Re: [Wikimedia-l] Suspension of FDC grantmaking

[Chris Keating]

Thanks Delphine!

Yes that makes sense. For the last couple of years it's felt like 80%+ of
FDC grants have been basically been renewals of similar amounts to stable,
effective organisations. So the process is arguably over-engineered for
that, and a simple renewal process will largely reach the same outcomes.

Presumably there will still be some steps WMF can take in the event of
serious management/governance problems in a grantee organisation.

Chris


On Thu, 26 Apr 2018, 10:08 Delphine Ménard,  wrote:

> Hi Chris,
>
> Thanks for your question. We have been planning to share an update of what
> will happen within the FDC process as part of next year's annual plan and
> your question came before that announcement. I'm sorry about that. Before
> sharing information with everyone, our team wanted to discuss the approach
> with FDC-APG grantees--those who would be most affected by changes to
> annual plan grants next year.
>
> The members of the Funds Dissemination Committee, our team (Community
> Resources) and the APG grantee organizations are an integral part of
> implementing the strategic direction. We want to make sure that everyone
> has the time and resources to dedicate to this work. As a result, we are
> proposing some changes to the FDC process followed in previous years.
>
> The Foundation budget for APG grants will remain stable for the coming
> fiscal year. This will give each APG recipient the opportunity to resubmit
> at their current level of funding. This should lighten the demands on
> recipients by enabling them to submit a summary of their existing program
> plans and budgets, with no additional proposal required. Since this would
> work more like a grant renewal, there will be no FDC deliberations, and no
> staff assessment.
>
> Instead, we'll use the time and resources to work with the grantee
> organizations on developing their program plans during the year, by having
> FDC members and staff participate in report reviews or strategic
> discussions. The FDC has also been talking about reviewing and assessing
> their role and the role of unrestricted annual plan grants in disseminating
> movement funds. These conversations will happen hand in hand with the
> ongoing movement strategy process.
>
>  We will be sharing more information and updates on this mailing list and
> on Meta and I look forward to your contribution to this process. In the
> meantime, I hope that we can count on you for reviewing this current round
> of FDC proposals
> .
>
> Best,
>
> Delphine
>
>
> On Wed, Apr 25, 2018 at 7:47 PM, Chris Keating  >
> wrote:
>
> > Hello,
> >
> > I read in a Facebook discussion about the Wikimedia Conference that
> > the Annual Plan Grants are being paused (or stopped or suspended or
> > something) shortly, presumably after the end of the Round 2
> > deliberations that are going on.
> >
> > Can't see any information about this on the list, or the Grantmaking team
> > pages.
> >
> > Is this right? If so I wondered what the rationale might be?
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > Chris
> >
> > ___
> > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
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> > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> > 
>
>
>
>
> --
> Delphine Ménard
> Program Officer
> Wikimedia Foundation
> User:Delphine_(WMF) 
> ___
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Re: [Wikimedia-l] Suspension of FDC grantmaking

[Delphine Ménard]

Hi Chris,

Thanks for your question. We have been planning to share an update of what
will happen within the FDC process as part of next year's annual plan and
your question came before that announcement. I'm sorry about that. Before
sharing information with everyone, our team wanted to discuss the approach
with FDC-APG grantees--those who would be most affected by changes to
annual plan grants next year.

The members of the Funds Dissemination Committee, our team (Community
Resources) and the APG grantee organizations are an integral part of
implementing the strategic direction. We want to make sure that everyone
has the time and resources to dedicate to this work. As a result, we are
proposing some changes to the FDC process followed in previous years.

The Foundation budget for APG grants will remain stable for the coming
fiscal year. This will give each APG recipient the opportunity to resubmit
at their current level of funding. This should lighten the demands on
recipients by enabling them to submit a summary of their existing program
plans and budgets, with no additional proposal required. Since this would
work more like a grant renewal, there will be no FDC deliberations, and no
staff assessment.

Instead, we'll use the time and resources to work with the grantee
organizations on developing their program plans during the year, by having
FDC members and staff participate in report reviews or strategic
discussions. The FDC has also been talking about reviewing and assessing
their role and the role of unrestricted annual plan grants in disseminating
movement funds. These conversations will happen hand in hand with the
ongoing movement strategy process.

 We will be sharing more information and updates on this mailing list and
on Meta and I look forward to your contribution to this process. In the
meantime, I hope that we can count on you for reviewing this current round
of FDC proposals
.

Best,

Delphine


On Wed, Apr 25, 2018 at 7:47 PM, Chris Keating 
wrote:

> Hello,
>
> I read in a Facebook discussion about the Wikimedia Conference that
> the Annual Plan Grants are being paused (or stopped or suspended or
> something) shortly, presumably after the end of the Round 2
> deliberations that are going on.
>
> Can't see any information about this on the list, or the Grantmaking team
> pages.
>
> Is this right? If so I wondered what the rationale might be?
>
> Thanks!
>
> Chris
>
> ___
> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/
> wiki/Wikimedia-l
> New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l,
> 




-- 
Delphine Ménard
Program Officer
Wikimedia Foundation
User:Delphine_(WMF) 
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