Grants talk:Project/Rapid/Marajozkee/South Asia Regional Virtual Prioritization Workshops

Questions to the grantee[edit]

Thank you for submitting your rapid grant proposal to organize events with the South Asian communities!

It is great to see a plan engaging a number of communities in the region.
The communication plan seems really comprehensive and will be helpful in creating traction for participation.
It is great to see a commitment for diverse documentation activities to ensure that the results of the conversation are taken forward.

There are, however, couple of points that need to be clarified regarding this grant proposal.

IMPORTANT! Unfortunately, we are not able to approve costs that have already occurred, even though they might be in alignment with the general purpose of the grant program. We would like you to remove the data that is related to events that have already happened, update the start date of the grant accordingly and recalculate the costs based on the information that only future events can be funded. I apologize any inconvenience related to this and hope that this makes sense to you.
Regarding the participation level, we would like to have a general estimate for the planned events. This can be done based on existing numbers, but stating a number and adding and counting does not feel to be helpful in estimating the general scope. Please revise with your proposed estimate!
I would like to have a better understanding of the facilitation plan. Who is in charge of facilitating the meetings and how does it align with the interpretation activities?
Regarding the translations, I would like to understand better the written translation plan. What documents will be translated? How have the translation costs been calculated?
I would like to understand better what costs are counted within the online tools & services line item, especially considering the fact that there is an additional line item added for data subsidies. Could you please clarify this?

I hope my specifications make sense. I am available for any further questions and look forward to continued collaboration with you in making the South Asian movement strategy conversations happen! Best regards, --KVaidla (WMF) (talk) 13:56, 13 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Answers by the Grantee[edit]

Thank you KVaidla (WMF) for your questions, I apologize for any inconvenience caused to you in going through my "Grant proposal". Therefore, I have tried to answer all your questions in my best capacity.

IMPORTANT! Unfortunately, we are not able to approve costs that have already occurred, even though they might be in alignment with the general purpose of the grant program. We would like you to remove the data that is related to events that have already happened, update the start date of the grant accordingly and recalculate the costs based on the information that only future events can be funded. I apologize any inconvenience related to this and hope that this makes sense to you.

I like to thank you all the praises and you being a big support in my workshop events and looking the same for my forthcoming events as well. Now, as far as your question is concerned, thank you for clarifying this point, that “cost cannot be approved if the events occurred already", actually I was not aware of such protocol, my interpretation was the cost completely aligned with the Grant program, else I haven’t added the cost on my Grant budget, in place have asked for the grant much before the event, which I will consider in my future applications. Considering the other section of your question, I will update the “Start date”, and hereby putting 11th November as my “Start date”. Regarding, recalculation of the cost, I beg to confirm the cost remain the same, as there will be 4 workshops and more even if I don’t count on, Movement Strategy Call in Bangladesh.

Rajeeb, thank you for the clarifications. We announced the movement strategy grants on October 26, 2020 and only received this application November 8, 2020, following the first call related to this proposal with Bangladeshi communities on November 6. I agree that we were slow to set up the grant program and there could have been more time available for applications, however I believe that the grant proposal could have been presented within reasonable time prior to the event.

At the same time, I have been part of the discussions and have seen good engagement with different communities that have not been engaging with the global Wikimedia discussions and previous phase of strategy discussions, which aligns well with the intent and purpose of the grant program. As a result, I will move forward with approving this grant in full with 2 requests for you:

Please change the start date of the project to a future date, e.g. November 20.
I hope that you have now full awareness regarding the policy of no retroactive funding and will file in your future grant applications well before the occurrence of the actual events. Rushed and retroactive applications unnecessarily increase the risk of overlooking the details on our or grantee side, which might cause issues in delivery of the project and might also cause financial burden for the grantees, as the costs already start to incur before we are able to send the funding over. I hope it makes sense to you! --KVaidla (WMF) (talk) 10:02, 17 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for reaching out to me for further clarification, first of all I like to apologize for replying bit late, hope you understand my schedule nowadays not only facilitation, planning all the said workshops, executing the same as well, then balancing my professional work. As I mentioned above, I like to quote, "“Start date”, and hereby putting 11th November as my “Start date”.", as far as funding is concerned there are no costs that can not be delayed for few weeks), but ideally before the completion of the project. Rajeeb (talk) 06:04, 19 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Regarding the participation level, we would like to have a general estimate for the planned events. This can be done based on existing numbers, but stating a number and adding and counting does not feel to be helpful in estimating the general scope. Please revise with your proposed estimate!

