Grants talk:PEG/WM PH/General operations 2013

Support/no comments

• I support this proposal, and have no outstanding issues. NLIGuy (talk) 21:15, 20 May 2013 (UTC)
• --Ilario (talk) 19:11, 23 May 2013 (UTC)
• --3BRBS (talk) 22:46, 23 May 2013 (UTC) Please add the note

below :)

• After updating I can say I understand much better budget and i support this project. Have a successful work! --MikyM (talk) 23:14, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

Travel Insurance

Hi, I have only one observation. On item 22 says "This amount is reserved to cover visa application fees and travel insurance for members of the chapter participating in international Wikimedia meets/conferences." I understand that the insurances should be covered by the person itself (so far I understand, this is the policy of the WM Foundation). Nevertheless, as I presented the matter to Asaf in person, there are some insurances that are requested officially (for example for entering the Schengen space). I believe if an insurance is compulsory, it should be founded by the WMF, because it can jeopardize the assistance of someone to an event (It can be considered as part of the costs since its not an option to have one). But I also believe that if an insurance is not compulsory, then it should be convered by the person beneficiary of the insurance. This is why is important for me to note that the insurances, from my point of view, can be only funded if they are compulsory and not optional, and therefore, that should be clearly stated in the text explaining the item 22. Best! ;) --3BRBS (talk) 14:02, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

Hi, we do abide with WMF policies. Coming from a developing country, travel insurance is most of the time, if not always a requirement whenever we apply for a visa. So we'd like to make some allocation for it, in order to avoid scrambling for funds when the need arises.-- Namayan (talk) 15:57, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

Hi, then the allocation should be made when the insurance is a requirment only (at least from my point of view).--3BRBS (talk) 15:52, 7 May 2013 (UTC)

I'll add that in the notes, thanks for the reminder. -- Roel (talk) 02:06, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

I guess is still pending, I'll give my support, but I hope, if everyone agrees, that this note should be added. --3BRBS (talk) 22:45, 23 May 2013 (UTC)

Professional services and equipment

Thanks for the submission. Kudos for the great work in Wikimedia Philippines and your annual plan for 2013. Your have a very good and detailed budget, but there are two things I'd like to focus on. First, is it mandatory to use professional services from a bookkeeper and secretarial services according to laws in the Philippines? The second thing is the equipment you plan to buy as a useful tool for documentation and the ownership-issue related to it. Best regards.--Kiril Simeonovski (talk) 13:28, 4 May 2013 (UTC)

Hi Kiril. I believe these are items #5 and #25.

• Item #5. With regard to availing the services of a bookkeeper. This is to ensure that our books are properly maintained/reviewed according to the standards being cascaded every so often by the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) as we have to submit a copy of our books to them every January 15 (fifteen days after the end of our fiscal year), as provided under this permit. As chapter treasurer for 3 years now, I have to say that the first two years had been relatively easy to review and update our financial records timely, however on our third year (2012) with the growth of our projects, it has already become a challenge. Our book entries have also become more complex than before as every now and then we have to withhold certain tax payments on our purchases and remit it directly to the BIR. Non-compliance with the BIR results into penalties, and we want to avoid that.
• Item #25. The procurement of a camcorder, stemmed from our frustration in three separate events.

• Wiki Loves Monuments launch last March 2012, where we had some special guests who delivered their speeches of support for the project. We saw a group of participants who were video recording the event, and when we asked them if we can also be provided a copy of it, they declined.
• WikiConference 2012, where we relied heavily on inconclusive notes, even on our memory to recall certain facets of the conference and annual meeting, especially when issues were raised after the event.
• Wiki Loves Monuments awarding last October 2012, which was a formal event which could have been shared with other WLM organizers.
• Also we have to admit that our documentation of our meetings is poor. A well documented meeting in the form of minutes are a needed requirement to become a "certified" (fully-compliant) NGO. This camcorder ensures we have our records to go back to, should our notes be inconclusive (which happens most of the time).

