Wikimedia user groups/Requirements
Wikimedia user groups are groups of Wikimedians who intend to do offline work that could range from meetups to partnerships to any new and novel way the group comes up with to further the Wikimedia vision. The requirements to set up an officially recognized user group are meant to be light-weight and easy to follow.
Wikimedia user groups are groups of people (at least 3) who do offline work. Recognition from the Affiliations Committee allows a group to apply for using the Wikimedia trademarks and to get grants; however, recognition is not required to do any of the work typical user groups do or might do, it is an optional extra step with connected benefits and some requirements.
Listing a group's information in a public place
Your groups should have a page on Meta and the relevant other projects (e.g. Wikipedia) where the public and interested volunteers can learn about who you are, what you do, and how to join you.
A clear definition of focus, motivation and time period for which recognition is requested
Your group should have a clear definition on what you would like to do (e.g. "we would like to organize a lecture series on Wikipedia in local schools" or "we would like to start a meetup group in our town"), and for how long you would like recognition (e.g. a month, 3-months, a year or continuously, in which case the Affiliations Committee will check in on you from time to time to see if you are still active).
Plans for offline work
Your group should have some plans what it would like to achieve in the offline work.
In formulating your plans, you might look for ideas on the Outreach wiki and see what the other organizations are doing. Bear in mind that you must have goals that echo those of the Wikimedia Foundation, and your activities should not stray from these tenets.
For more information on this, see the Wikimedia vision and mission statement.
User groups, once active and recognized, are expected to provide a short update on their activities on their Meta page at least annually, but preferably after every event or programme.
Structure
User groups may be incorporated, in which case, they must be legally independent from the Wikimedia Foundation.
User groups are meant to give a real-life structure to projects that might arise from contributors or external parties in line with the goals of the Wikimedia Foundation. However, user groups are not meant to operate the Wikimedia projects nor to be legally responsible for the content of the projects. To achieve that, it is necessary that if a legal structure is chosen for the creation of a user group, it should be clearly independent from the Wikimedia Foundation.
Contributor involvement
The user group must involve contributors to the Wikimedia projects.
While user groups should welcome the input of people who are not active contributors to the Wikimedia projects, they should not stray too far from the community. An active involvement of contributors to the Wikimedia projects is necessary to enable a user group to bring its real-life initiatives to life in the Wikimedia projects.
The group should have a contact person
Your group should have primary contact people (or a single contact person). You should indicate who the contact people are on your wiki page (e.g. with their username).
When the user group signs a trademark or grants agreement with the Wikimedia Foundation, the contact person must be ready to provide their contact details and to be identified to the Wikimedia Foundation (for example by providing a copy or a scan of their ID to the Foundation).