Grants talk:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/DCW September 2023 - February 2024 Half-Yearly Plan (ID: 22215414)

Endorsment from 511KeV

Keeping in view the recent activities & progress of DCW, it is evident that the user group is maturing quickly. This grant will hopefully keep them in a rising trend. --_signed, 511KeV ^(talk) 07:24, 11 July 2023 (UTC)

Endorsment from Akbarali (talk)

Hope this project will help the DCW community to enhance the contributions of Wikimedia volunteers--Akbarali (talk) 04:57, 18 July 2023 (UTC) --Akbarali (talk) 04:57, 18 July 2023 (UTC)

Endorsement from @Bridges2Information

The enthusiasm from TheAafi (DCW) is great! There was positive engagement from the DCW community with the #EveryBookItsReader campaign and we look forward to working with them again in the future. Bridges2Information (talk) 02:09, 21 July 2023 (UTC)

Endorsment from Atibrarian

With the recent success stories from the developmental projects undertaken by DWC led by TheAafi, the well articulated goals, strategies and clear plan activities to achieving salient topic of interest - representation and documentation of underrepresented global academics is worthy of support and encouragement.

I look forward to learning from the success story and its beneficial contributions to bridging content gap on Wikimedia projects. Atibrarian (talk) 10:15, 28 July 2023 (UTC)

Feedback from the South Asia regional funds review team

Dear TheAafi, thanks for submitting this Rapid Fund request.

• We think that the proposal is clear with a potential impact for the Wikimedia Movement. We appreciate that the proposal aims at addressing representation gaps in global Muslim academia, scholarship, history, and culture within Wikimedia projects.
• The project outlines the main challenges and approaches to achieve the change described, which includes different initiatives such as open conversation hours, collaborative projects, edit-a-thons. We think that the emphasis on inclusivity, enhanced knowledge sharing is important, and we appreciate your goal to amplify the voices and contributions of global Muslim academia and related cultural heritage on Wikimedia platforms.
• Your learning plan is also clear and we like your approach to learn more about diversity of content and support pathways.
• We also commend you on having a detailed up-to-date plan and project page on Meta-Wiki.

Questions:

• How do you plan to engage students and academicians from Muslim minority institutions and madrasas in the activities? Are there any specific strategies in place to ensure their active participation? Add your response to Question 11.
• How will you ensure the safety of children and youth participating in the project? Is there any youth safety policy in place? You did not provide a Youth Safety policy which is a requirement. Add your response to Question 10.1.
• Have you considered potential challenges or limitations that may arise during the implementation of the project? Could you please give more information about the risks on your grant application? Add your response to Question 6.
• You have two salaried positions. For salaried positions, we request a list of the responsibilities and description why this cannot be done by volunteer efforts. Add your response to Question 8.
• Does your team have capacity to work with four different Wikimedia projects? Do you think you will be able to train all participants to contribute to four projects during the project? Add your response to Question 8.

We sent the application back to you to add the responses to the questions posted into your original application on Fluxx. Please complete this by July 28, 2023. Thanks again for your contribution and time. Looking forward to hearing from you.

On behalf of the South Asia regional funds review team. DSaroyan (WMF) (talk) 10:30, 21 July 2023 (UTC)

@DSaroyan (WMF): I have taken some time and updated the proposal with my responses. Please let me know if there is anything missing. I would be happy to fix things in accordance. Best regards, ─ The Aafī ^(talk) 10:39, 27 July 2023 (UTC)

w:en:Wikipedia:OABOT

I see you plan to make new users edit Wikipedia. Have you considered making them start with some assisted editing? For example OAbot is a tool to quickly edit references. It's educational on multiple fronts (templates, reliable sources, systemic bias, copyright) and can make the participants feel some sense of accomplishment quite quickly. Nemo 20:21, 20 November 2023 (UTC)

