Hub Fund and Hub Piloting: A Look Back and What’s Ahead

In 2024, the Wikimedia Foundation launched the Hub Fund, an experimental two-year fund of USD 700,000 (USD 1.4 million total) to enable hub piloting and learning. The fund was established as part of a broader commitment to shared decision-making and to enabling regional and thematic support structures to take on roles in service of their communities. The purpose was to test, in practice, how hubs function and what value they bring to the movement. 

During this period, eight hub pilots were funded across the movement: four regional hubs (CEE Hub, ESEAP Hub, CANCUS Hub, and Pan-African Hub) and four thematic hubs (Content Partnerships Hub, EduWiki Hub, Language Diversity Hub, and Volunteer Supporters Network Hub). These hub initiatives have generated significant activity and learning, which can be read about in this February 2026 Diff post. One key learning is that hubs address services that neither individual affiliates nor the Wikimedia Foundation can easily fill. Unlike affiliates, whose focus is on growing content, contributors, and contextual awareness, hubs serve community groups through:

• Resource mobilization and distribution
• Helping grow sustainable, content-creating communities
• Increasing representation, shaping regional and thematic strategies
• Safeguarding contributors and managing conflicts
• Filling technological feedback and socialization gaps
• Supporting regional movement advocacy efforts.

Where we’re headed

In FY26-27, the Hub Fund will pause funding for new pilots. To align hub funding with the ongoing pilots on the Ecosystem of Movement Organizations and the Global Resource Distribution Committee, which focus on affiliation recognition and resourcing through grantmaking, no new hub pilots will be funded through this program this year.

To avoid interrupting existing pilots while the future of the program continues to be discussed, FY26–27 will serve as a transition year. Hubs funded between FY24–26 and due for renewal in FY26–27 will be offered the opportunity to receive an additional year of funding through a grant amendment process, informed by a Foundation-led evaluation framework. 

The evaluation seeks to understand how existing hubs are being utilized, the experiences of their audiences, and the outcomes they have achieved after a year or more of funding through the Hub Fund. It is intended to inform our understanding of each pilot’s progress and sustainability, and to support decision-making regarding the additional year of funding. All existing hubs have been informed about the evaluation, and the approach can be found on the Hubs Meta-wiki. 

Community groups interested in initiating new hubs are welcome to continue holding discussions to clarify needs and build consensus. The Hub Guidelines can serve as a reference for expectations of future hub proposals. More information about hub recognition and funding for future hubs beyond the above is forthcoming, based on the ongoing pilots on the Ecosystem of Movement Organizations and the Global Resource Distribution Committee.

For any questions, please email strategy2030@wikimedia.org.