Funding Applications

The Wikimedia Australia Volunteer Support Programme offers year round financial assistance to members of the Australian Wikimedia community to assist them with their work on Wikimedia projects or other activities directly related to Wikimedia Australia's mission, which members may otherwise be unable to undertake.

How to apply

  1. The Wikimedia Australia Volunteer Support Programme is open to applications until further notice.
  2. Applications for reimbursement should be made using this application form. Applications should be made in advance of the actual expenditure.
  3. Receipt of your application will be confirmed by the Secretary and taken to the next board meeting (held monthly). The board may request further clarification or an alteration or adjustment to the proposed project.
  4. Once the board has reached a decision, the Secretary will notify you of the result of your application.

If you are unable to use the application form, you can email responses to the following questions:

  • Title of the event/project:
  • Name and email address of the requester:
  • Amount requested in AUD:
  • Description of what you will use the money for:
  • How the initiative contributes to Wikimedia Australia's mission:
  • The criteria you will use to judge the success of the event/project:
  • Agreement to provide an event or project report to Wikimedia Australia within 1 month of the event

If you have any questions or need assistance with any aspects of your application, please contact us at board-at-wikimedia.org.au.

Example projects

Some examples of expenses that might be reimbursed are:

  • Venue hire or catering to host a local Wikimedians meetup or workshop.
  • Transport expenses for travel to create new freely available materials or attend Wikimedia related workshops.
  • Attendance fees for a short course in the use of software or learning a skill related to your Wikimedia work.
  • Access fees for a non-public library or academic journal to enable better sourcing of Wikipedia articles.
  • Digitisation fees for significant public domain items in an archive.
  • Printing information sheets or stickers for use during a presentation.
  • Purchase of reference materials or textbooks to assist with the creation of new free content.

This list is not intended to be exhaustive and new and innovative ideas are welcomed.

Result of application

The Secretary will confirm receipt of applications and applicants will be advised of the status of their proposal after the board meeting following their application. Meetings are held monthly so four weeks notice may be required. Please advise us if you will require a decision earlier; all effort will be made to address the matter before that date.

The name and/or username of the recipient, the amount of money, and the nature of the request will be published in the minutes of the board meeting and publicly announced where the application was successful. The details of unsuccessful applications will be kept confidential.

Receiving the reimbursement

Payments are generally made via a direct deposit into the recipients account. Please note that as a reimbursement scheme, payments will only be issued after the receipt of invoices or receipts for the expense. In some cases, if this is not appropriate, the board may be able to purchase some items like travel tickets on behalf of the applicant and provide them in the place of reimbursement. Exceptions to this rule will be very rare, and must be approved on a case-by-case basis by the management board.

Completion of the project

Once the project is completed, the recipient will be asked to write a brief report for the members, explaining what their project was, how successful it was, any problems they encountered, and anything else that might be useful or interesting to members of the community. If the purpose of the project was to create new content (for instance, a project to take new photographs), then a link to the content created should also be included. The report does not need to be long and will be published on the chapter’s website.

This report should be submitted within 30 days of receiving reimbursement, if more time is required please contact the board to advise of the reasons for the delay. New support will not be issued to any individual or group under this scheme where reports for previously issued support are overdue.

About the Volunteer Support Programme

Please note that under Wikimedia Australia's Rules no. 37, no monies can be distributed to members except as bona fide compensation for services rendered or expenses incurred on behalf of the organisation. If you are unsure whether your idea falls within this remit, please do apply, or raise the matter, and further advice will be forthcoming.

The Volunteer Support Programme began its life as the Small Grants Programme, which was developed at the January 2010 Operational planning meeting, announced at the end of March 2010, and which was extended and expanded by a number of board resolutions. In September 2012, due to concerns about the use of the word ‘grant’ in the programme title of what was essentially a reimbursement scheme, the Small Grants Programme was concluded and the Volunteer Support Programme enacted in its place. The change in name was also used as an opportunity to clarify and streamline some aspects of the programme.

In 2019 this page was edited to consolidate information and applications for community support programmes in a single place.

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