Renting would be an option, though that might not be anymore economical after holding 6 events. Plus the need to do regulatory work, with withholding tax payment on the service and remitting it separately with the BIR. -- Namayan (talk) 14:46, 4 May 2013 (UTC)

If I may add with respect to documentation, allow me to note that efforts to record our meetings for future transcription are largely voluntary efforts by those present at the meeting in question. For example, at our last Board of Trustees meeting, an audio recording was made on the mobile phone of the acting Secretary for that meeting. It would be very impractical on the part of the chapter if we were to rely on such voluntary efforts to document our meetings and events, as not only will we have to rely on good will in order to have a well-documented meeting (which does not happen all the time, per Namayan's example with the launch of Wiki Loves Monuments 2012), but also we will have to rely on people actually bringing equipment to begin with, which may not always happen. Particularly for critical events where we believe documentation is of the highest priority, such as major projects and the like, a camcorder owned by the chapter for the purpose of documenting the chapter's activities (and for any other activity where a camcorder may be useful) will be very beneficial. --Sky Harbor ^(talk) 18:39, 4 May 2013 (UTC)

Thank you Roel and Josh for your comments. I have to say that you really convinced me that the purchase of a camcorder is important for your chapter, and there should be enough room to make an exception in this case within the Wikimedia Foundation to fund this purchase.--Kiril Simeonovski (talk) 12:49, 5 May 2013 (UTC)

Other Grants

Hi,

Putting my WMAU hat on for a moment, its great to see you asking for these funds to keep your operations professional and efficient, and we'll be watching the results with great interest.

Back to my GAC hat, and the costs do seem reasonable to me. One thing I would like to clarify; is part of this grant request also requesting that previous grant funding that has not been repaid to the WMF rolled over into this grant? Craig Franklin (talk) 02:03, 12 May 2013 (UTC).

Hi Craig. Yes we are requesting remainder of other grants to be rolled-over to this one instead of returning the amount to WMF. -- Roel (talk) 06:48, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

Sounds reasonable to me, but I'd suggest listing this explicitly somewhere to make sure that the grant is not disqualified on a technicality in that case. Craig Franklin (talk) 07:28, 12 May 2013 (UTC).

Thanks for the tip. I will do so. -- Roel (talk) 07:31, 12 May 2013 (UTC)

overlap; scale down

Thanks for this proposal. While the line items are reasonable, I am concerned at the total amount: despite the strictures of Philippine non-profit law, some of the spending seems to overlap, e.g. venue rental and cabinet rental and additional conference room rental and secretarial services and courier services and fuel reimbursements.

I would like to see this proposal scaled down by 15 to 20 percent, to consider approving it.

Also, I will record here that WMPH is currently out of compliance due to an incomplete grant report. Please address this as soon as possible. Asaf Bartov (WMF Grants) talk 22:19, 12 June 2013 (UTC)

Hi sir,

I'll work all the requirements right away, really sorry about that :(. With regard to the perceived overlap allow me to go over them:

• For Items #1 and #3, the office rent and service package we avail is for the following:
  • This rental/service package includes use of business address, 3 hours per quarter use of conference room, 3 hours per month use of working cubicles, unlimited forwarding of phone calls, receipt of correspondence, we are charged for anything extra.
  • (For Item#3) As mentioned, we would be buying another storage cabinet. We already have one and since we installed it in the office, we had to pay the "additional service" of ₱500 ($12.50) per month to occupy the space where it is place/installed, and since we really need another one, hence we have to pay for another. There's still a great amount of WMPH paraphernalia in my room, I wish to free my room from it. I live 15 miles away from WMPH's office. I cannot afford to let this go.
• I'm slashing Item#2 by 60%, and would suggest coffee shops as an alternative.
• Item#8 is slashed by 25%, but not much, because I want to work a system wherein we can just forward documents that have to be signed like checks, certifications that have to be notarized, rather than meeting up because as it has proven to be very inconvenient, the president and I live 32 miles apart. This item has nothing to do with secretarial services that we would like to avail.
• I'll remove Item#9 for this year. I was looking at someone attending an NGO seminar to study labor compliance, since we want to see if we can already have our own staff.
• I'm afraid on scrimping on Item#13, I would have to say these are very much needed. As these are not intended to be part of Item#6 secretarial services, there will be a lot of incidentals that we have to do ourselves.
• I'll scrap Item#16 for now we can assess we are ready for accreditation, or just request is as a separate grant, when we are ready to submit ourselves for assessment.
• Item#22 is slashed by ⅓. I was earmarking this Wikimedia meetings, but since major WMF organized meetings where WMPH should be present are almost already completed this year, I think this can be scaled down.
• Item#24 is reduced by ⅛.

