Grants talk:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/General Support Fund/2024/25 General Support Fund request for Wikimedians of Singapore User Group

Follow-up questions on your application

Hello Wikimedians of Singapore User Group,

Thank you for putting in your first grant application. Congratulations also on the recognition of Wikimedians of Singapore User Group as an affiliate earlier in the year. I'm also including a few key meta page links for background context to your application: Wikimedians of Singapore User Group; Wikiproject Singapore; Wikipedia page on Singapore and Wikimania 2023 was held in Singapore (Diff; event page). Please feel free to add on other relevant links.

Observations/ Recommendations / Notes

Below, you will find the consolidated feedback and observations from the review team (i.e. ESEAP regional funds committee and programme officer). Do take time to read and respond (i.e. provide more details) to the sharing(s) as necessary. Note: The review team may not have the same lived experience or understanding of the local context as you/your team. Hence, providing further insights will be very helpful in building on our collective wisdom and shared learnings.

• 1) Related to question 8/ challenges, programs, approaches and strategies, thank you for supplementing the responses to this question with your annual plan document. Before going into proposed programs, approaches and strategies, would you be able to more about the backstory/ motivations to setting up a User Group, a short introduction to the Singapore wikimedia community (if relevant) and what are some of the key challenges you observed and why you/your team thinks the proposed strategy/ activities are most suited to address them?

Response: We believe that Singapore has constantly punched above its weight in the Wikimedia movement, with plenty of dedicated contributors to call her own through the years. One big concern, however, has long been the lack of a “glue” to bind them together and the ensuing decline in contributions. Moreover, contributing to Wikimedia remains a very niche pursuit and we could really use more hands on deck. In our view, an official User Group could address these twin issues by bringing current contributors together while actively recruiting new ones. The regular meetups/workshops will help foster a greater sense of community, whereas the proposed competitions and edit-a-thons will further encourage and incentivise our SG Wikimedians to continue fighting the good fight. Robertsky (talk) 23:06, 24 November 2024 (UTC)

• 2) Related to question 11/ implementation team: Thank you for listing down the core team and their roles. Given the team is deepening experience in many areas such as (but not limited to) event planning, project/grant management, partner outreach, awareness building etc what do you think would be the key areas where the learning curve is the steepest and what areas would you/the team need the most support in implementing the proposed activities? What type of support (do you think) would be most helpful? Are there existing networks of support that you can lean into, could you share more?

Response: We have full confidence in our enthusiasm and technical expertise, however the biggest challenge might be drumming up sufficient interest in our activities to make them viable in the long run. We think the most helpful support would thus be publicity-related (for instance banners informing local Wikipedia readers of any upcoming meetups/workshops). On the other hand, there are many preexisting affiliates and user groups that we could model our outreach and activity implementation on, and we will not hesitate to reach out to other contributors in nearby localities for advice. Robertsky (talk) 23:06, 24 November 2024 (UTC)

• 3) Related to metrics section: We noted there are additional metrics that you have captured in the annual plan that is not reflected in the application form. Please do track them in your final report in a format that works best for the team (e.g. links to dashboard, supplementary tracking document etc). As part of peer learning within the movement, we'll also like to suggest that you/ the team document your key learnings/ journey as you implement your proposed plan. Topics which have not been well covered yet but useful for emerging communities include learning process on registering as a legal entity, affiliate, transitioning from largely volunteer driven community to a more formal entity etc. These process related learnings will help shed light on the behind the scenes work that emerging affiliates do. We'll also recommend the team put in publication of a Diff post as part of the communications output.

Response: The metrics section was not fleshed as we would like to see how much our user group can progress operating as a group (as opposed to a few individuals working in silos). As part of our journey, we would be documenting the outcomes of each activity we have conducted. As you have recommended, publishing a Diff post about the outcomes of our activities and learnings is certainly on the cards, especially since there is interest in having the user group in Singapore post Wikimania 2023. Robertsky (talk) 23:06, 24 November 2024 (UTC)

• 4) Related to budget section: Would it be possible to provide 2 additional scenarios to your budget plan? Scenario 1: USD 30,000 and Scenario 2: USD 40,000. You can use the existing budget file and add additional tabs. It would also be helpful to provide a brief description to accompany the scenarios so that we are better able to understand the implications behind each proposed scenario.

