Towards a five year plan 2013-18

WMUK strategic priorities 2013-2018

This page sets out the strategic priorities of WMUK for the five year period 2013 to 2018.

During that period, we will:

Encourage, involve and engage volunteers

Note: the relevant Wikimedia Foundation strategic priorities are Increase Participation, Encourage Innovation and Increase Reach.

Volunteers are crucial to the effectiveness and future growth of Wikimedia UK. As we develop as an organisation, we will retain the Wikimedia ethos that anyone can contribute in whatever way they see fit.

1. We will welcome volunteers of all backgrounds, and give our volunteers the skills, confidence and opportunities to participate fully in our work, including proposing and leading projects.
2. We will have a growing volunteer base, growing membership, and growing attendance at events we are involved in.
3. We will continue to develop new kinds of events and opportunities, and will ensure there is a good spread of our activities across the UK.

Increase participation on Wikimedia projects

Note: the relevant Wikimedia Foundation strategic priority is Increase Participation.

Our aim is to increase participation on Wikimedia projects, especially but not solely from the UK.

1. We will recruit and engage new Wikimedia editors and contributors across all aspects of our work, as well as increasing awareness of the fact that Wikimedia projects are open to edit and free for all to use and re-use.
2. We will identify and trial opportunities for large-scale recruitment of new contributors, and will develop and evaluate methods for training and supporting such contributors.
3. We will actively focus on broadening the diversity of Wikimedia contributors, especially but not solely in the UK, and will seek partnerships to help achieve that end.

Increase the quantity and improve the quality of available openly licensed content

Note: the relevant Wikimedia Foundation strategic priority is Improve Quality.

We will increase the quantity and quality of openly licensed content on the Wikimedia projects and other freely licensed resources.

1. We aim to make working with the Wikimedia movement as obvious a part of the work of any British cultural institution or sector, and contributing to Wikimedia projects as vital a part of the educational curriculum, as is library research or word-processor use. This supports our desire to open up vast amounts of knowledge and content to improve the Wikimedia projects.
2. We will, in co-operation with the wider open-source and open-licence movement in the UK, be an advocate for change by British government and institutions to open up the data and content they hold.
3. We will increase the number of files / resources released under open licences as a direct result of relationships with Wikimedia UK, including where appropriate making grants to fund this work.
4. We will continue to support Wikimedia editors in increasing and improving content by assisting them with the provision of resources and information.

Create and use technological tools to increase the impact of our activities

Note: the relevant Wikimedia Foundation strategic priorities are Stabilize Infrastructure, Encourage Innovation, Increase Participation and Increase Reach.

Technology plays an important role in our potential impact. While the hosting and technical development of Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects is the role of the Wikimedia Foundation, we will use and where appropriate create technical tools to ensure the methods we use to reach our goals are innovative, efficient and scalable.

1. We will support the creation and development of open tools that enable content creation and maintenance, or which otherwise facilitate any of our goals.
2. We will ensure that the tools that we host are maintained, kept up to date with features, and are generally accessible.
3. Where necessary we will invest in the development of freely licensed software to support WMUK's own technical needs.

Reduce barriers to accessing open content, and help others to do so

Note: the relevant Wikimedia Foundation strategic priority is Increase Reach.

WMUK has over the years built up some considerable experience in supporting Wikimedia projects and also in Wikimedia chapter & charity governance. We wish to share that experience with other like-minded groups - including groups outside the UK such as other Wikimedia chapters. We will also work to improve access to communities of potential readers/users who currently face barriers for whatever reason.

1. We will continue to participate fully in the worldwide Wikimedia movement, and to learn from and share with other groups including Wikimedia chapters, thematic organisations and the Wikimedia Foundation.
2. We will actively seek to help small or new chapters or other appropriate Wikimedia groups outside the UK by providing access to our expertise and experience.
3. We will work to improve access to Wikimedia projects to those communities who have limited or no access, for example those who face technical or social barriers. We will where appropriate be open to working with other charities or organizations that have expertise with and contacts to such communities, including communities that face access barriers such as imprisonment, poverty, lack of education, lack of opportunity, disability or language difficulties.
4. Where we able to make a real difference we will support communities in the UK that need or prefer to access content and/or to edit Wikimedia projects in a language other than English.

Use best practice governance and resource management processes

Note: this section focuses on the need for WMUK to operate legally, effectively and efficiently, and to that extent it provides underlying support to all of the Wikimedia Foundation strategic priorities, namely Stabilize Infrastructure, Increase Participation, Improve Quality, Increase Reach, and Encourage Innovation.

To fulfill our aims we will need to further develop our governance, resources and our role in the Wikimedia movement.

1. We will have high-quality governance and resource management processes based on best practice for UK charities (as illustrated in the Hudson Review).
2. We will retain a high level of openness and transparency.
3. We will develop the best possible measurements of our impact as an organisation, while appreciating that some of our objectives are inherently difficult to measure.
4. While recognizing that our principal source of income is likely to remain within the Wikimedia movement, from the Wikimedia fundraiser and/or the Funds Dissemination Committee process, we will build relationships with the donors we know and will remain open to seeking further sources of funding to support our aims.

See also

• WMUK plans 2013 to 2018 (in progress). These are the detailed plans and metrics that support the high-level strategy and which guide our day-to-day activities.