I've managed to trim the proposal by ₱77,000 ($1,925) just about 15.04%. -- Roel (talk) 10:09, 13 June 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for the prompt response, and for making the requested changes. I have two further requests:

1. That the freedom of panorama legal opinion be removed for now, as I am not convinced the lack of a legal opinion is what prevents WLM in the Philippines; I would advise to pursue direct conversation with the Office of Intellectual Property, where we have had that meeting during my visit, to try to get them to issue a formal statement clarifying the matter (when the benefits have been presented to them etc.)
2. That the true total of this grant be listed, rather than just the additional funds WMPH is asking for. I.e. the total at the top of the grant form should include the re-allocation request.

With these two addressed, I am ready to approve this grant. Asaf Bartov (WMF Grants) talk 22:49, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

Re: # 1: It's not about WLM, we are safe with WLM because by Philippine law any structure that is over 50 years old is considered part of national heritage. The plan is, we will be seeking declaratory relief before the Intellectual Property Office, after obtaining the legal opinion that will create arguments for us and to cover all possible legal grounds. No judicial nor quasi-judicial body will render a decision without making a case before it, not even a nice conversation will prompt them to come up with a decision, otherwise that will be arbitrary and contrary to law. If for any reason, certain sectors will find the ruling unfavorable to them and will discover it was because of a mere letter/conversation, that presented the benefits of Freedom of Panaroma without hard legal evidence/basis, they can easily go to court to have it invalidated. -- Roel (talk) 23:23, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

Very well, we are willing to fund this opinion. Please update the grant total to proceed. Asaf Bartov (WMF Grants) talk 20:00, 18 June 2013 (UTC)

Thanks for your consideration. I've done the updating of the total, I hope I got right what you wanted me to do.-- Roel (talk) 23:34, 19 June 2013 (UTC)

Provisional approval

Please note that this grant request is only provisionally approved, since WMPH is currently not eligible to receive grants. See the eligibility requirements for the WMF Grants Program, and in particular:

Grantees must be in compliance with all WMF Grants Program reporting requirements and FDC reporting requirements and the terms of the grant agreement signed by the grantee or the grantee's authorized representative. Grantees seeking additional funds while in non-compliance of existing grant terms will be required to come into compliance before their request for additional funds be considered.

Note also the discussion here outlining our requests for WMPH to complete the report and get back in compliance. This grant will not be fully approved until WMPH is back in compliance.

Furthermore, it's not acceptable to move unused funds from one grant request to another without written permission from WMF, as this budget proposal seems to suggest. Once more, please refer to the discussion here for more details about what is required in order to secure additional funds to cover the expenses of Chapter startup 2.

With questions, please contact grants at wikimedia dot org.

Regards, Winifred Olliff (Grants Administrator) talk 18:05, 21 June 2013 (UTC)

Grantee has submitted past due reports for Chapter startup 2 and Wiki Loves Monuments, and is now back in compliance. This grant is now confirmed as "Funded." Winifred Olliff (Grants Administrator) talk 16:56, 1 October 2013 (UTC)

