Community Resources and Partnerships/India Conference Project
If you are an existing (or new) movement organiser or an affiliate (recognised/ unrecognised) in India and would like to host (or start) an event or conference in the country that needs resourcing, you can do that by putting in a conference proposal. Your conference should support the achievement of Wikimedia's mission and strategic direction, bringing Wikimedians together for experience sharing, skill-building, and networking.To be in alignment with the global Wikimedia movement in conference resourcing, please read the following sections before putting in an application: How to apply; What we fund; Eligibility requirements; Application process; and Timeline.
Additional care should be taken at these points:
- Pre-planning: As this is a new process, we encourage first-time conference applicants to be in touch with the Conference Fund Program Officer, (conferenceprojects@wikimedia.org) on your draft conference plan. Where needed, your programme officer may also connect you with an institutional partner (or vice versa) so that they can provide further support to ensure your conference plan is aligned with legal requirements in India and the reporting requirements of both WMF and your institutional partner.
- Documentation required upon submission of the conference proposal: Proof of identity for individuals (i.e. Aadhaar card, PAN card); proof of non profit status for organisation and Goods and Services Tax identification number. These are also captured in the application form (i.e. section on applicant details).
- Budgeting: When putting together your conference budget, you will need to apply the following line items to your conference budget subtotals (see budget template)
- A flat rate of 15-20% (of conference budget subtotal) institutional development fee - for the institutional partners’ supporting role in the above process; and
- Chartered Accountant fee - Based on local context, while we understand the existing practice is to allocate INR 4000 - 8000 for this, do adjust your budget estimates based on the quote you received from your Chartered Accountant. The requirement of the Chartered Accountant is to provide a utilisation certificate for your conference expenses (i.e. verified and signed on their letterhead to serve as the final financial statement). This should be submitted together with your final conference report as a supporting document.
- Your institutional partner will be reviewing your budgets for the above as part of their screening process
- Tax implications: In the case that you plan to budget for an honorarium fee in your conference budget (i.e. fees for Independent Contractor or professional or technical services), and if the amount exceeds INR 30,000, your institutional partner will deduct a TDS (Tax Deducted at Source) at 10% on the amount above INR 30,000, together with documentary evidence of remitting such taxes to the Government of India in Form 16A. In addition, Good and Services Tax (GST) will not be applicable to any services provided for your conference budget. Your institutional partner will honour all supporting bills from you (and your conference organising team) that includes GST, provided the bills are GST-compliant.
- Conference cash flow: Your institutional partner will be disbursing your conference funds in two tranches
- Wire 1 (80% of budget) upon completion of the onboarding process; and
- Wire 2 (20% of budget) will be released when you notify institutional partner to release the rest of the funds. See also the section on reporting.
- Application process: The current application process from submission of application to disbursement of payment is expected to take about 2 months in total.
- Onboarding process: Once your proposal is approved, your institutional partner will reach out to you to start the onboarding process. These include
- Issuing Individual Contractor Agreement to the Individual Contractors
- Providing necessary information on institutional partner policies
- Making entry and registering the Individual Contractors in the system
- Registration with required personal information and banking details from the Individual Contractors
- Financial transaction (activated when the above steps are completed)
How to apply
[edit]- Read about the conference and who can submit a proposal below.
- Go to Wikimedia Foundation Portal (Fluxx) and log in.
- If you do not have an account, click Register Now and provide the requested information. You will receive confirmation of your registration within two working day.
- Go to the For community members from India section on the main page and click the Apply for Conference Project button on the main page. Click Save and Continue or Save and Close to save the application.
- Follow the instructions on the application form. You will need to give information about your conference proposal and upload several documents.
- Click Submit to submit the application for review.
- We accept proposals in any language. We will support translation for proposals and discussions as needed.
- The conference proposal will be published to Meta-Wiki automatically within two days. This is done for community review and feedback.
- You can prepare the proposal offline. Make a copy of the form, answer the questions and copy the text to Fluxx.
- For first-time applicants, do factor in an additional 48 hours for your Fluxx account to be approved by the Project Administration team after request.
What we fund
[edit]We prioritise proposals that:
- Are from underrepresented communities that have capacity-building as a main goal.
- Support implementation of the Wikimedia 2030 Strategy recommendations.
- Partner with affiliates to create regional, thematic, growth groups in the Wikimedia movement.
- Include outreach and partnering with open knowledge organisations, expanding our global reach.
- Empower new participants and contributions with a clear newcomer engagement plan.
- Are creating virtual events instead of in-person.
Note: For projects under 5,000 USD, please see the Rapid Project program.
Funding is generally awarded to three broad categories of movement events:
- Thematic events such as GLAM Bootcamp, WikiWomen's Camp and Public Policy Meetings
- National and regional conferences like WikiConference India
- Growth events which focus on new innovative ideas and events focusing on movement growth
Event categories and date
[edit]National/ Regional Events
Regional events are meant for creating and developing national and regional platforms for experience sharing, skill building, and networking. The purpose of these events is to bring together Wikimedians to tackle shared challenges focusing on similar geographic locations, culture and languages. Developing more regional leadership platforms (such as Iberocoop; WISCom, ESEAP and the CEE group) will be highly encouraged. Some examples for National and regional conferences are: WikiConference India, WikiConference North America, and Regional affiliate meetings such as WikiArabia, ESEAP Conference, CEE Meeting and Wiki Indaba.
