[Grants] Grant Application from Kelsie Nabben for TPP (The Privacy Project)

[TPPtheprivacyproject]

Hi Jonathan, 

Thanks so much for continuing the thread.

To your questions - the pilot is the first workshop, in order to test the model, iterate, and measure and monitor results.



The value is in developing a community of technologists that are engaged in supporting civil society. This will be through collaborations (e.g. the training session with DRW), supporting local, independent meetups that are hacking on linux systems and collaborating on larger training sessions or events).



I think we’ll learn a lot in the first few activities we engage in and want to allow the flexibility to pivot as necessary, based on those learnings. 



Honestly, I’m open to your direction on funding. I do not want to take up the majority portion of the allocation. I see more value in seed funding to support workshops and collaborating to build and engage the community more broadly. 



Our 3 to 6 month objectives:

1. Support or run 1 event per month (workshop of training with civil society group or all levels technical training meetup session).

2. Build community of volunteers to have at least representative in each state.
3. Build awareness, as measured by mailing list subscribers. 

4. Respond within 24 hours to email enquiries.

5. Run a hackathon for Aaron Schwartz Memorial Day (the topic is SecureDrop).

6. Build a network of collaboration partners. Note I’ve already volunteered to support on Netthing conference in October.

7. Develop a sustainable funding model, via paid consulting services (for big budget clients that would like to request training and aren’t evil) and donation sources (that aren’t the focus of other organisations in the space, especially philanthropy). 

The cost of this is rather hard to predict, as it depends on who firms up their ability to contribute and also assumes that no-one is paid for their time.

Some run-way to support the costs of activities will give us the opportunity to demonstrate the value of our work, point to specific case study outcomes, and develop out the sustainable funding model.



Thanks again,

Kelsie.


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‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
On Monday, 19 August 2019 02:54, Jonathan Woithe <jwoithe at just42.net> wrote:

> Hi Kelsie
>
> Thanks for the additional information you provided to Kathy. I thought I'd
> pick up on the last part of the response regarding the funding amount.
>
> In the initial grant application it was stated:
>
> > Our initial pilot is in Melbourne in collaboration with Digital Rights
> > Watch, to train a cohort of journalists who have requested support to do
> > their job effectively.
> > Estimated cost breakdown of the project: 1. Website hosting, private
> > platform & maintenance (developer time for updates): $200 per month
> >
> > 2.  Establish NGO entity to be able to receive donations and offer tax
> >     receipts (have pro bono law firm in Melbourne for this): $847.
> >
> > 3.  Workshop delivery (face-to-face): venue and catering: $2000 (estimated
> >     1 per month to begin. To cover the initial pilot would be amazing).
> >
> > 4.  Communications management (ad channels to reach NGOs/activists needing
> >     support): $500 per month
> >
> >
> > Total: $2700 per month + $847.
>
> On Sun, Aug 11, 2019 at 09:27:48PM +1000, the response to Kathy included the
> following.
>
> > I agree that entity creation should be post the initial pilot.
> >
> > > Funding amount
> > > It would be helpful to better understand the funding amount, duration and
> > > type/s of support Linux Australia is interested in considering.
> >
> > Ideally, Linux Australia can support TPP according to pre-agreed milestones
> > for a period of 12 months until it reaches financial sustainability. Happy
> > to discuss our 3, 6 and 12 month objectives and explore potential
> > milestones.
>
> My reading of this is that the cost of $2700 per month ($32400) covers the
> initial pilot, with the addtional $847 being associated with entity
> creation which would come after the pilot completes. Thus item 2 in the
> cost breakdown really comes after all the others as far as execution order
> is concerned.
>
> I am not clear as to how long the pilot is indended to run - will it be 12
> months?
>
> Assuming the cost breakdown relates to the pilot, how different do you think
> the monthly costs will look when the organisation is fully operational?
>
> Will you be pursing sustainable funding sources during the course of the
> pilot, or is this dependent on the outcome of the pilot?
>
> It is worth noting that the 12 month total ($32400) is almost all of the
> $35000 allocated for the grant program. To this end, it would be helpful if
> you could briefly outline your 3 and 6 month objectives prior to LA
> Council's discussion of this grant application on 27 August. This gives the
> community and council some alternatives to consider in the event that the
> full 12 month funding amount is not deemed possible.
>
> Regards
> jonathan