A very good question that we are looking for exact figures, though I believe it is not possible for anyone to predict the exact numbers, as I mentioned on my “Grant proposal” as well, I quote, “I am working on a feedback survey to know why interested participants can't make it on the call, despite showing interest”, though my main motive is to reach out to the local communities in the South Asia regions, and I believe one participant can further bring more participants in the movement by “Word-of-mouth”. I will update the total participation to 60.

Thank you! We don't expect this to be exact number of participants and it is more about having a rough understanding of the scope of the meetings. That is clear now. --KVaidla (WMF) (talk) 10:02, 17 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you. Rajeeb (talk) 06:04, 19 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I would like to have a better understanding of the facilitation plan. Who is in charge of facilitating the meetings and how does it align with the interpretation activities?

Thank you for facilitating this question, I, myself Rajeeb, will be in charge of facilitating the meetings and there will be LIVE translator/s to assist me,( if needed), pardon me, for not mentioning my name on the Grant proposal. Here is how I am working and will work, I do make a ground level research to prepare at least one week before the call, speaking with the community in different platforms, understanding their needs, creating an organizing team, working on a probable dates and later finalizing the same, inviting guests, then working on creating an internal “Preparation Meeting plan” for the workshop and share the same with my team, keeping a “Preparatory Meeting Call”, one day before the “Main call” and again around 30 minutes before the “Main Call just to check on the last minute preparation and facilitating process. Furthermore, meeting facilitation time will be almost 2 hours per workshop.

Thank you for clarifying this and explaining the methodology in further detail. --KVaidla (WMF) (talk) 10:02, 17 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you. Rajeeb (talk) 06:04, 19 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Regarding the translations, I would like to understand better the written translation plan. What documents will be translated? How have the translation costs been calculated?

Thanks for this question, which I feel is important to ask, how we are connecting local community. We will be translating “Movement Strategy” materials in regional languages (specific for each community), which I do mentioned on my “Grant proposal”, we will be having verbal and written translation on the call, translated materials will be prepared as slides and will be available online for easy access anytime later as well, and if there is further request of any other specific needs, we will do that to reach out to the community and for further connection, a post workshop feedback survey written in local language will be sent to the community.

That is clear. I would kindly request you to upload any of the materials produced to the Commons and share links with the Transition Support Team via strategy2030

wikimedia.org --KVaidla (WMF) (talk) 10:02, 17 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for reaching out to me for further clarification, yes, I will be uploading all the materials to the Commons and even on specific workshop event page. I know we all run projects on "Donation funds", and here, I like to mention, that every penny will be spend judiciously and will be well documented for your kind perusal.Rajeeb (talk) 06:04, 19 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I would like to understand better what costs are counted within the online tools & services line item, especially considering the fact that there is an additional line item added for data subsidies. Could you please clarify this?

Thanks for this question as well, by “Online tools & services”, we meant to buy a Zoom package, cost for creating online flyers and social media promotion.

Thank you for clarifying. This aligns generally what we have seen in other proposals. --KVaidla (WMF) (talk) 10:02, 17 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for your comments, I don't know whether it align with other proposals or not, I only add costs which is specifically align with my project. Rajeeb (talk) 06:04, 19 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

I think I have answered all your above queries, still, if you have any further queries, I am ready to answer them. Last but not the least, I like to mention that this grant funding will enable us to connect with the local community in a better way with a wide reach and enabling the local community to know, understand and take part to voice for the “Movement Strategy recommendations” and vouch for their priorities. Namaste, Rajeeb (talk) 20:01, 13 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Grant approved[edit]

Dear Rajeeb, thank you for your application to fund a movement strategy event through a rapid grant and for your responses on this talk page! Based on the review of your application and additional information provided on this talk page I am excited to inform you that we have decided to support the South Asia Regional Virtual Prioritization Workshops in the full amount of $1,950.00.

At the same time we would kindly request you to make future grant applications in a more timely manner, so it would be possible to process them more thoughtfully and also have funds sent over in advance of the activities. We announced the movement strategy grants on October 26, 2020 and I feel there was a sufficient time buffer to file in the grant proposal much earlier than it was done now (i.e. November 10). I have now changed the start date of the grant accordingly. We understand the effort that was needed for the coordination of the events, but a more timely application would help to manage the funding more effectively and with less risks for all parties. Thank you for your kind attention to this note!