Thematic Events
Thematic events are events that center around existing and defined themes related to the Wikimedia movement. Examples: GLAM Bootcamp, WikiWomen's Camp and Wiki Loves Monuments International team strategy meeting
- Focusing on specific projects like Wikidata, Wikisource, or a specific language Wikipedia
- Focusing on a specific topic like diversity, women's camps, education or strategy
- Other: events like Celtic Knot or Tamali WP 15 years celebration,
Growth Events
Growth events are our newest category of events defined in the conference grants program. This category is meant to leave space for new ideas coming from community organizers and focuses on new innovative ideas and events focusing on movement growth
- First time events with the most potential for community growth (examples: focusing on new demographics such as emerging communities and elderly or youth)
- New and innovative ideas around type of event / event structure / event content (including remote events)
- New coalitions and collaborations between groups (examples: a new affiliate or user group partnering with a long term affiliate, an event focused on bringing together wikimedia community organizers to share ideas)
Eligibility requirements
[edit]This fund is for you if you:
- Are applying for funds above 30,000 USD and its equivalent in Indian Rupees at the time of the application. Funds are distributed in Indian Rupees.
- Are a group or organisation with no outstanding reports. You and the fiscal sponsor should be in compliance with our funding and Wikimedia Foundation agreements.
- Received funds from the Wikimedia Foundation before. If you did not receive funding over 5,000 USD before, contact conferenceprojects@wikimedia.org to discuss.
- Are applying to organise a future, planned event or conference.
- Are a Wikimedia affiliate who wants to organise an international or regional conference. Examples are GLAMWiki conference, Wikisource Conference, WikiIndaba, CEE Meeting.
You are not eligible for funding if:
- The conference you have in mind aims to improve third-party websites.
- Works and contributions are not published under ethical, open-access agreements.
Legal and conduct requirements
[edit]Primary and secondary contacts, agreement signatories, bank account signatories, and any individuals in roles that direct the implementation of project activities, must:
- Follow the Universal Code of Conduct and Friendly Space Policies.
- Comply with all requirements and be in good standing for any current activities supported through the Wikimedia Foundation and partner organization.
- Be in good standing in regard to ethical behavior within the community (e.g. social behavior, financial behavior, legal behavior, etc.), as determined through the due diligence process of the program.
- Have no recent or recurring violations:
- Must not be blocked on any Wikimedia project, even if the proposed work is unrelated to that project.
- Within the past year, must not have been blocked, banned, or flagged by Wikimedia Foundation staff or affiliates for violations of the Universal Code of Conduct, Friendly Space Policies, or other conduct issues.
- Must not have been repeatedly blocked or flagged for the same issue on a Wikimedia project.
- If prior issues or blocks have occurred, must demonstrate learning and understanding in regard to the cause for the issue, such that they are ready to serve as a role model for others.
- Not appear on the United States Department of Treasury Specially Designated Nationals And Blocked Persons List (SDN).
- Not be staff members or contractors of Wikimedia Foundation or partner organization working more than part time (over 20 hours per week).
- Provide all information and documentation needed to receive the funding from the Wikimedia Foundation.
Youth Safety
[edit]Youth Safety Policy must be in place for any activity that involves underage community members.
- If the proposal indicates direct contact with children or youth, it also outlines compliance with international and local laws for working with children and youth, and provides documentation of the local laws in the annex.
- The proposal demonstrates how they will ensure the safe engagement of young people in all of the project’s activities.
- The proposal demonstrates that any adults who will be working in close contact with young people have been properly vetted and trained.
- The proposal outlines an action protocol in the case that incidents occur relating to the physical and psychological safety of young people.
Review and application process
[edit]Proposals are reviewed according to the following criteria:
- Community engagement
- How do you aim to engage your community in the planning process?
- Impact potential
- Is there a demonstrated need for the event?
- Are goals and intended outcomes clearly articulated, high priority, and reasonably achievable?
- Is there a plan for follow up after the event?
- Ability to execute
- Are there enough community members with the time and ability to plan and execute the event?
After submission, the application will be processed with the following steps:
- Committee review and feedback of proposals (14 days)
- Applicants make adjustments to their proposal where needed. Should the applicant need it, they can schedule phone calls with the program officer or committee members. (14 days)
- Funding decision is posted within 4 weeks of submission.
- After approval, monthly check-in calls will be scheduled with the Program Officer.
Timeline
[edit]Here's the important dates for the upcoming two rounds:
Round 2:
- Submission deadline: February 3, 2025
- Staff and compliance review; Community review: February 3 - February 24, 2025
- Receiving and engaging with feedback: February 24 - March 3, 2025
- Committee review: March 3 - March 17, 2025
- Decision announced: March 28, 2025
- Event dates: June to December 2025
Future rounds will be published when ready.
Plan a conference or event
[edit]How to submit a report
[edit]If your conference proposal is approved, you will need to submit a final report (i.e. narrative and financial report) to WMF within 60 days after you complete the conference .
- Go to Wikimedia Foundation Funds Portal (Fluxx) and log in.
- Find the Reports section on the left sidebar. Select the Upcoming link and you will see all upcoming reports.
- Select the Conference report and click Edit. Answer the questions in the form. You can write it in any preferred language.
- When your report is complete, click Submit to send it for review.
- You can prepare the report offline. Make a copy of the report form, answer the questions and copy the text to Fluxx. Final report template for Conference Project
For more support on the evaluation and reporting, please reach out to your programme officer.
In addition to the above, you are also required to reconcile your cash flow with your institutional partner at two points:
- (Point 1) After spending 80% of conference budget
- (Point 2) After spending 100% of the conference budget. Your final financial report should be verified and signed by a registered chartered accountant on their letterhead.
You can use the same financial reporting format for documentation to your institutional partner and WMF.
Review proposals
[edit]FY 2024-25
[edit]| India Conference Project proposals in FY 2024-25 |
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