Grants talk:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/DCW Half-Yearly Strategic Budget Plan (ID: 22009982)

Initial suggestions from the South Asian Regional Funds Committee

Hi @TheAafi,

Thank you for your application regarding building a strategic plan for the growth of the Deoband Community Wikipedia. We would like to acknowledge that the overall idea is good and is in the right direction for finding sustainable growth trajectory for the affiliate. We believe that this community is an underrepresented community and should be supported with both resources and guidance for them to develop a sustainable process to make their projects successful.

• We have a few suggestions regarding areas that need to be clarified and involve deeper discussions:
  • There is very little information about the research itself which includes salaried staff. It is essential that there is detailed information about the research you are proposing. For example -
    • Title of the research
    • Context of the research / Problem statement
    • Objectives
    • Methodology
    • We recommend to follow this format as a guideline to document your research proposal. It will not only help other people to understand you project better but also can be a good document for your internal use during the research works [1].
  • If you can suggest a tentative numbers of events like; number of meet-ups planned, number of workshops/training planned that will be very helpful.
  • In addition to the above points, we would like to know if you have consulted or will consult any expert about the requirements to get the local registration paperworks yet? If so, what will be the cost of the government fees for the registration and what will be the fees for lawyer/attorney for process the paper works? Please make sure that the amount you are asking for the estimated legal registration charges will be adequate to do that job.
• Looking forward to your responses and thinking together. On behalf of the South Asian Regional Funds Committee THasan (WMF) (talk) 04:05, 18 December 2022 (UTC)

Hi @THasan (WMF), thanks for your helpful feedback. I am discussing this with DCW volunteers internally and will get back to you with a detailed response in a few days. ─ The Aafī ^(talk) 07:05, 18 December 2022 (UTC)

Hi @THasan (WMF), I'm answering your questions point-wise.

1. More details about the research are available here. We had to modify the proposed budget of this as well subject to its complexity. We will upload the final budget plan once we get #4 clarified.
2. A number of six meetups are proposed, and more details are available here. This also includes "one introduction cum training workshop". While designing the research proposal, it appeared to us that we need to engage in few more things such as photo walks that are different from our Bhopal Photo Event, so we would also engage in so we are proposing one photo walk session as well. Subject to this, we are modifying our budget proposal. Much-earlier proposed Deoband Community Wikimedia/Events/First General Body Meet should happen to be the first meet from the six proposed here.
3. We also look forward to doing second drive of the Deoband Yoruba Collaborative Project and form another collaborative project for the betterment of our theme on the encyclopedia.
4. We are consulting a lawyer for the registration purposes and we are supposed to received a final response by tomorrow, but given how much minimal amount we need to manage in the trust's account, we have amended the amount to 30k, and I feel this should be enough, but I'm waiting for the final expert opinion.

Looking forward to your suggestions on this much. Regards, ─ The Aafī ^(talk) 18:10, 5 January 2023 (UTC)

@THasan (WMF), the amended budget file is updated both on Fluxx and Meta. The discourses related to registration are still going on and a message seeking relevant advises has been sent to AffCom member Manavpreet Kaur as well. That said, INR 30k appears to be adequate and we can have the local paper works done. Looking forward to hearing from you. ─ The Aafī ^(talk) 12:07, 13 January 2023 (UTC)

Endorsment from BIDROHI ^Hello..

 Strong support Deoband communities across the world are some of the most underrepresented, not only in wikimedia, but also everywhere. There's a huge knowledge gap regarding hundreds of Deoband scholars, events and histories. Hundreds of Deoband groups are spread across the globe which are interconnected in some way or another with themselves.

DCW is doing amazing from its very inception, but there are a lot of places to develop. This fund request is going to push the community one step further toward that development. The fund proposal indicates some strong determination to develop themselves. The proposal needs to be updated with some tangible metrics that can be clearly measured. It seems the volunteers of DCW need more learning and training support, you can also include it in this plan. Hope the Deoband people will join the movement through DCW and they will help us to bridge the existing knowledge gap regarding the vast Deaoband world.

-- BIDROHI ^Hello.. 06:53, 18 December 2022 (UTC)

Endorsment from Numis Zuhair (talk)

The project would help form the strong foundation of DCW and help us define our strategies for better participation.

--Numis Zuhair (talk) 18:35, 5 January 2023 (UTC)

Endorsment from Akbarali (talk)

Hope this project will help DCW community to organize and plan events as mentioned in the project.

--Akbarali (talk) 14:53, 10 January 2023 (UTC)

Funding recommendation from the South Asia Regional Funds Committee

@TheAafi: The South Asia Regional Funds Committee, approves this application for full funding. It is important that the steps are documented in a methodical manner and learnings are shared with all of the Indian communities as this question is of strategic importance and many communities will benefit from your work.

On behalf of the South Asia Regional Funds Committee THasan (WMF) (talk) 15:10, 16 January 2023 (UTC)

@THasan (WMF) Thanks for the approval. I make a note of your suggestions and recommendations. ─ The Aafī ^(talk) 15:21, 16 January 2023 (UTC)

Hi @THasan (WMF), I am just making a note here. Although the amount indicated in INR is full and does not miss anything, one of the entries in USD was missing a value. The support provided to the research supervisor as indicated in the budget file is 8000 INR (per month) and that is 97.9352 USD (per month) making a total of 587.61 USD missing from the USD equivalent. The total USD equivalent that the budget template suggests is 4549.69 USD. I hope the necessary change is adjusted. ─ The Aafī ^(talk) 05:07, 18 January 2023 (UTC)

pinging DSaroyan (WMF) as well as they might be able to fix this unintentional error. The amount is all okay in INR. The USD amount needs to be fixed. ─ The Aafī ^(talk) 05:09, 18 January 2023 (UTC)