We have created additional sheets in the existing budget file.

Scenario 2: 40,000 USD

In this scenario, the budget is primarily reduced by switching legal registration from Company Limited by Guarantee to Society. This was suggested by our proposed fiscal sponsor in a different conversation. Registered societies are considered as non-profit, and require a lower accounting and auditing compliance from the authorities. The accounting can be done in-house, and self-auditing by two members who are not on the executive committee is possible,

We also reduced the number of HackerspaceSG membership from 2 to 1. However, as the access to the community space is tied to individuals, not organisation, the individual would have to turn up for all events held in the space unless otherwise arranged with other members.

Scenario 1: 33,000 USD

In this scenario, it is an extension from Scenario 2. The reduction from 40,000 USD to 33,000 USD is primarily through the removal of ESEAP Summit 2025 travel budget as this is accounted for in the Summit’s budget, and as well as keeping the the budget for 1 pax for Wikimania and Wikimedia Hackathon for minimal representation from Singapore, in case we are not able to get at least one of us on the scholarship. We would also would like to highlight that we strongly recommend anyone from Singapore to apply for scholarships through the respective conferences/events first. Robertsky (talk) 23:06, 24 November 2024 (UTC)

Note to applicant: During the review process, the ESEAP Funds Committee meets 3-4 times (2-2.5 hours/ session) during the review cycle to discuss the grant applications submitted for the cycle. Thereafter additional time is dedicated for individual review (i.e. one review form is submitted for each application - estimated time spend can be 1-1.5 hours/application/person). We would like to highlight that the review team spends a significant amount of time on each application reviewing and providing their perspectives. We hope you will also participate fully in the process by setting aside dedicated time and mind space to provide thoughtful responses to the feedback. During the discussion rounds, we have also captured the verbatim feedback below. Some of which may be on a similar topic. If you notice the trend, it would mean that the question/ observation was raised by several members of the review team and we encourage you to dig deeper to provide more information. If you require support in understanding the context to the feedback and/or in crafting a response. Please know that you can reach out the programme officer for support.

Observations/ Questions

5) As you implement your Wiki activities plan for the next fiscal year, do you have a strategy to engage new participants in roles within the Wikimedians of Singapore User Group? Is the group open to expanding involvement in this way?

We are reaching out to local communities, groups, and individuals who are interested in the shared open knowledge vision. Recognising that there are already other grassroots efforts such as school-led initiatives (there’s a professor using Wikipedia as a teaching medium), we would like them to join us in organising workshops, editathons, and/or leading initiatives.

We would also like to tap on our neighbouring affiliate, Wikimedia Malaysia, who has engaged with some communities here as well as they have carried out workshops and events in Singapore. Through these communities, we would like to encourage them to participate in the user group as well. Robertsky (talk) 23

06, 24 November 2024 (UTC)

6) Is there a reporting structure within the group? How are they organised?

Nominally, the structure is flat within the user group for now as we are all volunteers. Primarily, the key decision makers would be either Robert or Ryan with Bernard supporting where possible. Alan and Butch will be tapped on for advices.Robertsky (talk) 23:06, 24 November 2024 (UTC)

7) The fiscal sponsor needs a 10% fee. Rationales about the choice of the organisation and the basis for the rate of fee are not given. Would you be able to provide more details on this

CU started from organising not-for-profit community conferences, and it was purposely organised specifically to act as an umbrella organisation. It is modelled after other organisations like Linux Australia.

The fees are mainly to cover overheads and self-insurance, in case of disasters which might require event refunds again like COVID, and to support local tech communities where necessary.Robertsky (talk) 23:06, 24 November 2024 (UTC)

8) It’s mentioned about conducting specialised thematic workshops upon request and content with pre-identified focus areas. How are you going to choose this focus area?

For specialised thematic workshops, we are open to partnerships with local groups, i.e. arts-focused, language-based, etc. groups. Robertsky (talk) 23:06, 24 November 2024 (UTC)

Thank you and we look forward to receiving your responses by 15 November 2024.

Regards, Jacqueline on behalf of the ESEAP Funds Committee JChen (WMF) (talk) 08:48, 8 November 2024 (UTC)

4. Proposed end date. (required) 2024-12-31 --> This should be 2025. --Taweethaも (talk) 07:19, 16 November 2024 (UTC)