Project grants

Grants Project grants (£5–250) or Partnership Funding (£250 and upwards) Scholarships Evaluation Panel

Do you have an idea for a wiki-related project, but need some financial support to make it happen? Wikimedia UK’s project grants (typically up to £250) can support volunteers to complete activities which work toward our strategic themes and pillars, particularly Knowledge Equity, Information Literacy, and Climate & Environment. We are also keen to support projects which contribute toward a Thriving Community, and which promote Open Knowledge in the UK. We've made some examples of past projects available to give you some ideas. Please contact us if you want to learn more or talk through an idea with us, or you can submit your application here!

What can we fund?

Items we can fund include but are not limited to:

• Supporting Wikimedia-related events: Venue hire for an appropriate venue, internet access costs, refreshments.
• Research, marketing and administration time: We acknowledge that planning events and projects can take time.  Therefore we are happy for your application to include a contribution towards admin time as appropriate to the project.  We would suggest that you benchmark this against Real Living Wage. 
• Travel funds: We can subsidise travel to conferences, events, museums, archives, libraries etc, where it is related to Wikimedia outreach or on-wiki activity. The project grant could cover train fares, bus tickets, private car journeys at HMRC rates or lower (45/p mile for the first 150 miles, 25p/mile thereafter), ferry journeys, etc. It may also cover low-cost accommodation and registration fees.
• Books and other sources: Making information in a book available in Wikipedia articles with citations, or digitising and making the books which are out of copyright available on Wikisource and/or Wikimedia Commons. Wikimedia UK will retain ownership of the books, and you will need to keep them safe to pass on in future. We can also fund access to online sources.
• Equipment: Microphones for recording audio Wikipedia / Wikinews / etc. articles, Scanners for scanning in books and other documents, cameras for intensive work photographing collections / locations, video recorders for recording events and locations. Applications should also consider insurance and extended warranties to ensure longer useful lifetimes for the objects. Wikimedia UK will retain ownership of the equipment.

What we cannot fund:

• First class travel under any circumstances.
• Travel by taxi unless for reasons of safety or accessibility.
• Any time spent editing, such that would contravene any on-wiki rules around Paid, or Conflict of Interest Editing.  
• Alcohol under any circumstances.

• Any activity which would contravene the Universal Code of Conduct.

How do you apply?

Please submit your application via the applications page. The template will tell you what information we need from you. Applications are dealt with on a rolling basis throughout the year.  You should only have one application in progress at any one time, but there is no time limit before which you can reapply. Please contact us with any questions.

• Decision making: applications will be reviewed by a small panel of staff members. We aim to make all decisions within one month of your application being received. 
• Using the grant: once a grant is approved, you will receive a notification by email, along with a note of any conditions. Funds can be released either after a purchase has been made (with an expense form and receipts), or we can make purchases on your behalf.
• Reporting: Once you've achieved the aims of the project grant, then you will be asked to make a short report on the outcome(s).  We like to see evidence of the benefit of the grant, links to any content improved as a result, images that we may use in publicity, and reflections on the project including any learning that might benefit others in the future.

See also

Grants on Meta.