Grants talk:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/Rapid Fund/Wikimedians of Kerala Anniversary Programme (ID: 22762361)

Update on Review Process

Hello @Ranjithsiji,

Hope you are well. Sharing an update that we'll require more time to review your application and I'll look to provide an update (or outcome) next week. I noted your proposed start date is on 10 October and we're also in contact with Kiwix about your project. Thanks for your patience and we'll connect soon.

Regards, Jacqueline JChen (WMF) (talk) 07:30, 27 September 2024 (UTC)

Your grant application has been approved

Hello @Ranjithsiji,

Congratulations! Your grant application has been approved in the amount of INR 418,400 from 10 October 2024 to 31 December 2024. Could you adjust your proposed budget accordingly? You can do that by adding a new tab to the existing excel sheet and labelling it revised. Once you have made the revisions, please reply to this talkpage post. Note that the approved amount is based on the prevailing INR/ USD exchange rate adopted by WMF Finance team.

Observations/ Recommendations / Notes

• Thank you for putting together this application. We particularly appreciated your detailed budget breakdown (as it provides an understanding of your costing assumptions) and there is a clear link between your project narrative and costing. Some questions, comments and recommendations captured during the review process requires your response:

• • 1) Related to question 11, would you be able to provide more documentation details of the discussion/ consultation with the community?

• • 2) Related to your existing budget, is there a reason why the unit cost for merchandise varies (i.e. INR 400-600/unit)? If it's a typo, could you use the same unit cost in your revised budget for consistency? We are also not sure what the administration charges line items refer to and why it is needed. Could you provide more details?

• • 3) Related to question 10, here's a re-cap of the youth safety policy. For your Wikimedia Technical Workshops, could you provide more details of the expected demographics for the event and (where relevant) provide a safety plan as required?

• • 4) I feel such initiatives are required to build a community and keep it alive; however, costs can be offset through partnerships (e.g venue partnership). It is not clear if there has been an attempt such as this in the past, and if such partnerships have been explored at all.

• • 5) There is also a plan to hold a Technical Workshop - “to build tools and features that enhance the Wikimedia ecosystem” – this I feel is very broad and ideally should involve members of the Wiki community that already do this work to outline the need / use of the tools or features that hope to be built. I wonder if the organisers can provide more elaboration on this?

• • 6) Projected or expected new participants seems less. Maybe actually more new users may participate. They seem to have good plan to bring in new users through collaboration with open source foundation

We know even the best thought through plans may change

In the event that there are changes to your implementation schedule, you can reach out to request for a grant extension (i.e. extend end date). Similarly, if there is a surplus budget or changes to your planned budget, you can reach out to me about reallocation (via email and on this talkpage). There is also the option to have the unspent funds deducted against a future grant. More details here: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Return_unused_funds_to_WMF

Additional resources which may be useful

• The reporting requirements and templates for the grant can be found here. All reports are to be completed and submitted via Fluxx.
• Timelines for reporting can be found in your grant agreement or on Fluxx.
• Instructions for post award: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Processing/Grantee_Portal/Post_award
• Documenting project expenses: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Documenting_project_expenses

We thank you for your participation in the grant application process and hope to continue to journey with you as you embark on this project. Let’s continue having regular conversations over the course of your grant implementation. Please let me know if you require support in any way or would like to share your experiences with a wider community through the Let's Connect Programme or on South Asia Open Community Calls.

Regards, Jacqueline on behalf of SA Regional Funds Committee JChen (WMF) (talk) 02:10, 2 October 2024 (UTC)

Answers to Observations

1) Question 11 : We discussed about the annual programme in usergroup monthly meetups July, August, September. Updated in Talk page. Updated in Malayalam Wikipedia. Also Updated in out telegram and whatsapp groups.

2) Thank you for the notification. I will correct it.

3) We are expecting all the youths who participate in Technical Workshop are above 18 years old. Also we are strictly following Friendly Space Policy for Wikimedia Foundation Events.

4) We're seeking partners to help us organize our event. In addition to providing a suitable venue, we're looking for organizations that can assist with catering, sound equipment, and video documentation. By collaborating with such partners, we can ensure a successful and memorable event.

5) We're actively seeking partnerships with organizations like Free Software Communities of India and Free Software User Groups in Kerala that specialize in technical events related to Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). Given my experience as a technical contributor to the Wikimedia Tools ecosystem, I'm confident in my ability to lead and manage this collaborative initiative.

6) I completely agree with this suggestion. We're committed to attracting new users to our events and fostering connections within the Wikimedia community. Our annual conference serves as a valuable platform to network with key individuals from other organizations sharing our mission. Ranjithsiji (talk) 18:23, 6 October 2024 (UTC)

Ping to respond to WMF Grants Administration Team

Hello @Ranjithsiji,

Hope you are well. Sending a ping on behalf of the WMF Grants Administration team.

Disbursement of Funds To facilitate the funds disbursement process, we seek your prompt response on Fluxx and via emails with the WMF Grants Administrator team (grantsadmin@wikimedia.org). We highly encourage you to submit all supporting documents and endorse the grant agreements within the stipulated time frame. When in doubt, proactively reach out to the WMF Grants Administration team and copy your programme officer.

Thank you.

Regards, Jacqueline JChen (WMF) (talk) 01:09, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

Thank you for the ping. I had done the necessary steps on the portal.

Regards, Ranjithsiji Ranjithsiji (talk) 02:50, 17 October 2024 (UTC)

Final report due date extension - Feb 2025

Hello @Ranjithsiji, Hope you are well. Thank you for your email request. Your final report due date has been extended to 28 February 2025. Regards, Jacqueline JChen (WMF) (talk) 01:43, 14 January 2025 (UTC)

Thank you Jacqueline for considering my request. It will make more easy for me to manage things. Ranjithsiji (talk) 03:26, 21 January 2025 (UTC)