[Wikimedia-l] Wikimedia Foundation Form 990 for FY 2019-2020 and FAQs now on-wiki

[Jaime Villagomez]

Hello everyone,


The Wikimedia Foundation has submitted our annual Form 990 for the Fiscal
Year 2019-20 to the US Internal Revenue Service
 (IRS) and posted
on-wiki[1]. The Form 990 is the annual financial reporting, known as an
“information return,” which the IRS requires nonprofit organizations in the
United States to file.



In addition to posting the Form 990 on-wiki, we have also posted an
accompanying page with answers to frequently asked questions related to the
form and information we reported.[2]



Here are a few key highlights on this year’s Form 990:



-  The Wikimedia Foundation's total revenue for fiscal year
2019-2020 was US $124.6 million. Our total expenses during this period were
US $112.2 million and our total net assets at the end of the fiscal year
were US $180.3 million.

-  At the end of our fiscal year 2019-2020, our revenue exceeded our
expenses by US $12.5 million, which increased our operating reserve to
$179.7 million, or the equivalent of 19-20 months of expenses per the
fiscal year 2020-2021 annual plan
.
As reported under our prior Form 990, we have been maintaining the
operating reserve at 17-18 months.  Our goal is to have sufficient reserve
funds to conservatively provide at least 12-18 months of operating expenses
in order to mitigate against unforeseen risk, secure operational stability,
and ensure the overall financial health of the organization, in particular,
with the COVID-19 pandemic which brings a significant amount of volatility
and uncertainty for a majority of businesses, including non-profit
organizations. This principle is consistent with many other financially
stable, non-profit organizations that are rated by Charity Navigator
. With a stable and secure reserve, we
have the ability to fund specific Wikimedia Movement investment
opportunities that may arise.

-  During the fiscal year 2019-2020, we continued to experience
growth in our fundraising revenue and success that was attributed to our
fundraising campaigns.

-  We continue to invest in programmatic activities and evaluate to
ensure that our allocation percentage is at or above the standard benchmark
of 65%. During the fiscal year 2019-2020, we invested 75% in programmatic
activities, 14% in Management & General activities, and 11% in fundraising
activities. For fiscal year 2020-2021, we continued to maintain our
commitment to our programmatic activities and projected to invest above the
standard benchmark in our total spending.

-  Our expenses increased due to the investment to support our
medium term plan and priorities, that are outlined in the Annual Plan
.
The major programmatic areas are to evolve our systems and structures and
to grow new contributors and content along with supporting a thriving
movement and global advocacy.

-  Our Governance, Management, and Disclosure practices are
committed to maintaining best practices for non-profit charitable
organizations, we’ve achieved a score of 100% from Charity Navigator for
our accountability and transparency and meet the IRS requirements as
applicable.



Through reports and discussions like these, the Wikimedia Foundation will
continue to strive to provide a responsible level of transparency and
accountability. I imagine there are other questions, and I invite you to
review the on-wiki FAQ[2], or post your questions on the discussion page
should you have any.



Thank you to the Foundation's Audit Committee for their oversight and our
Staff for their work in developing this year's Form 990 and related
communications for filing and public disclosure.



Best Regards and Be Well,

 Jaime





[1] - https://wikimediafoundation.org/about/financial-reports/

[2] -
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/IRS_tax_related_information/2019_Wikimedia_Foundation_Form_990_Frequently_Asked_Questions


Jaime Villagomez

Chief Financial Officer

Wikimedia Foundation 

*Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the
sum of all knowledge. That's our commitment. Donate.
*
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[Wikimedia-l] Re: Announcing The New Grants Strategy for the Wikimedia Foundation

[Satdeep Gill]

Hello all,

This is so amazing to see, Kassia. Especially as someone who was a part of
the Resource Allocation Working Group of the Movement Strategy, this is
definitely a big leap in the right direction for Knowledge Equity. I am
especially excited to see a separate fund for mission-aligned
organizations, which traditionally had to compete with seasoned Wikimedians
or Affiliates.

I would also like to add my 50 cents here regarding the Rapid grants,
though. I completely echo with what Bodhi has said. With the Rapid Fund
having being increased to a limit of 5000 USD, I believe in some regions,
such as South Asia, some intermediate projects can also be executed using
them. As the entire year's plan of certain group was being executed in 2000
USD, with a bigger amount, there is an opportunity for them to potentially
start hiring some paid positions (one or two) along with buying equipment
or renting office spaces, which has traditionally been discouraged under
the previous Rapid Grants, and perhaps that will help prepare them for even
larger grants in the future. So, as Bodhi has already said making the Rapid
Fund as flexible as possible will really help the smaller affiliates to
test and innovate and grow!

