Grants talk:Project/Rapid/UG LK/Wiki Loves Earth 2020 in Sri Lanka

Comments from I JethroBT (WMF)

@Rehman and Azeez: With consideration to the recent announcement regarding WMF grants programs' response to concerns about COVID-19, I am reaching out to you in regards to your Rapid Grant proposal. 

I have moved your proposal back to draft status, because we will not be approving grants for offline events happening before September 15, 2020 until further notice. I know this will cause disruptions in your planning over the next several weeks and months.

We ask you to please consider our guidance regarding postponing or canceling your events. If you have any questions about your project, please contact rapidgrants@wikimedia.org. I look forward to hearing from you, and to answer any questions you have. 

Please stay safe and diligent during this time, and if you have any further concerns, I hope we can support you as best we can. With thanks, I JethroBT (WMF) (talk) 19:03, 13 March 2020 (UTC)

Hi Chris. Thank you for your message. We agree with the precautionary measures suggested by the WMF, and are willing to suspend the event per above. For clarity though, WLE Sri Lanka does not have any offline activity planned; everything will be online, as stated in the grant request. That being said, we understand that the net benefit of holding the event may be impacted as more people may not find time to participate due to the COVID-19 impact on their day-to-day activities. Do let us know if you would like us to officially call off the event (as opposed to postponing, etc). Rehman 06:37, 14 March 2020 (UTC)

@Rehman: Thank you for confirming this— if the program is entirely online, and there are no public events or gatherings associated with the funded activities, then it is eligible for funding if it is scheduled before September 15, 2020. If you would prefer to postpone your event to a later time for the reasons you mention, we would support that. You can simply change the grant start and end dates accordingly. We are not requiring anyone to cancel their planned events, though if you would prefer to cancel because it is not possible to hold the event later in the year, this is acceptable and understandable. I JethroBT (WMF) (talk) 23:02, 14 March 2020 (UTC)

Apologies for the late reply. Per the discussion which I pinged you in, we're discussing if to proceed with the event, or to cancel. I will update here (and ping you) once decided. Thanks! Rehman 14:00, 18 March 2020 (UTC)

Hi Chris. After a volunteer vote, we have decided to go ahead with the event as planned. Since we do not have any offline activity, there should not be any safety concerns. Please do let me know if you have any questions or clarifications. Have a great day, and stay safe! Rehman 04:40, 23 March 2020 (UTC)

@Rehman: Thanks for this update, and for gathering feedback from your community on how everyone would like to proceed. Given those circumstances, you are welcome to change the status of the grant page to proposed when you are ready for us to review it. I have no concerns with your grant activities given the current restrictions. I JethroBT (WMF) (talk) 06:45, 27 March 2020 (UTC)\

Approved

Hello Rehman and Azeez, thanks again for submitting this Rapid Grant request. We have approved it! Best regards, DSaroyan (WMF) (talk) 09:15, 28 March 2020 (UTC)

Hi Davit, thank you. Best wishes, Rehman 10:28, 28 March 2020 (UTC)

Reporting date revision

Hi Chris and Davit. Is it possible to postpone the reporting deadline to 15 October please? Due to unavoidable circumstances with most of our jury members, the voting process was delayed by a month, and hence contacting the winners were also delayed. Since we were only able to send winning notices on 1st Sep (instead of the planned 1st Aug) and are yet to hear back from some winners (as documented here), I think it is better we give this a bit more time. Thank you. Rehman 06:06, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

Hello Rehman, thanks for posting your request! I'm approving your request and offering you a reporting due extension until 15 October 2020. Best regards, DSaroyan (WMF) (talk) 06:57, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

Many thanks, Davit! Take care, Rehman 06:59, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

Hey Rehman, I just checked our records and it seems that your reporting due date is on October 15, 2020 and there's no need to change anything. --DSaroyan (WMF) (talk) 07:05, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

Oh okay, that's good news! I guess the due date on the grants page was a typo. :) Rehman 07:07, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

@Rehman:, on the grant page the grant end date is shown (September 15). The reporting due date is on 30 days after your grant end date (October 15). Best, DSaroyan (WMF) (talk) 07:19, 10 September 2020 (UTC)

Oh alright, now it makes sense. Thank you for clarifying, Davit. Best wishes, Rehman 07:42, 10 September 2020 (UTC)