We hope that you will have a successful continuation to the events and look forward to reading your discussion reports. If you have any questions or specifications regarding the grant, don’t hesitate to reach out. Thank you for your contribution to the global movement strategy conversations! --KVaidla (WMF) (talk) 08:29, 24 November 2020 (UTC)[reply]

Concern from Bangla Wikipedia community: Questionable application and budget breakdown[edit]

Dear Kaarel and Janice, although the grant request has been approved, for record and attention-drawing purposes, I would like to mention that many members of both the online and offline Bangla Wikipedia Community find this grant amount excessive and unrealistic. There's an active discussion in place on Bangla Wikipedia village pump (see here) regarding the questionable actions of Rajeeb, the grantee. I would encourage you to follow the outcome and investigate further. Thanks. — T. 19:08, 7 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Kaarel and Janice, we'll appreciate your confirmation of acknowledgement. — T. 19:28, 11 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Dear Wikitanvir, hereby I affirm that this note has been well acknowledged. We are monitoring closely the developments of the discussions on Bengali Wikipedia village pump and will work with the grantee Marajozkee to clarify his perspective, the scope of the work delivered and community engagement approaches regarding the movement strategy discussions he has organized in South Asia region. We will follow up with the outcomes of the assessment on this talk page. Thank you for proactively reaching out and ensuring we are well aware of the concerns raised by Bengali community. Take care! --KVaidla (WMF) (talk) 20:52, 11 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for the confirmation, Kaarel. — T. 20:57, 11 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Update: Bangla Wikipedia community decided to block "User:Marajozkee" for various reasons (including above). --আফতাবুজ্জামান (talk) 19:00, 27 January 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Extending report deadline[edit]

Grantee Marajozkee has been in conversations regarding the raised issues with the Movement Strategy and Community Resources team and has requested a new deadline of February 28, 2021 for sending over all the necessary documentation. Hereby, I approve the extension request and hope that all the aspects regarding this grant will be clarified by that time. With kind regards, --KVaidla (WMF) (talk) 10:05, 2 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Comments from I JethroBT (WMF) on ব্যবহারকারী:Marajozkee (রাজীব দত্ত)-এর বিরুদ্ধে অভিযোগ[edit]

Hello everyone, this is Chris Schilling, a program officer on the Community Resources Team. Thank you for bringing our attention to this discussion. I want to offer a some comments to respond to the community discussion on Bengali Wikipedia regarding these grants:

We agree with concerns that community engagement for these grants was insufficient when they were proposed. Furthermore, we acknowledge that responses from Marajozkee to community feedback during the grant period did not adequately address the concerns. We have discussed some of these needs and expectations for grantees with Marajozkee.
A separate factor contributing to this problem was that our own application instructions for community engagement during proposal review were not clear. This lack of clarity contributed to these community concerns, and it is important that we take steps to prevent this in the future. We will be changing our application to ensure that applicants show that they have informed their community about their proposal in relevant community spaces to support review.
We have also discussed concerns related to grant budgets and reporting with Marajozkee. We encourage grantees and communities to communicate transparently and productively about these areas both on Meta and on local Wikimedia projects, and want to note the following:
- Applicants should be willing to consider adjusting their budget based on community recommendations where possible. Community members should also be willing to understand the logistical and practical costs of organizing from the grantee’s perspective.
- Grant-related materials such as documentation or expense reporting are normally provided on Meta and to the Community Resources team when a grant report is due. In some cases, these materials cannot be provided earlier, as the grant activities may still be ongoing. If there is a request for these materials earlier, we ask and will support grantees to provide available materials in a reasonable timeframe, or to clearly explain when they will be available. This will help both the Wikimedia Foundation staff and also community members to adequately evaluate the scope of work and effort.
We will be working together with Marajozkee to complete and report on their current grants. Based on our behavioral requirements for grants, community decisions to block individuals from Wikimedia projects affects their future eligibility for grants. To become eligible for future funding, applicants who are blocked are required to demonstrate learning and understanding in regard to the causes for the block and that they work to directly resolve those concerns with the local community.

We hope that these concerns can be resolved and will provide support where we are able to address these needs. Thank you again for bringing this discussion to our attention. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

With thanks, I JethroBT (WMF) (talk) 23:29, 11 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]