Best
Satdeep


On Mon, Jul 19, 2021, 11:20 PM Bodhisattwa Mandal <
bodhisattwa.rg...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Hello,
>
> Thanks for introducing the new grants design.
>
> Coming from a small Indian affiliate trying to sustain ourselves and
> delivering considerable impact even with a very limited capacity for the
> last couple of years, I have some anxiety to share.
>
>
>- The new Rapid Fund (<5000 USD) says it is meant for *short term
>projects*. Till now our user group had planned year long projects and
>applied for Rapid Grants to fund them. So, through this new fund strategy,
>we have to apply for multiple Rapid Fund throughout the year, which would
>be over-burden for our volunteer group. I would request to make Rapid Funds
>as flexible as before to accommodate affiliates like us.
>- General Support Fund, which will happen twice a year for a region,
>will be the only option for us to apply for our bigger or ambitious
>projects, which is fine. But then I need to know, if we have to compete
>with large affiliates/partners in the movement as APG, Simple APG and
>Project Grants are all merged here. I just hope, that it will be not the
>case but if that is so, then I see little chance for smaller affiliates.
>- I would also like to understand the thinking about how the movement
>strategy recommendations will be implemented through this new grants design
>to sustain small (un)registered affiliates or help run their projects,
>which do not have the permission to receive foreign money as an
>organization. What kind of support will be given to them? All Indian
>affiliates fall in this category, so this needs to be clearly answered.
>   - Money fundraised in India is not considered as foreign money.
>   Will that be a procedure to distribute that to the Indian affiliates?
>   - Will CIS-A2K, the non-Wikimedia partner organization of WMF and
>   the only entity in Indian Wikimedia movement to receive foreign money, 
> be
>   asked to implement movement strategy recommendations, so that Indian
>   affiliates can sustain themselves?
>
> Regards,
> Bodhisattwa
> On behalf of West Bengal Wikimedians User Group
>
>
> On Mon, 19 Jul 2021 at 13:45, Mardetanha 
> wrote:
>
>> Can you let us know where the office hours will be held? I don't see any
>> zoom or google meet links provided.
>>
>>
>> Mardetanha
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Jul 19, 2021 at 1:00 AM Tito Dutta  wrote:
>>
>>> Greetings,
>>> Thank you for the update. Currently, I am trying to understand all the
>>> information provided in the pages.
>>> I have started preparing a mapping-table for personal understanding,
>>> might be of some help:
>>> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tRSolGdZ0k9CcTQgfUSCHk1Ypp1iPTTDFnn5WrINp4E/edit?usp=sharing
>>>
>>> Could you kindly point out what is changing or what's new in each
>>> category?
>>> It would also be good to see more details on the Research and Tech grant
>>> and Alliance Grant?
>>>
>>> Thanks for the update once again.
>>> ইতি,/With regards,
>>> টিটো দত্ত/User:Titodutta
>>> (মাতৃভাষা থাক জীবন জুড়ে)
>>>
>>>
>>> শুক্র, ১৬ জুলাই, ২০২১ তারিখে ২:৪৭ AM টায় এ Kassia Echavarri-Queen <
>>> kechavarriqu...@wikimedia.org> লিখেছেন:
>>>
 Dear Wikimedians,

 The Community Resources team is excited to announce on Diff
 
 the launch of the new Wikimedia funding strategy focused on decentralized
 decision-making, regional committees and reaching underrepresented
 communities [1]. Over the last 10 months we have worked together with
 communities to discuss, understand and develop an approach that addresses
 their needs 

[Wikimedia-l] Wikimania 2021 Hackathon and Session Acceptances

[Winnie kabintie]

Dear Community Members,

We are pleased to announce that a hackathon
 will take place on
the first day of Wikimania (August 13th). During the 24 hours covering all
time zones, we aim to provide a space where the technical community as well
as others interested, including newcomers, can gather. We also aim to
onboard people who would like to get involved in Mediawiki development and
the tools ecosystem.

We see Hackathon as a space for experiments. With an open schedule and a
light, self-organized mindset, the hackathon day is the perfect opportunity
for you to try new projects, formats or to gather people and start working
on a new idea.

To learn more about this year’s hackathon, discover how to start a project,
or book a slot in the program, please visit this page:
https://wikimania.wikimedia.org/wiki/2021:Hackathon

If you have any questions, feel free to use the related talk page to
contact the organizing team or join the community conversation on Telegram (see
link ).

Session Submissions Updates

A first round of acceptances for the session submissions have been sent out
already and respective community members notified via email. In response to
so many great submissions, we have largely expanded the available virtual
space at Wikimania. However, this is quite a complex and time-consuming
task. We thank you for your patience and will continue to communicate the
results over the next few days.

Wikimania 2021 Registration is Open. Please register HERE
 if you
haven’t done so already.


Best Wishes,

Winnie Kabintie (User:Ms_Kabintie
), on behalf of the
Wikimania 2021 Core Organizing Team.
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[Wikimedia-l] Re: [Wikimedia Research Showcase] July 21: Effects of campaigns to close content gaps

[Janna Layton]

Hi all,

Just a reminder for our upcoming Research Showcase.

