Grants:Conference/Committee/Orientation

Welcome, to the Conference Support Committee!

You’ve either joined the Conference Support Committee, or you’re interested in learning more about committee service.

We’re glad you’re here.

The Conference Support Committee is one of the Wikimedia movement’s five volunteer grants committees, and makes decisions about Conference Support grants for organizations and groups. The program launched in July 2016. The program supports national, regional, and thematic Wikimedia conferences and other large events. The Conference Support program has a strong emphasis on applicant support and committee involvement at every stage of the grant, and welcomes user groups as well as formal organizations.

Please read more about the new Conference Support program here.

Committee members have many different backgrounds, areas of expertise, and motivations for serving on the committee. Some have years of experience serving on other grants committees, while some are joining a grants committee for the first time. Some have experience working with movement organizations, others are experienced with user groups and movement governances and strategy. Some have many years of experience working with organizations outside of the Wikimedia movement.

Committee work offers volunteers an opportunity to be part of a consensus-driven process for making group decisions, and to interact with volunteers from all over the world. Committee members can make a big difference for their fellow volunteers and for the Wikimedia movement by supporting applicants that are organizing events to develop local communities, improve content, and increase participation all over the Wikimedia world. Many committee members are eager to learn and share with groups, organizations, and communities they work with in other volunteer roles.

Applications for Conference Support grants are accepted twice a year. The middle of the round includes 3 weeks for committee review and a deliberations call. This time is the busiest for committee members as they will be expected to review proposals, engage in discussions on the talk page, and participate in committee calls to finalize decisions. There are around 10-15 proposal each round.

Committee members are expected to commit to a 6 or 12-month term.

All Conference Support Committee members participate in application review. Committee members may recuse themselves from any application if they have a conflict of interest.

Application review involves:

1. Read and review all proposals.
2. Offering suggestions to improve applications during the open call;
3. Offering applicants written feedback during committee review;
4. Participating in a deliberation calls (about 3 to 4 meetings for each funding round, about 2 hours per meeting).

Depending on availability and expertise, some committee members may elect to engage with grantees over the course of their grants and event planning.

All committee work is done online and does not require travel or in person meetings.

We welcome many different strengths and skill levels. Please join us!

Please visit the main committee page to review the membership criteria.