Hi TheAafi, thanks for the ping. I updated the USD equivalents in your grant. Good luck! --DSaroyan (WMF) (talk) 06:42, 18 January 2023 (UTC)

Access to research study by Scwitter

Dear @Jtud (WMF) and @THasan (WMF): Please could you make us this thesis available for our research study included in the proposal? A twitter post of Schwitter suggests that this is final. A pdf works okay for us. Best, ─ The Aafī ^(talk) 05:33, 24 January 2023 (UTC)

The Aafī I'm not really sure what you are asking of me. -- JTud (WMF), Grants Administrator (talk) 02:05, 26 January 2023 (UTC)

Hi The Aafī, please write on the talk page of this application and tag the applicant with your request. 106.51.24.157 08:19, 28 January 2023 (UTC)

Confirming that the earlier IP edit was done by me THasan (WMF) (talk) 08:21, 28 January 2023 (UTC)

Reallocation request

Hello @THasan (WMF). Since DCW's report about the Bhopal Photo Event has been accepted with an underspent amount of INR 9982.97. I have some requests: In this grant, I had asked for an amount of 30,000 INR for graphics related things and it seems that the amount is going to be inadequate. The DCW has an intern graphics person working under a experienced graphics person and they spend a lot of time on this work and in producing the best graphics both for general purposes and research purposes (for our strategic research). There is no volunteer designer available in the user group at this moment and it is necessary for us to seek this service. If allowed to spend INR 9982.97 on this, it would be easier. Looking forward to your approval, ─ The Aafī ^(talk) 14:20, 15 March 2023 (UTC)

or am I supposed to apply for a new grant and get this much amount deducted from there only? If that's the case, I can wait for sometime subject to DCW research findings and apply for another grant as an addendum to this one and get the previous underspent amount re-allocated/re-purposed there. Best, ─ The Aafī ^(talk) 12:32, 19 March 2023 (UTC)

Thanks for your request,I will recommend that when you apply a new funding request this amount will be deducted. THasan (WMF) (talk) 09:24, 27 March 2023 (UTC)

Reallocation from within the categories

Hello @JChen (WMF), I have a request. In this grant, we have an amount of INR 20,000 for travel support, INR 40,000 for merchandise and INR 25,000 for food related expenses. Can we spend amount from these categories for example on Graphics, where I feel, there's inadequate budget. We need to switch a total of 20,000 INR for graphics. I hope this request is approved. Another request is that, there could be some unforeseen expenses, are we allowed to spend fund from the categories where we feel there is some extra amount available and that it could be utilized elsewhere? Best regards, ─ The Aafī ^(talk) 14:07, 12 April 2023 (UTC)

Reallocation request as at April 2023 - approved

Hello @TheAafi,

Thank you for reaching out. We have reviewed and proposed your proposed budget reallocation.

See PDF for more details: [2]https://drive.google.com/file/d/1oAVsRc0WiyzcKIN9JBXxPzkql0REP0I3/view?usp=sharing

Thank you.

Regards, Jacqueline JChen (WMF) (talk) 07:21, 13 April 2023 (UTC)

Re-allocation of the remaining funds - 53,384.44 INR

Hello @DSaroyan (WMF), I hope that you are doing well. As you continue reviewing the report for this grant, we have started looking for alternatives to registering as a non-profit, alongside logo rebranding for the DCW. It would be very great if you approve this request and allow us the use the unused funds in activities that we could not complete previously during the given period. If I break the budget, around 35,000 INR will go to the registration purposes, and the rest will go to rebranding.

DCW has actively participated in the movement governance and gladly we have been able to initiate formation of a Wiki Club at a central university with more than 30 students being interested in the very beginning. As such, it is important for the DCW to get the legal paperwork done soon. Now that we have the alternatives in mind, I am making this request. Looking forward to your approval. ─ The Aafī ^(talk) 06:05, 24 October 2023 (UTC)

Hello TheAafi, your request has been approved. You can use the remaining funds of 53,384.44 INR to cover additional legal and branding costs related to the registration and rebranding of your organizations. After you complete making the expenses, please add a short report on the final report discussion page and include details about the activities and expenses made. Best regards, DSaroyan (WMF) (talk) 08:10, 30 October 2023 (UTC)

@Jtud (WMF): I see that this approved re-allocation request hasn't been noted perhaps. On the Fluxx dashboard, it says the underspent has been applied for this recent grant. I have sent a follow-up to other two grant admins through email but I'd like to make a mention here as well for transparency. This has been a hectic task and we don't happen to come to the destiny as of now - I have meetings fixed with the CA's and plans offered by CoFynd to help with legal procedures and incorporation. However, it doesn't appear too feasible but too time-consuming. As such it is perfectly fine to have the underspent funds adjusted in the new grant, but this approval should have been noticed before. Nonetheless, I am hoping to meet the CA to discuss the future of this by the end of this month - but most likely we'd need more time to come out of this. ─ Aafi @ DCW (^talk) 08:32, 13 March 2024 (UTC)

@Aafi @ DCW thank you for your message and for catching this. Your new grant will actually be paid in full (388000 INR). The unused funds from this older grant (DCW Half-Yearly Strategic Budget Plan) will not be deducted from your new grant since Davit has approved its reallocation, and he is awaiting your reallocation report. The error was in note of your your new grant's Payment record in Fluxx. I have since corrected that note. Our apologies for any confusion or worry this may have caused you. -- JTud (WMF), Grants Administrator (talk)

@Jtud (WMF), Thanks and regards. I hope to have get this task done as soon. ─ Aafi @ DCW (^talk) 18:39, 13 March 2024 (UTC)