On Thu, Jul 15, 2021 at 4:59 PM Janna Layton  wrote:

> Hello all,
>
> The July Research Showcase will take place on July 21, 16:30 UTC (9:30am
> PT/ 12:30pm ET/ 18:30pm CEST). The theme is the effects of campaigns to
> close content gaps on Wikipedia, and speakers will be Kai Zhu from McGill
> University and Isabelle Langrock from the University of Pennsylvania.
>
> Livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otN3H-hIImQ
>
> Talk 1
> Speaker: Kai Zhu (McGill University, Canada)
> Title: Addressing Information Poverty on Wikipedia
> Abstract: Open collaboration platforms have fundamentally changed the way
> that knowledge is produced, disseminated, and consumed. In these systems,
> contributions arise organically with little to no central governance.
> Although such decentralization provides many benefits, a lack of broad
> oversight and coordination can leave questions of information poverty and
> skewness to the mercy of the system’s natural dynamics. Unfortunately, we
> still lack a basic understanding of the dynamics at play in these systems
> and specifically, how contribution and attention interact and propagate
> through information networks. We leverage a large-scale natural experiment
> to study how exogenous content contributions to Wikipedia articles affect
> the attention that they attract and how that attention spills over to other
> articles in the network. Results reveal that exogenously added content
> leads to significant, substantial, and long-term increases in both content
> consumption and subsequent contributions. Furthermore, we find significant
> attention spillover to downstream hyperlinked articles. Through both
> analytical estimation and empirically informed simulation, we evaluate
> policies to harness this attention contagion to address the problem of
> information poverty and skewness. We find that harnessing attention
> contagion can lead to as much as a twofold increase in the total attention
> flow to clusters of disadvantaged articles. Our findings have important
> policy implications for open collaboration platforms and information
> networks.
>
> Talk 2
> Speaker: Isabelle Langrock (University of Pennsylvania, USA)
> Title: Quantifying and Assessing the Impact of Two Feminist Interventions
> Abstract: Wikipedia has a well-known gender divide affecting its
> biographical content. This bias not only shapes social perceptions of
> knowledge, but it can also propagate beyond the platform as its contents
> are leveraged to correct misinformation, train machine-learning tools, and
> enhance search engine results. What happens when feminist movements
> intervene to try to close existing gaps? In this talk, we present a recent
> study of two popular feminist interventions designed to counteract digital
> knowledge inequality. Our findings show that the interventions are
> successful at adding content about women that would otherwise be missing,
> but they are less successful at addressing several structural biases that
> limit the visibility of women within Wikipedia. We argue for more granular
> and cumulative analysis of gender divides in collaborative environments and
> identify key areas of support that can further aid the feminist movements
> in closing Wikipedia’s gender gaps.
>
> --
> Janna Layton (she/her)
> Administrative Associate - Product & Technology
> Wikimedia Foundation 
>


-- 
Janna Layton (she/her)
Administrative Associate - Product & Technology
Wikimedia Foundation 
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[Wikimedia-l] Re: Announcing The New Grants Strategy for the Wikimedia Foundation

[Bodhisattwa Mandal]

Hello,

Thanks for introducing the new grants design.

Coming from a small Indian affiliate trying to sustain ourselves and
delivering considerable impact even with a very limited capacity for the
last couple of years, I have some anxiety to share.


   - The new Rapid Fund (<5000 USD) says it is meant for *short term
   projects*. Till now our user group had planned year long projects and
   applied for Rapid Grants to fund them. So, through this new fund strategy,
   we have to apply for multiple Rapid Fund throughout the year, which would
   be over-burden for our volunteer group. I would request to make Rapid Funds
   as flexible as before to accommodate affiliates like us.
   - General Support Fund, which will happen twice a year for a region,
   will be the only option for us to apply for our bigger or ambitious
   projects, which is fine. But then I need to know, if we have to compete
   with large affiliates/partners in the movement as APG, Simple APG and
   Project Grants are all merged here. I just hope, that it will be not the
   case but if that is so, then I see little chance for smaller affiliates.
   - I would also like to understand the thinking about how the movement
   strategy recommendations will be implemented through this new grants design
   to sustain small (un)registered affiliates or help run their projects,
   which do not have the permission to receive foreign money as an
   organization. What kind of support will be given to them? All Indian
   affiliates fall in this category, so this needs to be clearly answered.
  - Money fundraised in India is not considered as foreign money. Will
  that be a procedure to distribute that to the Indian affiliates?
  - Will CIS-A2K, the non-Wikimedia partner organization of WMF and the
  only entity in Indian Wikimedia movement to receive foreign
money, be asked
  to implement movement strategy recommendations, so that Indian affiliates
  can sustain themselves?

