TLP examined existing data regarding Wikimedia Foundation grantmaking, including functions, roles, and budgets. This data was provided through an online survey fielded from October 17-30, 2014, and ongoing conversations with staff. The survey consisted of 73 questions designed to scan the field of international Participatory Grantmaking Funds. Program Evaluation Analyst Kacie Harold, Program Officer Winifred Olliff, and Grants Administrator Janice Tud also provided invaluable data and feedback.
In addition, a short survey examined committee members' experiences and priorities. This survey was shared with all grantmaking committee members that review Individual Engagement Grants, Project and Event Grants, and Annual Plan Grants, and received 32 responses by November 11, 2014 - 59% of current committee membership.[1]
Finally, Matthew Hart met and discussed this information in this report with a number of WMF staff in December 2014. Thank you to the following for their time and feedback: Philippe Beaudette, Director of Community Advocacy; Garfield Byrd, Chief of Finance and Administration; Rachel diCerbo, Director of Community Engagement (Product); Quim Gil, Engineering Community Manager (International); Stephen LaPorte, Legal Counsel; Katherine Maher, Chief Communications Officer.
A Need for Comparative Review
Participatory Grantmaking - also referred to as Peer Review Grantmaking, Community Funding, or Activist Funding - emerges from a practice of grassroots activism, with assumed belief that decision-making participation of people impacted by the fund's programs will guarantee that grants are allocated to those most deserving.
Peer review has a long-standing precedent in the sciences and humanities, dating back to the 18th century, but it was only relatively recently adopted as a methodology for making grants to disenfranchised communities. The Funding Exchange and its member organizations first adopted the model in the early 1970's, in the United States.[2] While Participatory Grantmaking models have proliferated in the US and internationally over the past several decades, there has been little research or documentation to analyze the development and the outcomes of the methodology. The Lafayette Practice believes that Participatory Grantmaking Funds (PGF) represent important evolutions in the form and practice of philanthropy. Moreover, we recognized that institutional donors and practitioners in the field seek documentation and data about assumptions, innovations, and best practices of this philanthropic model. Ultimately, we felt that a comparative operational analysis would help explain and more broadly disseminate these relatively new practices to new settings and new endeavors.
- ↑ There are currently 17 IEG, 28 GAC, and 9 FDC members.
- ↑ http://fex.org/about—us/history
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