying Kiwix in Senegal.

We were also missing detailed SMART goals (which we need to report back to the WMF) that the project would reach, such as for example the number of schools targeted or an average number of students that would be directly concerned by the project. Unfortunately, this left us with little visibility on the project’s actual impact.

We finally came to the conclusion, that although very interesting, we could not at this point include your project into our annual plan for 2017 and propose it for funding to the WMF as we would need more specific and concrete information before being able to do so.

However, WMCH would be glad help your project through a micro-grant application, should you wish to submit one. We would equally be happy to help you with a Rapid Grant application for the Wikimedia Foundation should you wish to submit one this year, supporting your request and informing the local community of your initiative.

Many thanks for your involvement in the Wikimedia movement!

Thanking you again for your submission, we remain at your disposal should you have further questions.

Kindly,

Wikimedia CH

--Gabrielle Marie WMCH (talk) 14:09, 10 October 2016 (UTC) on behalf of the WMCH team[reply]

Well, thank you for this answer. As you know, the start of the school year is a very busy time for me, I was unfortunately unable to provide the answers you were expecting. I will now look into our past communications and endeavor to fulfill your requests.
I understand that it probably is too late to include this project in your 2017 annual plan which is quite unfortunate. I must say that there was very little feedback on my proposal, and WMCH certainly did not provide me with any assistance in meeting their requirements. I have repeatedly said that I need some support for this bureaucratic aspect of grant proposals, and that I was hoping that the WMCH staff could help me out in this respect. You know that I did not request the funding for one of my previous projects - Wikimedia_CH/Micro_Grant/Plug_Kiwix_for_Kocc_Barma_school_(Thiès,_Sénégal) - for the simple reason that I felt that I had not done adequate reporting. The "Micro Grant" was approved, the work was done in Senegal, my money was spent, but I did not ask for any reimbursement nor did I receive any.
I will continue to apply for Grants as I feel that the work I do corresponds to some of the Wikimedia Foundation's goals. I am not a millionaire, so I will not be able to keep on funding these projects out of my own pocket. I also hope that WMCH will not try to claim credit for the volunteer work that I am doing and funding on my own. I no longer feel that it is appropriate under these conditions for WMCH to include my projects in their metrics, whether it be what I do in Senegal or in the local Swiss schools and teacher training courses.
Best regards, GastelEtzwane (talk) 15:30, 11 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]
Thank you for your answer. Unfortunately we have to take the WMF deadlines into account as we have to submit our annual plan and budget to the foundation by the end of September each year. As in turn, our submissions need to be approved by the board of the association, WMCH had to take a collective decision at the beginning of September on which projects to fund and why.
In preparation for this decision, several calls took place with concerned staff at the Wikimedia Foundation and a specific meta link was sent to you to provide you information about the metric requirements. For your information, please consult the WMF’s requests concerning metrics via this page.
With the resources it has, WMCH does its very best to accommodate requests of each member of the community and steering people through the right channels. Unfortunately we cannot change the deadlines imposed on us by Foundation with regard to the fundraising process.
Please take a look at the first assessment WMCH received from the Wikimedia Foundation through this link. Being a former Board Member, you will directly be able to understand the challenge that WMCH faces: high costs versus an impact which is not yet as high as we would hope for. In order to receive better comments, WMCH will now even more have to look into metrics and impact, so that we don’t run into the risk of not receiving funding anymore.
To make things easier, WMF provides access to grants to individual volunteers who wish to have their projects supported financially. Kiwix for example also went down that route, applying for a WMF grant. Let us reiterate that WMCH would be more than happy to also support your grant requests to the Foundation, if you wish to submit a project. WMCH’ micro-grant programme also provides opportunity for funding.
In future and based on our recent WMF assessment, we intend to be very clear and transparent on funding processes. Grants given out will be even more so tied to reports and metrics so that we can concretely document the impact our funding has.
Another idea creation workshop and call for projects will be set up in 2018. We would be happy to consider your submission at that point in time.
Many thanks and looking forward to future interactions. This answer is the work of the WMCH team and is submitted by Gabrielle Marie WMCH (talk) 13:16, 17 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]
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