Regards,
Bodhisattwa
On behalf of West Bengal Wikimedians User Group


On Mon, 19 Jul 2021 at 13:45, Mardetanha  wrote:

> Can you let us know where the office hours will be held? I don't see any
> zoom or google meet links provided.
>
>
> Mardetanha
>
>
> On Mon, Jul 19, 2021 at 1:00 AM Tito Dutta  wrote:
>
>> Greetings,
>> Thank you for the update. Currently, I am trying to understand all the
>> information provided in the pages.
>> I have started preparing a mapping-table for personal understanding,
>> might be of some help:
>> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tRSolGdZ0k9CcTQgfUSCHk1Ypp1iPTTDFnn5WrINp4E/edit?usp=sharing
>>
>> Could you kindly point out what is changing or what's new in each
>> category?
>> It would also be good to see more details on the Research and Tech grant
>> and Alliance Grant?
>>
>> Thanks for the update once again.
>> ইতি,/With regards,
>> টিটো দত্ত/User:Titodutta
>> (মাতৃভাষা থাক জীবন জুড়ে)
>>
>>
>> শুক্র, ১৬ জুলাই, ২০২১ তারিখে ২:৪৭ AM টায় এ Kassia Echavarri-Queen <
>> kechavarriqu...@wikimedia.org> লিখেছেন:
>>
>>> Dear Wikimedians,
>>>
>>> The Community Resources team is excited to announce on Diff
>>> 
>>> the launch of the new Wikimedia funding strategy focused on decentralized
>>> decision-making, regional committees and reaching underrepresented
>>> communities [1]. Over the last 10 months we have worked together with
>>> communities to discuss, understand and develop an approach that addresses
>>> their needs and moves us towards the realization of the 2030 strategic
>>> direction [2]. Thank you for all of your participation to make this a
>>> reality.
>>>
>>> The three new funding programs:
>>>
>>> The Wikimedia Community Fund
>>>
>>>-
>>>
>>>The Community Fund is a unified program with flexible support and
>>>funding for Wikimedians working on knowledge equity aligned with the
>>>movement’s strategic direction.
>>>
>>>
>>> The Wikimedia Alliances Fund
>>>
>>>-
>>>
>>>The Alliances Fund, for mission-aligned organizations in
>>>underrepresented communities who want to collaborate and amplify our 
>>> work.
>>>
>>>
>>> The Wikimedia Research and Technology Fund
>>>
>>>-
>>>
>>>The Research and Technology Fund for improving technology, tools,
>>>and research to nurture a more responsive and accessible environment for
>>>contributions.
>>>
>>>
>>> This people-centred approach is built on the principles of equity &
>>> empowerment, collaboration & cooperation, and the promotion of innovation
>>> and learning.
>>>
>>> Our team has also adapted to provide consistent regional support and the
>>> establishment of a learning mindset for the funding approach. We know this
>>> is just the beginning and it will be an iterative process. As we implement
>>> and learn we will adapt. We also understand the worldwide impact of the
>>> continuing COVID pandemic and our first priority is to be in 

[Wikimedia-l] Re: Announcing The New Grants Strategy for the Wikimedia Foundation

[Mardetanha]

Thanks asaf
Mardetanha


On Mon, Jul 19, 2021 at 9:31 PM Asaf Bartov  wrote:

> The call links were listed in the "Get involved" page (4th link in the
> original post).  Here it is again:
>
>
> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Resources/Grants_Strategy_Relaunch_2020-2021/Get_involved#Office_hours
>
>A.
>
> Asaf Bartov (he/him/his)
>
> Senior Program Officer, Emerging Wikimedia Communities
>
> Wikimedia Foundation 
>
> Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the
> sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality!
> https://donate.wikimedia.org
>
>
> On Mon, Jul 19, 2021 at 11:15 AM Mardetanha 
> wrote:
>
>> Can you let us know where the office hours will be held? I don't see any
>> zoom or google meet links provided.
>>
>>
>> Mardetanha
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Jul 19, 2021 at 1:00 AM Tito Dutta  wrote:
>>
>>> Greetings,
>>> Thank you for the update. Currently, I am trying to understand all the
>>> information provided in the pages.
>>> I have started preparing a mapping-table for personal understanding,
>>> might be of some help:
>>> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tRSolGdZ0k9CcTQgfUSCHk1Ypp1iPTTDFnn5WrINp4E/edit?usp=sharing
>>>
>>> Could you kindly point out what is changing or what's new in each
>>> category?
>>> It would also be good to see more details on the Research and Tech grant
>>> and Alliance Grant?
>>>
>>> Thanks for the update once again.
>>> ইতি,/With regards,
>>> টিটো দত্ত/User:Titodutta
>>> (মাতৃভাষা থাক জীবন জুড়ে)
>>>
>>>
>>> শুক্র, ১৬ জুলাই, ২০২১ তারিখে ২:৪৭ AM টায় এ Kassia Echavarri-Queen <
>>> kechavarriqu...@wikimedia.org> লিখেছেন:
>>>
 Dear Wikimedians,

 The Community Resources team is excited to announce on Diff
 
 the launch of the new Wikimedia funding strategy focused on decentralized
 decision-making, regional committees and reaching underrepresented
 communities [1]. Over the last 10 months we have worked together with
 communities to discuss, understand and develop an approach that addresses
 their needs and moves us towards the realization of the 2030 strategic
 direction [2]. Thank you for all of your participation to make this a
 reality.

 The three new funding programs:

 The Wikimedia Community Fund

-

The Community Fund is a unified program with flexible support and
funding for Wikimedians working on knowledge equity aligned with the
movement’s strategic direction.