Request

@DSaroyan (WMF), I hope you are doing well. We have been working on getting the paperwork done, but it is still in the process. As such we have not been able to purchase a Google Workspace plan to help record the DCW Conversation Hour's editions. Previously, we had set a budget of 10,270 INR for Google Workspace Plan as indicated in the budget file. We feel it is good time to start trying Zoom, seeking an annual subscription which costs around 13,200 INR, taking in certain funds from the unforeseen line. I had a doubt and thought asking you: is it fine to swap Google Workspace with Zoom's Zoom One Pro plan. This could also help in keeping a record of other important conversations alongside the Conversation Hour - which has a global audience. Best regards, ─ The Aafī ^(talk) 14:26, 17 December 2023 (UTC)

Hello @TheAafi, thanks for letting me know about this proposed change. You can go ahead and make it. All the best, DSaroyan (WMF) (talk) 10:25, 18 December 2023 (UTC)

Thanks and Done. I found a very good discount coupon, gladly, and had to pay 10903 INR only otherwise it was somewhat 15k+ (inclusive of taxes). ─ The Aafī ^(talk) 14:36, 19 December 2023 (UTC)

Grant-extend date and re-allocation request

Hello @DSaroyan (WMF), and I see @JChen (WMF), back. I hope this message finds you well. Due to cycle changes, it is seen that our next plan starts on 1 April 2024, and we are building it here. I have some requests so that the activities our affiliate supports and does, do not remain unsupported during March 2024. I also have an update on shifting the accomdation premises by February 2024 (the last rental amount would be paid on 20th of January February). We would share our detailed learnings in our report. Given that:

1. Please extend the grant-end date to 31 March 2024. This ensures that our new major initiative of Wiki Loves Muslim Academia is supported. This would run until 16 February 2024, and would take around a month to announce the winning participants.
2. As of now, we have an underspent of INR 1,38.960.04 from this grant, and per se what is in our current plan, an amount of around 10,000 INR would be spend in January (afterwards this request), and around 27,000 INR in February 2024 (including stipends). Following these expenditures, there remains an amount of 101,960 INR. An amount of INR 17,000 has been dedicated for Wiki Loves Muslim Academia 2024, which leaves an amount of INR 84,960 behind, and then this request follows:
   • Please allow us to re-allocate an amount of 27,000 INR to support our staff stipends and making of communication resources in the month of March 2024.
   • Regular activities would remain as usual supported.

I look forward to hearing from you if there is any doubt or any clarification required. Best regards, ─ Aafi @ DCW (^talk) 10:46, 17 January 2024 (UTC)

Hello @TheAafi (DCW),

Thank you for your message.

Your request for grant-end date extension has been approved. The new grant end date is 31 March 2024 and your report is due one month thereafter.

Your budget re-allocation request of 27,000 INR to support our staff stipends and making of communication resources in the month of March 2024 is also approved.

Thank you and we wish you continued success in your project implementation.

Regards,

Jacqueline JChen (WMF) (talk) 04:31, 23 January 2024 (UTC)

Thank you @JChen (WMF). I just realised that I had mentioned January above instead of February. I made a slight correction to reflect accuracy. ─ Aafi @ DCW (^talk) 17:54, 16 February 2024 (UTC)

Hello @TheAafi (DCW),

Thank you for flagging this. We are acknowledging the edit.

We noted that with your update, the activities still fit within the grant duration and the new grant end date on 31 March 2024 works well for the project.

Thank you and good luck with the implementation.

Regards,

Jacqueline JChen (WMF) (talk) 22:40, 20 February 2024 (UTC)

Request reporting-date extension - APPROVED

Hello @JChen (WMF). I hope you are doing well. I am seeking an extension on the reporting date for this grant to afterwards the ending May. The current due date is April 30. I believe if I get the date is extended to 25/30 May, it would be a big relief. The reason for this is that I have been travelling during the last week and at the Wikimedia Summit in Berlin, I am having a difficult time to access my laptop. Upon my return to India, it appears that my university final semester exams are right around the corner starting in the first week itself. I hope you understand my concerns, and allow me and my team some more time to work on this report. Best regards, ─ Aafi @ DCW (^talk) 19:13, 20 April 2024 (UTC)

Hello @TheAafi (DCW), thank you for reaching out. Hope you had a meaningful experience at the Wikimedia Summit. The report date extension has been approved on Fluxx and also documented here on Meta. Thank you.

Regards, Jacqueline JChen (WMF) (talk) 01:57, 29 April 2024 (UTC)