Annual report (2014–2015)

This report describes the activities of Wikimedia District of Columbia during Fiscal Year 2014–15, covering the period from October 2014 through September 2015.

This fiscal year, we continued our outreach to organizations in the Washington, DC area, holding events focusing on various topics, including groups underrepresented on Wikipedia. We awarded grants to likeminded individuals, groups, and organizations that help advance the Wikimedia mission throughout the United States. These programs are our strengths, and our growing network of individuals and organizations places us in a position for continued organizational growth.

Programs

Events

Edit-a-Thons by Partner Institution

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•   Smithsonian Institution
•   DC Public Library
•   Waitt Institute
•   American University
•   Howard University
•   University of Maryland
•   Catholic University
•   National Institutes of Health
•   White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
•   National Public Radio
•   Women in Film and Video International
•   Tech LadyMafia

Edit-a-Thons by Month

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Over the course of the fiscal year, Wikimedia DC supported a total of 21 edit-a-thons in partnership with 12 separate cultural, academic, and government institutions and non-governmental organizations, including the Smithsonian Institution, DC Public Library, the Waitt Institute, American University, Howard University, the University of Maryland, Catholic University, the National Institutes of Health, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, National Public Radio, Women in Film and Video International, and Tech LadyMafia.

The edit-a-thons were attended by a total of 177 people with Wikipedia accounts. Among these, 95 people were newcomers to Wikimedia DC events, four of whom attended two or more events during the year. Correspondingly, 82 participants were previous event attendees, 28 of whom attended two or more events. This corresponds to a total intra-year retention rate of 18%. These participants collectively made 1,272 edits to 391 Wikipedia articles, corresponding to 623,453 bytes changed on Wikipedia across all namespaces, and uploaded 66 files to Wikimedia Commons.

Since Wikimedia DC began tracking in October 2013, 293 people with Wikipedia accounts have participated in our editing events, with 70 attending two or more, an all-time retention rate of 24%. In total, Wikimedia DC editing events have resulted in 2,226 edits to 625 articles, with 101 files contributed to Wikimedia Commons and 1,284,030 bytes of content added or removed across all namespaces.

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  Edit-a-thon at Howard University, February 2015

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  Edit-a-thon at National Public Radio, February 2015

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  Edit-a-thon at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, March 2015

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  Edit-a-thon at the Smithsonian Institution Archives, March 2015

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  Edit-a-thon at the DC Public Library, March 2015

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  Edit-a-thon at the University of Maryland, May 2015

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  Edit-a-thon at the National Museum of American History, June 2015

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  Edit-a-thon at the Waitt Institute, June 2015

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  Edit-a-thon at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, September 2015

Detailed information about each event may be found in Wikimedia DC's quarterly activity report for the corresponding period.

First Quarter (October – December)

Second Quarter (January – March)

Third Quarter (April – June)

Fourth Quarter (July – September)

Grantmaking

Wikimedia DC provides small grants to individuals, community groups, and nonprofit organizations to fund activities aligned with our mission to advance general knowledge and to collect, develop, and disseminate educational content under a free license or in the public domain.

During the 2014–15 fiscal year, Wikimedia DC issued four grants with a total value of $1,438.12 to individuals and organizations across the United States. The grants provided by Wikimedia DC were used to fund activities and events in Ocean City, Maryland; Portland, Oregon; and Seattle, Washington.

Wikimedia DC additionally served as the fiscal sponsor for the 2015 Art+Feminism program. The funding administered by Wikimedia DC was used to support numerous Art+Feminism events across the United States and around the world.

Organizational development

Membership

At the end of the 2014–15 fiscal year, Wikimedia DC had 60 members, corresponding to a 20% decrease from the beginning of the year.

Governance

In June, the Wikimedia DC Board of Directors held a strategy planning summit and defined five strategic priorities for the organization:

1. Foster a welcoming and supportive social environment for local and remote Wikimedia volunteers.
2. Empower academic, cultural, scientific, governmental, and other knowledge institutions to contribute content and subject-matter expertise to Wikimedia projects.
3. Foster diverse participation in all aspects of the Wikimedia movement, with particular attention to women and people of color.
4. Promote the development of broadly representative content using authentic source materials that reflect diverse perspectives.
5. Share knowledge and practices with peer organizations in the fields of free knowledge and free and open source software, including Wikimedia affiliates.

These priorities will form the basis of Wikimedia DC's 2015–20 Strategic Plan, which will be released during the 2015–16 fiscal year.