 The Wikimedia Alliances Fund

-

The Alliances Fund, for mission-aligned organizations in
underrepresented communities who want to collaborate and amplify our 
 work.


 The Wikimedia Research and Technology Fund

-

The Research and Technology Fund for improving technology, tools,
and research to nurture a more responsive and accessible environment for
contributions.


 This people-centred approach is built on the principles of equity &
 empowerment, collaboration & cooperation, and the promotion of innovation
 and learning.

 Our team has also adapted to provide consistent regional support and
 the establishment of a learning mindset for the funding approach. We know
 this is just the beginning and it will be an iterative process. As we
 implement and learn we will adapt. We also understand the worldwide impact
 of the continuing COVID pandemic and our first priority is to be in
 solidarity and have flexibility with communities around the world.

 The three programs will be introduced in a phased approach throughout
 the year. We will first launch with the Wikimedia Community Fund now in
 July. We invite you to learn more about the programs on our meta page [3].

 We have hosted a series of office hours throughout June and July [4]
 and will continue in the coming weeks to discuss the new programs. Each
 program officer is also reaching out and answering questions with
 individual grantees as part of the transition process.

 Office Hours:

-

03:00 UTC – 2021-07-23 (Asia-Pacific friendly time)
-

18:00 UTC – 2021-07-23 (Europe-Africa-Americas friendly time)



 We thank you again for all of the collaboration to arrive at this new
 strategy and we are excited to begin this journey together.

 Wishing everyone the best,

 Kassia on behalf of the Community Resources team


1.



 https://diff.wikimedia.org/2021/07/15/community-resources-announces-new-funding-strategy/
2.



 https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Resources/Grants_Strategy_Relaunch_2020-2021/Overview
3.

[Wikimedia-l] Re: Announcing The New Grants Strategy for the Wikimedia Foundation

[Asaf Bartov]

The call links were listed in the "Get involved" page (4th link in the
original post).  Here it is again:

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Resources/Grants_Strategy_Relaunch_2020-2021/Get_involved#Office_hours

   A.

Asaf Bartov (he/him/his)

Senior Program Officer, Emerging Wikimedia Communities

Wikimedia Foundation 

Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the
sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality!
https://donate.wikimedia.org


On Mon, Jul 19, 2021 at 11:15 AM Mardetanha 
wrote:

> Can you let us know where the office hours will be held? I don't see any
> zoom or google meet links provided.
>
>
> Mardetanha
>
>
> On Mon, Jul 19, 2021 at 1:00 AM Tito Dutta  wrote:
>
>> Greetings,
>> Thank you for the update. Currently, I am trying to understand all the
>> information provided in the pages.
>> I have started preparing a mapping-table for personal understanding,
>> might be of some help:
>> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tRSolGdZ0k9CcTQgfUSCHk1Ypp1iPTTDFnn5WrINp4E/edit?usp=sharing
>>
>> Could you kindly point out what is changing or what's new in each
>> category?
>> It would also be good to see more details on the Research and Tech grant
>> and Alliance Grant?
>>
>> Thanks for the update once again.
>> ইতি,/With regards,
>> টিটো দত্ত/User:Titodutta
>> (মাতৃভাষা থাক জীবন জুড়ে)
>>
>>
>> শুক্র, ১৬ জুলাই, ২০২১ তারিখে ২:৪৭ AM টায় এ Kassia Echavarri-Queen <
>> kechavarriqu...@wikimedia.org> লিখেছেন:
>>
>>> Dear Wikimedians,
>>>
>>> The Community Resources team is excited to announce on Diff
>>> 
>>> the launch of the new Wikimedia funding strategy focused on decentralized
>>> decision-making, regional committees and reaching underrepresented
>>> communities [1]. Over the last 10 months we have worked together with
>>> communities to discuss, understand and develop an approach that addresses
>>> their needs and moves us towards the realization of the 2030 strategic
>>> direction [2]. Thank you for all of your participation to make this a
>>> reality.
>>>
>>> The three new funding programs:
>>>
>>> The Wikimedia Community Fund
>>>
>>>-
>>>
>>>The Community Fund is a unified program with flexible support and
>>>funding for Wikimedians working on knowledge equity aligned with the
>>>movement’s strategic direction.
>>>
>>>
>>> The Wikimedia Alliances Fund
>>>
>>>-
>>>
>>>The Alliances Fund, for mission-aligned organizations in
>>>underrepresented communities who want to collaborate and amplify our 
>>> work.
>>>
>>>
>>> The Wikimedia Research and Technology Fund
>>>
>>>-
>>>
>>>The Research and Technology Fund for improving technology, tools,
>>>and research to nurture a more responsive and accessible environment for
>>>contributions.
>>>
>>>
>>> This people-centred approach is built on the principles of equity &
>>> empowerment, collaboration & cooperation, and the promotion of innovation
>>> and learning.
>>>
>>> Our team has also adapted to provide consistent regional support and the
>>> establishment of a learning mindset for the funding approach. We know this
>>> is just the beginning and it will be an iterative process. As we implement
>>> and learn we will adapt. We also understand the worldwide impact of the
>>> continuing COVID pandemic and our first priority is to be in solidarity and
>>> have flexibility with communities around the world.
>>>
>>> The three programs will be introduced in a phased approach throughout
>>> the year. We will first launch with the Wikimedia Community Fund now in
>>> July. We invite you to learn more about the programs on our meta page [3].
>>>
>>> We have hosted a series of office hours throughout June and July [4] and
>>> will continue in the coming weeks to discuss the new programs. Each program
>>> officer is also reaching out and answering questions with individual
>>> grantees as part of the transition process.
>>>
>>> Office Hours:
>>>
>>>-
>>>
>>>03:00 UTC – 2021-07-23 (Asia-Pacific friendly time)
>>>-
>>>
>>>18:00 UTC – 2021-07-23 (Europe-Africa-Americas friendly time)
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> We thank you again for all of the collaboration to arrive at this new
>>> strategy and we are excited to begin this journey together.
>>>
>>> Wishing everyone the best,
>>>
>>> Kassia on behalf of the Community Resources team
>>>
>>>
>>>1.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> https://diff.wikimedia.org/2021/07/15/community-resources-announces-new-funding-strategy/
>>>2.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Resources/Grants_Strategy_Relaunch_2020-2021/Overview
>>>3.
>>>
>>>https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Start
>>>4.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Resources/Grants_Strategy_Relaunch_2020-2021/Get_involved
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> Kassia Echavarri-Queen (She/Her)
>>>
>>> Director, 