Request changes the budget

Number	Category	Item description	Unit	Number of units	Cost per unit	Total cost	Currency	Notes
1	Rental	Co-working/virtual office space	1 month	12	2,000	24,000	PHP
2	Rental	Conference room/facilities rental	–	–	–	10,000	PHP
3	Rental	Storage space	–	–	–	33,000	PHP	This allocation is increased from ₱12,000 ($279) to ₱33,000 ($767). The chapter plans to rent a separate storage space beginning November 2013 at ₱8,000 ($186) per month. This is the cheapest in the Makati area that is accessible from where the chapter holds its office. Our current lessor cannot accommodate our additional storage requirement. Advance payments (2 months) and deposit (1 month) would have to be made in order to move in the facility. Amount increased obtained from Items # 5, 6, 8, 19, 23.
4	Professional services	External auditor	1	1	5,000	5,000	PHP
5	Professional services	Bookkeeper	–	–	–	3,000	PHP	This allocation is reduced from ₱6,000 ($140) to ₱3,000 ($70).
6	Professional services	Secretarial/messengerial services	–	–	–	3,000	PHP	This allocation is reduced from ₱15,000 ($349) to ₱3,000 ($70). Most of the admin work for this year was carried out by the officers on their free time.
7	Professional services	Legal services/representation	-	-	-	50,000	PHP
8	Courier	Mail/Cargo services	-	-	-	4,000	PHP	This allocation is reduced from ₱6,000 ($140) to ₱4,000 ($93).
10	Office supplies	Steel storage cabinet	1	1	15,000	15,000	PHP
11	Office supplies	Office supplies	-	-	-	18,000	PHP
12	Representation	Meeting expenses	-	-	-	20,000	PHP
13	Representation	Transportation/Fuel	-	-	-	20,000	PHP
14	Taxes and licenses	Annual business registration/permits	-	-	-	10,000	PHP
15	Taxes and licenses	Provision for taxes/penalties	-	-	-	7,000	PHP
17	Publication	Annual Report	1 copy	100	200	20,000	PHP
18	Publication	Strategic Plan	1 copy	60	250	15,000	PHP
19	Utilities	Domain registration/webhosting	–	–	–	8,500	PHP	This allocation is reduced from ₱12,000 ($279) to ₱8,500 ($198). Item has been spent and cost only ₱8,304.
20	Miscellaneous	Bank check books/certifications	1	-	-	1,000	PHP
21	Miscellaneous	Contingency	-	-	-	15,000	PHP
22	Participation	Visa and travel insurance	-	-	-	20,000	PHP
23	Taxes and licenses	20 Booklets of Official Receipts	1 booklet (50 receipts)	20	120	2,500	PHP	This allocation is reduced from ₱3,000 ($70) to ₱2,500 ($58). Item has been spent and cost only ₱2,400.
24	Development and training	Strategic Planning	-	-	-	50,000	PHP	This allocation is reduced from ₱70,000 ($1,628) to ₱50,000 ($1,163)
25	Equipment	Sony HDR-PJ230/B Camcorder + Tripod	1 set	1	25,000	25,000	PHP
26	Office supplies	Letterhead	1 ream	4	2,500	10,000	PHP
27	Office supplies	Envelope	1 box	2	4,000	8,000	PHP
28	Office supplies	Catalog envelopes	100's	3	6,000	18,000	PHP
29	Activity	Tagalog Wikipedia 10 Anniversary Meet-up	–	–	–	20,000	PHP	New allocation to accommodate activity on December 1, 2013. Amount obtained from Item # 24.

Total project budget (all requested from WMF)

₱ 435,000 (unchanged)

Explanation of why the change is needed

The chapter's request to have additional storage at the facility were it holds office cannot be accommodated. If the chapter were to lease space it would use for storage at the same building it would cost around ₱15,000 ($349) + association dues + utility bills for the smallest space (25m²/269ft²) it could lease out. We had to scout for other cheaper places which we could use for storage at a much lower cost.

A meet-up was held on December 1, 2013 for the 10th Anniversary of the Tagalog Wikipedia attended by around 30 people. The Board approved the activity and recommended the excess amount from the Strategic Planning budget to be allocated for it.

Description of how the budget change will affect your current approved plan.

₱ 41,000 is planned to be realigned from other items, without affecting the project total. Some of the items have already been consumed, or the estimated total spending by the end of implementation period won't be used up.

Description of your plan in case this change is not approved.

If the plan is not approved we will continue to keep chapter equipment in our own homes, which is not ideal. Our current equipment stored in the facility where we hold office is tightly packed in a small space and some of the frames of the collapsible backdrop wall that we have were broken due to this, we had it repaired since. Inventory is a challenge if our equipment is not kept in one facility.

Approval

The above reallocation is approved. Asaf Bartov (WMF Grants) talk 23:01, 5 December 2013 (UTC)

Request to extend implementation date

• We would like to request to extend the implementation date of the grant to January 31, 2014 to allow us to transition to the Annual program plan 2014 which is still under deliberation.
• For item # 7 "Legal services/representation" professional fees to obtain legal opinion regarding the Freedom of Panorama it is hereby requested to be provisionally extended to June 30, 2014, as the terms of engagement for the services of a lawyer is still being drafted to finally commence the work. -- Roel (talk) 13:28, 30 December 2013 (UTC)

This extension is approved. Since we are not yet close to a decision on this new proposal, I am also prolonging the extension to Feb 28th, 2014. Asaf Bartov (WMF Grants) talk 02:14, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Thank you!-- Roel (talk) 02:15, 30 January 2014 (UTC)

Report past due

The report for this grant is now past due. Please provide us with an update on the status of the report and let us know if you have any questions about submitting it. Thank you, Alex Wang (WMF) (talk) 16:50, 29 April 2014 (UTC)