[Wikimedia-l] Re: Foundation org chart

[Gerard Meijssen]

Hoi,
Did we regress from a previous situation - yes
Is the software still available to us - yes
Do we have a serious issue with providing a service to our public - yes
Is it is just one issue or is it one of many issues - one of many
Has it improved over time, you tell me yes and you can point out the
veracity because of..
Thanks,
 GerardM

On Mon, 19 Jul 2021 at 14:31, Dariusz Jemielniak 
wrote:

> Does some basic functionality work? Sure.
> Is it as good as Google? Nope.
> Is it as good as we can make it? Most likely not.
>
> BTW, we are not doing great in searches irrespective of
> multilingualism issues, but we have notably improved over time.
>
> best,
>
> Dariusz Jemielniak, "pundit"
>
> On Mon, Jul 19, 2021 at 6:33 AM Gerard Meijssen 
> wrote:
>
>> Hoi,
>> The notion that search works because "there is somewhere a thingie that
>> you first have to select and oh it is a bit out the way" is an argument
>> that can only be made by someone who invested a lot in it. The sad thing
>> is, did you ever wonder if it worked because it does not. You did not
>> consider a public, a user story fulfilled.
>>
>> My user story is simply this: A nine year old seeks images of a subject
>> to illustrate some homework he has to do. He types in the name of the
>> subject and gets results he can choose from. The nine year old reads and
>> writes in any of the 200+ languages we support. The teacher of the child is
>> aware of the necessity of labels in Wikidata and checked them. In the
>> process helping anybody to find the subjects that are in the curriculum.
>>
>> Search is what the Wikimedia org provides. The problem with search has
>> been known for as long as Commons exists. The Commons community has not had
>> a material impact on search in all this time. Google does allow you to
>> search with good effect for a "თახვი" but what it brings up is not freely
>> licensed. It is  therefore on the board of the Wikimedia Foundation to be
>> aware of this problem and give it the attention that it requires.
>>
>> Let's be blunt; Google et all are increasingly good at the game of
>> providing information.The Wikimedia projects not as essential as they used
>> to be. We find this in our traffic numbers; we are dropping in the rankings
>> and we have no response.
>> Thanks,
>>  GerardM
>>
>> On Sun, 18 Jul 2021 at 19:59, Mike Peel  wrote:
>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> Just a reminder that multilingual search already works for Commons
>>> categories, for example search for 'telescopio lovell':
>>>
>>> https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=telescopio+lovell=Special:MediaSearch=Go=page
>>>
>>> This is because the Wikidata Infobox on Commons displays multilingual
>>> information, and also includes search engine optimisation (i.e.,
>>> includes all language labels from Wikidata in the searchable source).
>>> We're nearly at 3.5 million categories using the infobox now (about half
>>> of all Commons categories...).
>>>
>>> It's a bit hidden out of the way now, though, since the default search
>>> is for images, and you need to click on 'Categories and pages'.
>>>
>>> Thanks,
>>> Mike
>>>
>>> On 18/7/21 18:49:28, Mohamed ElGohary wrote:
>>> > I must say that in my experience along the years is that search is not
>>> a
>>> > very strong feature in all Wikimedia projects, commons or not.
>>> > Personally I use commercial search engines to custom search Wikimedia
>>> > projects, and I include the Creative Commons search
>>> >  for photos.
>>> >
>>> > I would love if there are efforts to include multilingualism and
>>> better
>>> > search in Wikimedia projects. For Wikimedia Commons specifically, I
>>> > would love to see (more) cooperation with Creative Commons and other
>>> > like-minded entities for better search results for all languages.
>>> >
>>> > ircpresident
>>> > --
>>> > photo
>>> > *Mohamed ElGohary*
>>> > Lingua Manager and Board Member, Global Voices
>>> >
>>> > https://globalvoices.org/lingua 
>>> >
>>> > 
>>> >  
>>> > 
>>> > 
>>> >  <
>>> http://instragram.com/ircpresident>
>>> >
>>> > Key: 0x5D13669E Fingerprints: 7838 7FE7 E0E4 BF88 0024 2703 B452 E75A
>>> > 5D13 669E
>>> >
>>> > Amplifying Global Voices stories by the translation into dozens of
>>> > languages with the help of hundreds of volunteer translators. We are
>>> > Global Voices Lingua !
>>> >
>>> >   Donate to Global Voices
>>> > 
>>> >
>>> >> On 16-Jul-21 10:09:33 PM, Gerard Meijssen 
>>>
>>> >> wrote:
>>> >>
>>> >> Hoi,
>>> >> You have it the wrong way around. Our projects have a function, they
>>> >> exist for us to share in the sum of all knowledge. When a search

[Wikimedia-l] Re: Foundation org chart

[Dariusz Jemielniak]

Does some basic functionality work? Sure.
Is it as good as Google? Nope.
Is it as good as we can make it? Most likely not.

BTW, we are not doing great in searches irrespective of
multilingualism issues, but we have notably improved over time.

best,

Dariusz Jemielniak, "pundit"

On Mon, Jul 19, 2021 at 6:33 AM Gerard Meijssen 
wrote:

> Hoi,
> The notion that search works because "there is somewhere a thingie that
> you first have to select and oh it is a bit out the way" is an argument
> that can only be made by someone who invested a lot in it. The sad thing
> is, did you ever wonder if it worked because it does not. You did not
> consider a public, a user story fulfilled.
>
> My user story is simply this: A nine year old seeks images of a subject to
> illustrate some homework he has to do. He types in the name of the subject
> and gets results he can choose from. The nine year old reads and writes in
> any of the 200+ languages we support. The teacher of the child is aware of
> the necessity of labels in Wikidata and checked them. In the process
> helping anybody to find the subjects that are in the curriculum.
>
> Search is what the Wikimedia org provides. The problem with search has
> been known for as long as Commons exists. The Commons community has not had
> a material impact on search in all this time. Google does allow you to
> search with good effect for a "თახვი" but what it brings up is not freely
> licensed. It is  therefore on the board of the Wikimedia Foundation to be
> aware of this problem and give it the attention that it requires.
>
> Let's be blunt; Google et all are increasingly good at the game of
> providing information.The Wikimedia projects not as essential as they used
> to be. We find this in our traffic numbers; we are dropping in the rankings
> and we have no response.
> Thanks,
>  GerardM
>
> On Sun, 18 Jul 2021 at 19:59, Mike Peel  wrote:
>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Just a reminder that multilingual search already works for Commons
>> categories, for example search for 'telescopio lovell':
>>
>> https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?search=telescopio+lovell=Special:MediaSearch=Go=page
>>
>> This is because the Wikidata Infobox on Commons displays multilingual
>> information, and also includes search engine optimisation (i.e.,
>> includes all language labels from Wikidata in the searchable source).
>> We're nearly at 3.5 million categories using the infobox now (about half
>> of all Commons categories...).
>>
>> It's a bit hidden out of the way now, though, since the default search
>> is for images, and you need to click on 'Categories and pages'.
>>
>> Thanks,
>> Mike
>>
>> On 18/7/21 18:49:28, Mohamed ElGohary wrote:
>> > I must say that in my experience along the years is that search is not
>> a
>> > very strong feature in all Wikimedia projects, commons or not.
>> > Personally I use commercial search engines to custom search Wikimedia
>> > projects, and I include the Creative Commons search
>> >  for photos.
>> >
>> > I would love if there are efforts to include multilingualism and better
>> > search in Wikimedia projects. For Wikimedia Commons specifically, I
>> > would love to see (more) cooperation with Creative Commons and other
>> > like-minded entities for better search results for all languages.
>> >
>> > ircpresident
>> > --
>> > photo
>> > *Mohamed ElGohary*
>> > Lingua Manager and Board Member, Global Voices
>> >
>> > https://globalvoices.org/lingua 
>> >
>> > 
>> >  
>> > 
>> > 
>> >  <
>> http://instragram.com/ircpresident>
>> >
>> > Key: 0x5D13669E Fingerprints: 7838 7FE7 E0E4 BF88 0024 2703 B452 E75A
>> > 5D13 669E
>> >
>> > Amplifying Global Voices stories by the translation into dozens of
>> > languages with the help of hundreds of volunteer translators. We are
>> > Global Voices Lingua !
>> >
>> >   Donate to Global Voices
>> > 
>> >
>> >> On 16-Jul-21 10:09:33 PM, Gerard Meijssen 
>> >> wrote:
>> >>
>> >> Hoi,
>> >> You have it the wrong way around. Our projects have a function, they
>> >> exist for us to share in the sum of all knowledge. When a search
>> >> engine provides results to a public in any language, it does not make
>> >> a difference to how Commons is run. Your claim that finding pictures
>> >> is only allowed when a community allows for it exposes a bias that is
>> >> fundamentally wrong. What Commons contains is freely licensed and
>> >> consequently anyone can search it, use it.
>> >>
>> >> Your claim that people worked hard to make Commons usable in other
>> >> languages is fine. However, the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
>> >> It is the purpose 

[Wikimedia-l] Re: Announcing The New Grants Strategy for the Wikimedia Foundation

[Mardetanha]

Can you let us know where the office hours will be held? I don't see any
zoom or google meet links provided.


Mardetanha


On Mon, Jul 19, 2021 at 1:00 AM Tito Dutta  wrote:

> Greetings,
> Thank you for the update. Currently, I am trying to understand all the
> information provided in the pages.
> I have started preparing a mapping-table for personal understanding, might
> be of some help:
> https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1tRSolGdZ0k9CcTQgfUSCHk1Ypp1iPTTDFnn5WrINp4E/edit?usp=sharing
>
> Could you kindly point out what is changing or what's new in each
> category?
> It would also be good to see more details on the Research and Tech grant
> and Alliance Grant?
>
> Thanks for the update once again.
> ইতি,/With regards,
> টিটো দত্ত/User:Titodutta
> (মাতৃভাষা থাক জীবন জুড়ে)
>
>
> শুক্র, ১৬ জুলাই, ২০২১ তারিখে ২:৪৭ AM টায় এ Kassia Echavarri-Queen <
> kechavarriqu...@wikimedia.org> লিখেছেন:
>
>> Dear Wikimedians,
>>
>> The Community Resources team is excited to announce on Diff
>> 
>> the launch of the new Wikimedia funding strategy focused on decentralized
>> decision-making, regional committees and reaching underrepresented
>> communities [1]. Over the last 10 months we have worked together with
>> communities to discuss, understand and develop an approach that addresses
>> their needs and moves us towards the realization of the 2030 strategic
>> direction [2]. Thank you for all of your participation to make this a
>> reality.
>>
>> The three new funding programs:
>>
>> The Wikimedia Community Fund
>>
>>-
>>
>>The Community Fund is a unified program with flexible support and
>>funding for Wikimedians working on knowledge equity aligned with the
>>movement’s strategic direction.
>>
>>
>> The Wikimedia Alliances Fund
>>
>>-
>>
>>The Alliances Fund, for mission-aligned organizations in
>>underrepresented communities who want to collaborate and amplify our work.
>>
>>
>> The Wikimedia Research and Technology Fund
>>
>>-
>>
>>The Research and Technology Fund for improving technology, tools, and
>>research to nurture a more responsive and accessible environment for
>>contributions.
>>
>>
>> This people-centred approach is built on the principles of equity &
>> empowerment, collaboration & cooperation, and the promotion of innovation
>> and learning.
>>
>> Our team has also adapted to provide consistent regional support and the
>> establishment of a learning mindset for the funding approach. We know this
>> is just the beginning and it will be an iterative process. As we implement
>> and learn we will adapt. We also understand the worldwide impact of the
>> continuing COVID pandemic and our first priority is to be in solidarity and
>> have flexibility with communities around the world.
>>
>> The three programs will be introduced in a phased approach throughout the
>> year. We will first launch with the Wikimedia Community Fund now in July.
>> We invite you to learn more about the programs on our meta page [3].
>>
>> We have hosted a series of office hours throughout June and July [4] and
>> will continue in the coming weeks to discuss the new programs. Each program
>> officer is also reaching out and answering questions with individual
>> grantees as part of the transition process.
>>
>> Office Hours:
>>
>>-
>>
>>03:00 UTC – 2021-07-23 (Asia-Pacific friendly time)
>>-
>>
>>18:00 UTC – 2021-07-23 (Europe-Africa-Americas friendly time)
>>
>>
>>
>> We thank you again for all of the collaboration to arrive at this new
>> strategy and we are excited to begin this journey together.
>>
>> Wishing everyone the best,
>>
>> Kassia on behalf of the Community Resources team
>>
>>
>>1.
>>
>>
>>
>> https://diff.wikimedia.org/2021/07/15/community-resources-announces-new-funding-strategy/
>>2.
>>
>>
>>
>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Resources/Grants_Strategy_Relaunch_2020-2021/Overview
>>3.
>>
>>https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Start
>>4.
>>
>>
>>
>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Resources/Grants_Strategy_Relaunch_2020-2021/Get_involved
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> Kassia Echavarri-Queen (She/Her)
>>
>> Director, Community Investment
>>
>> Wikimedia Foundation 
>> ___
>> Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines
>> at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and
>> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l
>> Public archives at
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>> To unsubscribe send an email to wikimedia-l-le...@lists.wikimedia.org
>
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> Wikimedia-l mailing list -- wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org, guidelines
> at: